(Newswire.net — April 7, 2021) — People are great and have achieved many wonderful things in our history, but we’re far from perfect. Even here in North America, we still have a long way to go before we achieve equality and equity for all. Throughout the decades, civil and human rights activists have done a great deal to help advance our society and make it a better place for underserved communities and people.
Malliha Wilson is an attorney and litigator of Tamil descent that has been finding for her people and other underrepresented people across Canada and the world. She previously served in the Ontario government as the assistant deputy attorney general as well as a legal advisor for the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario. She now runs her own practice in Toronto, Ontario called Nava Wilson LLP. Continue reading to learn some valuable lessons that all aspiring civil rights activists can apply to their own journeys.
1. Don’t let being a minority silence you or make you invisible.
Even though the United States and Canada are among the wealthiest and most developed countries in the world, they still have improvements to make as far as race relations. Unfortunately, minority groups in both countries still find it hard to get equal treatment, representation, and opportunities. However, Malliha Wilson never let that stop her from reaching for the stars and achieving her goal of becoming an attorney, eventually the attorney general, and now, a senior partner at the Nava Wilson LLP law firm.
So, even though being a minority might mean you have a more tumultuous journey ahead of you, don’t let that stop you from starting your journey. Malliha didn’t, and now she’s a source of inspiration for women and all people of Tamil descent as a symbol of what they can accomplish.
2. Never let your career distract you from your real mission in life.
We all have career goals and thoughts about what we’d like to achieve in our chosen professions. However, your career isn’t serving you if it causes you to lose sight of everything else about which you’re passionate. As a Tamil woman from Sri Lanka, Malliha has always been concerned about the rights of her people and other minorities. She let her passion lead her career path in the law field and she hasn’t looked back.
3. Educating yourself is essential to fighting for your cause.
Another thing aspiring activists can learn is the importance of education to their activism. As mentioned before, Malliha’s heart has always been with Canadians of Asian descent and other minorities, and she figured she could do the most good for underserved communities as a lawyer. That’s why after completing her undergrad degree at McGill University, Malliha went on to get her law degree at York University. Following that, she put her degree to work in the Ministry of Government Services as senior counsel for the Native Affairs Secretariat for Ontario.
4. Having financial success doesn’t make you a sellout.
As mentioned before, Malliha served as the assistant deputy attorney general of Ontario for an eight-year term. However, after her as the assistant deputy attorney general, she would go on to practice corporate law at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario. Providing corporations with legal advice may not be something you associate with human rights activism, but Malliha never lost sight of what’s important to her. Now she’s a senior partner at a firm that bears her last name, Nava Wilson LLP, and she focuses on cases that are near to her heart and the greater good.
5. The fight for human rights isn’t over until the battle is won.
We often see ebbs and flows in activism. At times, activism seems to be at a fever pitch as it was most of the last summer, and other times can seem nonexistent. Malliha has been fighting the battle for human rights her entire career, and nearly 40 years later, she’s still going strong and trying to improve the lives of others.