Rachel Carson
This 1962 landmark book written by Rachel Carson exposed the devastating environmental effects of synthetic pesticides.
What is Silent Spring?
Savitribai Phule is celebrated for opening India's very first school specifically for this group of young people.
Who are girls? (or young women)
Before he became a global activist for civil rights, Muhammad Ali won a gold medal and multiple world championships in this sport.
What is boxing?
Sylvia Rivera was a key leader who fought for the rights and fair treatment of this community.
What is the LGBTQ+ community?
Naguib Mahfouz is world-famous for doing this for a living, creating many popular novels and short stories.
What is a writer / author?
Carson’s primary target in her environmental crusade was this specific, widely used chemical pesticide.
What is DDT?
Phule worked as India's first female person in this profession, helping children learn how to read and write.
What is a teacher?
Born Cassius Clay, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to this global religion.
What is Islam? (He became a Muslim)
Rivera participated in these famous 1969 New York City riots, which are seen as the start of the modern gay rights movement.
What are the Stonewall Riots?
Mahfouz made history by being the first author writing in this language to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
What is Arabic?
Rachel Carson’s book warned people about the dangers of DDT, which belongs to this group of chemicals used to kill bugs.
What are pesticides?
Phule fought against India's traditional "caste system," which unfairly divided people into different social classes based on this life event.
What is birth? (Where they were born / family status)
Ali famously refused to fight in this specific Asian war during the 1960s because of his religious and peaceful beliefs.
What is the Vietnam War?
Rivera specifically stood up for the "T" in LGBTQ+, a term used for people whose gender identity is different from the one they were assigned at birth.
What is transgender?
Almost all of Mahfouz's books take place in this country, where he lived and wrote about everyday life.
What is Egypt?
Before she became a famous author, Carson worked as a scientist who studied the ocean, also known by this title.
What is a marine biologist?
Angry protesters threw mud and stones at Phule on her way to school, so she had to carry an extra one of these traditional Indian dresses to change into.
What is a sari?
Because he refused to join the military draft, the government punished Ali by taking away his titles and banning him from doing this for over three years.
What is boxing / fighting professionally?
Alongside her friend Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera started an organization to provide food and housing for young people who were facing this crisis of having no home.
What is homelessness?
Mahfouz famously wrote a collection of three connected books known as the Cairo Trilogy, named after this specific type of place where people live.
What is a city? (or the capital of Egypt)
Because of the public outcry from Carson's book, the U.S. government created this federal agency to protect the air, water, and wildlife.
What is the EPA? (Environmental Protection Agency)
Phule showed great bravery at the end of her life by opening a clinic to take care of patients suffering from this famous, contagious disease.
What is the plague? (or Bubonic Plague)
Ali bragged about his fast movement in the ring by saying he could "float like a butterfly" and do this like a bee.
What is "sting like a bee"?
Rivera's background was Venezuelan and Puerto Rican, making her an important voice for this specific group of Americans in the civil rights movement.
What is Hispanic / Latino?
Some extremists did not like the political and religious themes in Mahfouz's books, which led to an attempt on his life when he was 82 years old. This is known as trying to limit an author's ideas.
What is censorship?