I am an activist and rapper from Afghanistan, and I use rap to speak out and help end child marriage. Sonita Alizadeh More Quotes by Sonita Alizadeh More Quotes From Sonita Alizadeh My friends, they get married at 15 years old. I saw them with bruises on their faces. I realized this is the real face of child marriage. Sonita Alizadeh face child friends marriage There was no giving up. Trying and trying. That's what I'm all about. Sonita Alizadeh about giving-up trying giving There is a lot of suffering and injustice in the world, and there is also a great deal of hope. When you step forward and start speaking about what you see and what you want to change, you can begin living in that hope instead of despair. Sonita Alizadeh great you change hope A good girl in Afghanistan should be silent, should not talk about her future, should listen to your family, be like a doll so that everyone can play with her. Sonita Alizadeh good future family girl In order to see truly where I am and where I want to go, I need to remember where I once was. Sonita Alizadeh i-am go see remember When I was a little girl, I did not listen to music much. I did not think that one day I would become a rapper. I was born in a very traditional and religious family. Being a female was destroying my dreams. Slowly, first through poetry and then music, I began to find ways to share my thoughts and feelings, talk to my family and to the world. Sonita Alizadeh dreams day family music When I was being sold into marriage, it was hard to see a future for myself. Sonita Alizadeh see myself future marriage My platform for activism is my music, and the issue I am working to address is child marriage. Everyone can find an issue that they care about and their own authentic way of expressing and sharing their message and working for change. When you speak authentically about something that matters to you, your voice has even more power. Sonita Alizadeh i-am marriage music change When the Taliban was ruling Afghanistan, women were not allowed to go to school, to work, or even leave the house without a male chaperone. The greatest moment was when that ended. Sonita Alizadeh moment women work school When my mother told me they have to sell me, I couldn't breathe; I couldn't speak. Sonita Alizadeh me breathe speak mother I saw my friends being beaten because they said no to child marriage. Sonita Alizadeh child friends marriage said I want to go back to my country to help other girls. We need to support girls to see other possibilities for themselves, to have a vision for their own future. Sonita Alizadeh future support vision country There is a great power in speaking your truth and standing for something important. Sonita Alizadeh great important power truth Every song is a long process. First I have to write a story for it, and then to make it into a song, I have to make it short and then shorter - so it's not easy! Sonita Alizadeh short easy song long It means so much to me that my family went against our tradition for me. Sonita Alizadeh against me tradition family My dream has always been to inspire young girls to see their own power and follow big dreams and realize that they have potential. Sonita Alizadeh realize dreams power dream My parents tried to sell me. I was looking for a way to share my feelings, so I started to rap to talk about the painful experience of being a girl. Sonita Alizadeh parents me experience girl I don't like high heels. Sonita Alizadeh high like heels high-heels I want to study law, become a lawyer, and work in Afghanistan for human rights. Sonita Alizadeh human-rights lawyer law work When my father died, I was nine or 10, and my mother was like a dad and a mom to me. She raised me and supported me when I came to the U.S. Sonita Alizadeh me dad mother father
