You wanted to keep
the milk and the blood hidden
as if the womb and breast
never fed you.
-rupi kaur
It’s March of 2020, meaning it’s Women’s History Month and I think the best way to celebrate this beautiful milestone is to educate people on the women that no one ever hears about, so I will be focusing on women of color and queer women. So, without further adieu, enjoy!
Wilma Mankiller: the first woman to serve as chief of the Cherokee Nation. She fought for the rights of women and Native Americans. She led Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton in 1998. “She understood that great leadership begins with the women — that’s our long, cultural tradition,” said Chad Smith, who was chief when she died in 2010. “If I had one word to frame her, it would be patriot. A patriot is one who gives her all for her people.” Gloria Steinem spoke at her memorial service.
Janet Mock: is an American writer, television host, director, producer and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir Redefining Realness, became a New York Times bestseller. She is a contributing editor for Marie Claire and a former staff editor of People magazine’s website.
Sylvia Rivera (left) and Marsha P. Johnson (right): Sylvia and Marsha were both instigators for the Stonewall Riots, a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. They were also activists for the LGBTQ+ community.
Linda Sarsour: Linda Sarsour is an American political activist. She was co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women’s March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. Sarsour has advocated for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories and expressed criticism of Zionism and support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. Sarsour also helped organize Black Lives Matter protests. Sarsour helped form “Muslims for Ferguson”, and she traveled to Ferguson with other activists in 2014. She has continued to work extensively with BLM ever since. Sarsour became a regular attendee at Black Lives Matter demonstrations as well as a frequent television commentator on feminism.
Angela Davis: Angela Davis rose to prominence during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement due to her involvement with the Communist party. She was targeted by the FBI and later imprisoned but then acquitted on murder and kidnapping charges in association with a courtroom attack during the trial of the Soledad Brothers, three African-American inmates charged with the murder of a white prison guard. She has been a professor and author and today focuses on battling the “industrial prison complex” in the U.S. as well as the role of black women and the rise of intersectionality in feminism.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: is serving as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress. Ocasio-Cortez majored in international relations and economics at Boston University, graduating cum laude in 2011. She was previously an activist and worked part-time as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.
Maria A. Ressa : is a Filipino journalist and author, best known for co-founding Rappler, an online news website based in the Philippines, as its chief executive officer. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. She was included in Time‘s Person of the Year 2018 as one of a collection of journalists from around the world combating fake news.
Sadako Ogata: was a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator, and professor emeritus at the Roman Catholic Sophia University. She was widely known as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1991 to 2000, as well as in her capacities as Chair of the UNICEF Executive Board from 1978 to 1979 and as President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2003 to 2012. She also served as Advisor of the Executive Committee of the Japan Model United Nations (JMUN).
There are many, many more women that don’t get their names in the media as often as they should. I highly encourage you to do your own research and learn who they are and what they do/did. To help, here’s a list of women of color that deserve to have their name spoken:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/04/womens-history-month-women-color/98595366/
Have an amazing day and I hope to see you soon!!
