My dream has always been to inspire young girls to see their own

“My dream has always been to inspire young girls to see their own power and follow big dreams and realize that they have potential.” Thus spoke Sonita Alizadeh, the brave daughter of Afghanistan, whose voice rose not in the halls of power but from the depths of oppression — and yet, like a flame in the dark, it could not be extinguished. Her words are not merely a statement of intent; they are a declaration of liberation, born from struggle, sacrifice, and the boundless light of hope. In this quote, Alizadeh does not speak for herself alone — she speaks for every girl who has ever been told she cannot dream, for every voice silenced before it could sing. Her dream is not personal; it is universal, an inheritance she offers to the daughters of all generations.

To understand the depth of her words, one must know the story from which they rise. Sonita Alizadeh was once promised into marriage at the age of sixteen — not as a choice, but as a transaction. Her family, like countless others caught in poverty and tradition, saw her future as a price to be paid. But Sonita refused to surrender her destiny. Through courage and the power of music, she found her voice. She wrote and performed a rap song — “Brides for Sale” — that shook the conscience of the world. Her defiance became her deliverance, and her song became a cry of awakening for girls everywhere. When she speaks of inspiring young girls to see their own power, she speaks as one who has felt the chains — and has broken them.

Her words recall the ancient truth that freedom begins not with the body, but with the mind. Many are imprisoned by fear, tradition, or the weight of others’ expectations, yet Sonita teaches that the first act of rebellion is belief — belief that one’s life holds potential, that one’s dreams are not delusions but destinies waiting to be claimed. The ancients knew this too: in the myths of Greece, Prometheus defied the gods to bring light to humankind, not because they were powerful, but because he saw that they could be. Sonita, in her own way, is a Prometheus of our time — bringing not fire from the heavens, but courage to the hearts of the forgotten.

Throughout history, the empowerment of women has been one of humanity’s greatest struggles and victories. From Joan of Arc, who led armies with the fire of conviction, to Malala Yousafzai, who faced bullets to defend the right to education, the pattern repeats: the world resists the rise of the feminine spirit, yet time and again, it rises. Each of these women — and Sonita among them — embodies a truth the wise have long understood: that the strength of a civilization is measured not by the might of its men, but by the freedom of its women. For when a girl is allowed to dream, an entire world awakens.

Sonita’s dream is thus not one of fantasy, but of transformation. When she calls upon young girls to “see their own power,” she does not give them that power — she reminds them it was always theirs. Every human being is born with potential, but it is too often buried beneath doubt, fear, and the expectations of others. The wise know that greatness is not granted — it is claimed. Her words are both a challenge and an invitation: to rise, to speak, to act, to dream not small, but big dreams, the kind that seem impossible until they are fulfilled.

But her dream also carries a responsibility for those who hear it. It calls upon parents, teachers, and leaders to become guardians of possibility — to nurture the light rather than extinguish it. For how many daughters of genius have been lost to silence? How many voices that could have changed the world have been buried under the weight of tradition? To hear Sonita’s words is to remember that every girl is a seed of potential, and that the duty of society is to give her soil, water, and sunlight — not walls.

Therefore, O listener, take heed of this teaching. If you are a woman, know that your dreams are sacred — not fragile things to be hidden, but fires to be tended. If you are a man, know that your greatness lies not in dominance, but in the honor of lifting others. And if you are a parent, remember that the most powerful inheritance you can give your child is belief in their own worth. Let Sonita’s dream become your own — that every young girl, in every land, may stand one day and say, “I know my power, and I have followed my dream.”

For in the end, as Sonita Alizadeh teaches, the true revolution is not fought with weapons, but with hope, courage, and education. And the victory she envisions is not the triumph of one, but of all — a world where no girl lives as property, but as possibility. Her dream, like the dawn, rises quietly yet irresistibly — and with it rises the promise of a new humanity, where the word “potential” is not whispered in fear, but shouted in freedom.