The role multilingual ability can play in fostering global citizenship and cultural understanding

As my mother once told me, my great-grandmother arrived in Brazil as a newborn over a century ago aboard a ship filled with immigrants from Italy. Her name was Angela Dallagrana. I still vividly recall the day I saw her for the last time, in July of 1997. Whenever I think of her, I find myself attempting to reconstruct the life of a woman born at the dawn of the 20th century, striving to carve out a place for her in history.

My grandmother, known affectionately as "nonna" in Italian, was illiterate. When she spoke Portuguese and Italian intertwined, it was common to hear the accents of one language in the words of the other. Even twenty years after our final meeting, I can still envision her hands tracing the letters of her name.

She raised four children. The first tragically passed away in early childhood. The second, a daughter, was born in 1942, the same year Olga Benário, a Jewish-German revolutionary, met her demise in a gas chamber after deportation from Brazil.

This daughter, who would become my grandmother, shared her name with Olga Benário. Young Olga grew up in poverty with her siblings, Rose and Luis.

Reflecting on my family's history, I realized that my great-grandmother, Dona Angela, lived much of her life without exercising her rights to education, suffrage, or adequate healthcare. Her daughter, my grandmother Olga, followed a similar path of poverty, though she at least had the opportunity to learn to read and write. My mother, their only daughter, had to halt her education before completing high school when she became pregnant with my eldest sister, Bruna.

Of the four generations of women in my family—my great-grandmothers, my grandmothers, my mothers, and mine—I will be the first to earn a bachelor's degree from a university. Since my great-grandmother's arrival in Brazil, I am the first woman in my family to venture abroad, immerse myself in another culture, and learn a second language. I am also the first to pursue a professional career. However, I am certainly not the first to fight for these opportunities; the daily struggles of the women before me paved the way. They taught me that I was not born a woman but became one, as Simone de Beauvoir once said.

Thanks to these women, I understand feminism as crucial for my personal growth and as a way to honor the women who paved the way for me. Feminism is now the most critical cause in my life. Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of "We Should All Be Feminists," has been a vocal advocate for feminism, believing it will be a crucial issue in humanitarian struggles in the years to come and perhaps a driving force for social justice worldwide.

She envisions a growing global movement, bringing together Africans, Muslims, Latinos, Asians, and others who, despite their differences, share a powerful connection: their voice. Our voice.

Together, we raise our voices locally, nationally, and globally for equality and justice, reminding our sisters and brothers of our shared humanity. In doing so, feminist movements may also promote global citizenship to foster a sense of belonging to a broader community and shared humanity.

In this context, multilingualism transcends speaking a foreign language; it becomes an ability to communicate with empathy and commitment to others' needs. My great-grandmother and countless women like her never had the opportunity to engage in political discourse or protest their government, even as they buried sons lost to hunger or struggled without access to healthcare. Despite speaking two languages, my great-grandmother's voice went unheard.

When she came to Brazil, she fled war, finding refuge in a new culture and giving life to a new generation of women determined to honor her memory. Her story reminds me of a legacy I cannot afford to forget.

Seventy-two years ago, in the aftermath of World War II, survivors—guilty or innocent—were challenged to forge a solution worthy of the memory of those lost, one powerful enough to inspire a new sense of humanity. Bridges were built among nations to reunite countries, ensuring we never forget our historical duty: to safeguard peace.

Yet, in tribute to women worldwide, I propose an additional duty for our future: safeguarding peace by amplifying women's voices and empowering them to help build the world we desire. This is the most profound role of multilingual ability.