Nobel laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai has launched the #BooksNotBullets social media hashtag. In honor of her 18th birthday, she hopes that world leaders will consider redirecting eight days’ worth of military spending for educational pursuits.
According to the Malala Fund Blog, this act would raise $39 billion which could “provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the planet.” To promote this agenda, Malala hopes to inspire followers to post a photo of themselves holding one of their favorite books and a statement on why they prefer “books not bullets.”
Malala herself kicked things off on Instagram with a picture of herself and a copy of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Author James Patterson joined in by sharing the following message on Facebook: “Peter Pan inspires me to this day. That’s the power of books and education.”
Watch a video that showcases Malala’s 2015 Oslo Education Summit address.