Article: This Year's Nobel Peace Prize Winners Are Radicals -- and That's a Good Thing

In her autobiography, Malala Yousafzai recalls coming of age in an intellectually adventurous and politically active Pashtun family, with anti-colonialist roots. Her grandfather "would rail against the class system, the continuing power of the khans and the gap between the haves and have-nots." Her father was inspired by activists who "talked a lot of sense, particularly about wanting to end the feudal and capitalist systems in our country, where the same big families had controlled things for years while the poor got poorer."

She explains that her father entertained debates about "secularism and socialism on one side and militant Islam on the other." In 2013, when Pakistani socialists gathered in Lahore for an annual conference, reports on the conference highlighted the moment when a Pakistani from Britain announced that he had a statement from a recovering Malala Yousafzai, which concluded, "I am convinced Socialism is the only answer and I urge all comrades to take this struggle to a victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from the chains of bigotry and exploitation."

Those may not sound like "safe choice" words to everyone. But it is worth noting that other recipients of the Nobel Prize for Peace have made statements that were heard at the time -- and even now -- as radical.

The 1964 recipient of the prize avowed that "we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society."

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. continued in his historic "Where Do We Go From Here?" address:

"There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. And you see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the oil?' You begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that's two-thirds water?' These are words that must be said."

Ultimately, however, King's most radical words were his calls for for peace, especially his anti-Vietnam War declarations. Influenced by the advocates of non-violence Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai hail as their inspirations, King proclaimed:

"I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. (Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that)."

Malala Yousafzai echoed Dr. King when she appeared at the United Nations in 2013. Recalling the attack that nearly killed her, she said, "Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone."