Woman Driving in Saudi Arabia—Amazing Video

This video is amazing. It's not illegal for a woman to drive in Saudi Arabia, but it's culturally condemned and prevented. Manal Al Sharif, a 32-year-old Saudi woman, was imprisoned after releasing this video of herself being interviewed while driving. You may have seen the story in the news. Watching the video, I was struck by the loss to Saudi culture of keeping women reliant on men, both to the women and to the culture itself. As potholes bounce her car, she tells her story. If you watch it, you'll empathize and appreciate your own freedom.
It's a day-changing video.

My heart goes out to these women—prevented from driving to work or taking their children to school. They aren't even allowed to drive sick men to the hospital in an emergency! We see with aging people in our culture that when a person looses their ability to drive themselves, they loose both independence and self-esteem.

Way back in the suffragette days, women in the U.S. took to the streets and suffered in jails for the right to vote. A CNN reporter reminded viewers of how this story echoes that of Rosa Parks walking to the front of the bus. On June 17 will Saudi women risk taking their cars to the streets? The Saudi government really hopes not. If women do, I pray for a safe expression of defiance.

You just can't keep people down—men, women, children...we all are born deserving to be equal and free.