You may not have heard of Manal al-Sharif, but Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012 and The Atlantic Monthly included her among the Brave Thinkers of the year.
Al-Sharif started a movement by a simple act that we take for granted here in the U.S. She got into a car and went for a drive in 2011. But she did her drive in Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden from driving.
Along with a friend, she posted a video of her trip online and drew a following on a Facebook page called “Teach Me How to Drive So I Can Protect Myself” and through a Women2Drive campaign. Although she was arrested for a few days, her acts inspired other to protest the discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia.
The prohibition is one of many types of gender discrimination in a country where girls need a male guardian’s permission to go to school. But al-Sharif’s choice of using a car for the protest touched on an international feeling about the road and what it represents.
Singer-Songwriter Martin Sexton sings about “Freedom Of The Road
Now I’ve had enough of this freedom of the road;
Never was good with decisions that’s what I’ve been told;
I’ve been holdin’ on to this ticket cause one day I’ll pass this toll;
Magic road grant your freedom to someone else, for I’ll be comin’ home.
We often forget that freedom is not just about fun and joy. Our freedom to choose gives us the power to choose wrong just like the freedom of the road gives us the power to be weary of our travels.
Our freedoms — whether it be to drive, to marry, to have children, to work, to speak, to vote, etc. — come with no guarantee of happiness. They only give us a chance to try to find happiness.
And al-Sharif knows that women everywhere should be given these chances and to discover the freedom of the road for themselves.
What is your favorite story about the freedom of the road? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
