Imagine, for a moment, what the recent Democratic debates would have been like if Malala Yousafzi, Greta Thunberg or Emma González had been the moderators!! They are knowledgeable on just about every topic the electorate says its interested in changing. Its time to boot the millionaire established media folk for young people who know how to ask questions and parry nonsense answers.
Teen Vogue – By Lucy Diavolo
“Malala Yousafzi and Greta Thunberg — two of the most iconic young women in activism of the last 10 years — got to hang out. Malala, who began her career advocating for girls’ education in Pakistan and became a global sensation, took to social media to share a pic with Greta, the Swedish teen whose school strike helped propel the youth climate justice movement into a new and brighter spotlight.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, February 25, Malala wrote a simple “thank you” with a pic of the duo sitting side-by-side and smiling on a park bench in winter gear. On Twitter, Malala even cracked a joke, saying that despite her life’s work being a firm insistence on girls having a place in the classroom, Greta is “the only friend I’d skip school for.”
Greta also posted pics of them together, writing on Twitter and Instagram, “So… today I met my role model. What else can I say?”
Both Malala and Greta were Teen Vogue cover stars in 2019. Greta sat down with us in September, just ahead of one in a series of global climate strikes to discuss her activist work and what she hopes for. Her strike tactic has meant skipping school to raise awareness of the climate crisis, and late last year, she was worried that the global phenomenon she sparked had “achieved nothing.”
“We can’t go on like this; it is not sustainable that children skip school and we don’t want to continue – we would love some action from the people in power,” she said at a December press conference. “People are suffering and dying today. We can’t wait any longer.”
Thunberg has had to grapple with what it means to be a young woman on the global stage pressing for change, as Malala did before her. When we talked with Malala last year, she said watching younger women continue to press for much-needed change is important.
“Six years ago, I was receiving global support, and I was happy that this time they were listening to young people,” she shared. “Sometimes in rooms with decision-makers, they don’t have any young people at the table; they don’t even have women, let alone young people. So just to have the voices of young people present there, just to have women being present at those tables, I think it’s a huge difference.”
“And we have seen huge progress over the last few years, and now to see that young girls like Emma González and Greta are coming forward, and they’re talking about climate change, they are talking about gun violence, and they’re talking about these different issues that are impacting all of us and especially what’s going to affect the future generations,” she continued. “There are hundreds and thousands of women and girls in all parts of the world who are standing up. Some of them we don’t even know — their names would never be known — but they’re changing their communities.”
“For me to see millions and millions of young people, not just in the U.S., not just in the U.K. — the so-called developed countries — but from all across the world, in Pakistan, in India, in Kenya, you see these young girls, especially women that are coming forward, and you also see older people in the crowds — I think that’s when you realize how powerful the voices of these young people can be,” Malala said. “And I think awareness is important. That’s the first step towards a change.”
We All Deserve Better 