Giving Compass' Take:

• Leah Rodriguez, writing for Global Citizen, lists five young women of color who are making their mark through education activism, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. 

• How can donors support young female activists? Why is it essential to amplify these marginalized voices?

• Read about another female activist putting an end to child marriage. 

Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to achieving racial equality.

He wanted to create a world where black children could sit in desegregated classrooms and receive the same education as their white peers. King did not wait to stand up against the injustices he witnessed around him.

Now, a new class of young female activists is following in his footsteps to finish what he started.

Here’s a list of five female activists who fearlessly took a stand for what they believe in, and would make MLK proud.

  1. Marley Dias: At 11 years old, Dias told her mom she was “sick of reading about white boys and dogs.” Her mom encouraged her daughter of Caribbean descent to do something about it — and the rest is history.  The middle schooler started a book drive called #1000BlackGirlBooks to collect books to donate to black girls and procured 9,000.
  2. Zuriel Oduwole: Oduwole is a 17-year-old American aspiring filmmaker of Nigerian descent. After winning a competition to visit Ghana and create a film, she was shocked to see how many young girls weren’t in school and wanted to change it.
  3. Payal Jangid: Jangid escaped child slavery in Delhi, India, at the age of 14. When Jangid returned to her village, she started advocating for girls’ education.
  4.  Mari Copeny: At the age of 10, Copeny wrote a letter to President Barack Obama, requesting a meeting to discuss the Flint water crisis.  Obama went to visit Copeny’s hometown, where nearly 100,000 residents of the majority-black, low-income population were exposed to dangerously high lead levels in the water.
  5.  Malala Yousafzai: Yousafzai became an advocate for girls’ education after the militant group stopped her from going to school.

Read the full article about young female activists by Leah Rodriguez at Global Citizen