Outspoken
with Sally Armstrong and Sima Samar
Hosted by CKCU’s Susan Johnston
Outspoken is a book of miracles, large and small. It’s a history book, an adventure story, a deeply personal memoir, and an inspiring work that propels you from your couch into action… Illuminating the darkness in Afghanistan’s recent history, Outspoken provides astonishing insights and analysis. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down.
Join CKCU’s Susan Johnston for a conversation with award-winning author, journalist, and human rights activist Sally Armstrong and Sima Samar, a medical doctor, public official, founder of schools and hospitals, thorn in the side of the Taliban, nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and lifelong advocate for girls and women, about their new bestseller, Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan. Please note: Sima Samar will join the conversation virtually.
Dr. Sima Samar has been fighting for equality and justice for most of her life. Born into a polygamous family, she learned early that girls had inferior status, and she had to agree to an arranged marriage if she wanted to go to university. By the time she was in medical school, she had a son, Ali, and had become a revolutionary. After her husband was disappeared by the pro-Russian regime, she escaped. With her son and medical degree, she took off into the rural areas—by horseback, by donkey, even on foot—to treat people who had never had medical help before.
Sima Samar's wide-ranging experiences both in her home country and on the world stage have given her inside access to the dishonesty, the collusion, the corruption, the self-serving leaders, and the hijacking of religion. And as a former Vice President, she knows all the players in this chess game called Afghanistan. With stories that are at times poignant, at times terrifying, inspiring as well as disheartening, Sima provides an unparalleled view of Afghanistan’s past and its present.
Despite being in grave personal danger for many years, she has worked tirelessly for the dream she is convinced is an achievable one: justice and full human rights for all the citizens of her country.
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