25 young people making noise for social progress

Sonita Alizadeh

Afghan rapper and activist Sonita Alizadeh’s story is truly remarkable. She was almost married off twice, but fought back and turned to music instead.

Alizadeh’s family thought about selling her as a bride when she was 10, but they ran away to Iran to escape the Taliban instead.

While in Iran, Alizadeh became a fan of Iranian rapper Yas and Eminem and quickly started writing her own music. She entered a U.S. songwriting competition to get Afghanis to vote in their elections in 2014 and won a $1,000 prize.

However, Alizadeh’s mother, who had returned to Afghanistan, told Alizadeh to come back because she found someone to buy her as a wife when she was 16 years old. Her mother wanted to get a $9,000 dowry for her so her brother could then buy his own bride.

In protest, Alizadeh wrote her famous song “Brides for Sale,” which is about women being sold into marriage. Director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami also paid $2,000 for six months with Alizadeh so she wouldn’t be sold into marriage. Together, they made the documentary Sonita, and Maghami filmed the “Brides for Sale” music video.

“Brides for Sale” quickly went viral and the nonprofit Strongheart Group brought Alizadeh to the U.S. where she went to school, made music, and continued to fight against forced and child marriages.

“My biggest fear is to see a world where girls continue to be treated as property, unable to imagine or create a bright future for themselves, and to see world leaders not take action to end gender-based violence around the world, [violence] that happens everywhere in the world,” she told Rolling Stone.