A Young Woman with a Video Makes History (3-11-12)

A 26-year-old activist named Asmaa Mafouz helped change the face of Egypt’s Arab Spring. A little over a year after the massive protest in Tahrir Square, Dumbartonians watched her You Tube video of Jan. 18, 2011, which went viral.

Looking directly into the camera and identifying herself, the veiled Mafouz urged her compatriots to come to the Square Jan. 25 to demand their rights. “Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire to protest humiliation and hunger and degradation,” she reminded her virtual audience. “If we still want to have honor and to live in dignity, we have to go down to Tahrir Square.”

The five-minute video drew huge attention across Egypt, and one week later hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into the square to demand the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. No fights broke out. No women were harassed. No weapons were fired. “It was the happiest day of my life,” Mafouz said later.
 
Dumbartonians also watched and discussed three segments of a PBS show, Religion and Ethics News Weekly, which included an analysis of Super Tuesday, a discussion on the ethics of drones and an update on a new bill in Uganda which would place tougher restrictions of gay rights.

Click here for the video.

Click here to hear Mary Kay Totty's Sunday sermon, Justice Giants: Asmaa Mafouz.

--By Ginny Finch