Shabana Basij-Rasikh's Ted Talk Analysis

Three powerful ideas in Shabana Basij-Rasikh’s Ted Talk are how people risked their lives, sacrificed themselves, and shares the great number of girls in schools today. The Taliban came to Afghanistan when Shabana was six years old. From this time on, girls struggled with receiving an education and living a peaceful life. Teachers, parents, and students risked their lives every day when girls were in school. They were scared that the Taliban would find them and kill them. This is powerful because people would do anything to help their family members succeed. This shows how education is a necessity because people will risk their lives. In addition, one father sacrificed his life for his daughter, when the Taliban was planning on killing his daughter for going to school. Because education is critical in Afghanistan, fathers would do anything to help their daughters succeed. Finally, there are three million girls in school today. Ever since the Taliban left the country, girls could legally attend school. This is powerful because this is one step closer to fix gender inequality. The risking of lives, sacrifices, and

A single story is a biased stereotype that portrays only one person’s perspective. Our class uses this theme during videos, speeches, or primary source articles. At the beginning of the year, our class watched a Ted Talk about a woman who states how Africa is successful and a beautiful place. This relates to this Ted Talk because Shabana shares her point of view of the violence in Afghanistan. Many relate Afghanistan with violence and inequality. Although this viewpoint is true, she contradicts these perspectives by stating that gender inequality is getting better. For example, there are 3 million girls in school today. This shows that her story challenged other’s stereotypes of the country. Overall, this Ted Talk relates to class because of a single