Ocean State Libraries

"Secretly filmed in Iran by women and men who risked arrest. It is an immersive portrait of the world's most honored human rights activist and political prisoner, attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, and of Iran's remarkably resilient women's rights movement. In the courts and on the streets, Sotoudeh has long fought for the rights of women, children, religious minorities, journalists, and artists. In the midst of filming, Sotoudeh was arrested and sentenced...

"The inspiring journey of a girl from Africa whose near-death experience sparked a dream that changed the world. When severe drought hit her village in Zimbabwe, Elizabeth, then eight, had no idea that this moment of utter devastation would come to define her life purpose. Unable to move from hunger, she encountered a United Nations aid worker who gave her a bowl of warm porridge and saved her life. This transformative moment inspired Elizabeth to...

"The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi,...

Helen Keller learned to speak, read, and write in spite of becoming blind and deaf at the age of two due to an illness. As a child, Helen was frustrated and unmanageable but her mother never gave up on her. Helen's life changed when a teacher, Annie Sullivan, came into her life. Annie won Helen's trust and was able to teach Helen to speak, read, and write. Helen had Annie at her side when she became the first deaf-blind person to get a college degree....

"Inspired by generations of her family's unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan's girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous. Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the...

"Zarifa Ghafari was three years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools, and she began her education in secret. She was six when American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became mayor--one of the first female mayors in the country--and first of Wardak, one of the most conservative provinces in Afghanistan. An extremist mob barred her from her office; her male staff walked out in protest; assassins tried to kill her three times....

The Twentieth Century's Most Influential Hispanics examines the life and achievements of the named individual, beginning with the subject's birth and young life. Emphasis is given to the events that made this person influential. Realistic portrayals of the subjects include discussion of opportunities and obstacles, missteps, and triumphs.