In a lot of ways, Malala Yousafzai is not like any other girl in the world. She has survived a gunshot to the head for bravely attending school in Pakistan under Taliban rule, won a Nobel Peace Prize, advocated for girls’ education across the globe, and has co-produced a Broadway musical with Hillary Clinton.
And yet, at the end of the day, she is also just another Swiftie in a worldwide sea of Taylor Swift fans.
In an interview on “TODAY” earlier this week, Yousafzai spoke about a handful of her upcoming projects. Then the topic of The Eras Tour came up — which the activist attended this summer. It was her very first concert.
“You got to do something kind of fun this summer,” host Al Roker said to Yousafzai. “You actually went to your first concert, and lo and behold, Malala is a Swiftie fan.”
She corrected him: “Not just now. I have been a Swiftie fan since my childhood.”
Joyful chuckles resounded among the show’s interviewers, but then Yousafzai told a powerful story about the meaning of the pop star’s music.
“I remember that very well,” she began. “It was a time when peace had just been restored… the Taliban were no longer in our hometown. And my friend and I, we loved music because music was once banned by the Taliban. So we became Swifties.”
Yousafzai then told a story about how she and her friend were on a school trip in nature, surrounded by a waterfall in the mountain.
“We were so confident that we told our classmates and teachers that we want to announce and sing this song,” she continued. “We stood on this rock, and we started singing ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift.”
For those who are not fluent in Swift’s discography, “Love Story” is the hit single from her second album “Fearless,” (now “Fearless: Taylor’s Version”, if you’re in on the lore).
“I get to be at her concert this year and live through all her eras,” Yousafzai said, fondly looking back on her experience at The Eras Tour. “But, ‘Fearless’ is where I started, and ‘Fearless’ is what I carry with me.”
Yousafzai had shared this story in an Instagram post earlier this year when she attended Swift’s concert in London. But in August, she added a somber reminder.
“Three years ago, the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan,” she wrote. “Once again, music no longer plays on the streets, and girls and women are barred from school, work, and public life. One day, I hope we will live in a world where every girl will be able to enjoy music and live out her wildest dreams.”
Malala’s foray into entertainment and music
The longtime activist does not just have her own special connection to music. Alongside her work to improve access to girls’ education around the world, Yousafzai has ventured into producing musicals and documentaries under her production company: Extracurricular.
Alongside former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, she has helped produce “Suffs,” a musical about the women’s suffrage movement in the United States.
Her next production is a feature-length documentary called “The Last of the Sea Women,” which premiered on Apple TV today. It follows the lives of the Haenyeo, a “band of feisty grandmother warriors” on South Korea’s Jeju Island.
These warriors, often called “real-life mermaids” battle against oceanic threats, but their traditions and way of life are in imminent danger.
Also on “TODAY,” Yousafzai spoke about another project she was proud of, and co-produced with Jennifer Lawrence, called “Bread & Roses.”
The film will be available on Apple TV soon and follows three women fighting to recover their human rights in Afghanistan.
“I have been an advocate for the Afghan girls for the past three years, since the Taliban took over Kabul and imposed a ban on girls’ education,” Yousafzai said in the interview.
“Afghanistan is the only country in the world that does not allow girls beyond grade six to be in school, it has banned women from work, and they’re living under systematic oppression that… human rights experts are calling a gender apartheid.”
She says the film captures the strength and resilience of the women fighting back.
“These women are activists,” she said. “They are standing up for their rights, and you get to see that in this documentary.”
One might even call them fearless.
Header images courtesy of Japan Cabinet Secretariat, Cabinet Public Relations Office (CC BY 4.0) and Malala Yousafzai/Instagram
