National Constitution Center Honors Youngest Liberty Medal Recipient

By Dan Wing

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The National Constitution Center has chosen this year's recipient of the Liberty Medal.

17-year-old Malala Yousafzai made international headlines at the age of 11, when she wrote about life under Taliban rule in Pakistan. An attempt on her life by terrorists for those writings inspired people around the world to stand up.

Yousafzai is the youngest recipient in the award's 26-year history, and for good reason. Her writings for the BBC earned her international attention, but the next year she was shot in the head while riding a school bus during an assassination attempt by the Taliban.

"The terrorists thought that they would change my aims, and stop my ambitions," she said. "But nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear, and hopelessness died. Strength, fervor, and courage was born."

Yousafzai is also the youngest person ever nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize in 2013 putting her in the company of Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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