Thank You

So friends and followers, after one hundred posts and one hundred amazing and inspiring women, this blog finishes its mission. The last one hundred days have definitely taught me a lot as I researched and wrote about women who made a difference in their own hometowns, countries, or the world, for themselves and for others who needed them, and I hope you learned a little too. Sometimes our little struggles in life don’t seem quite so big when you think about the work Mother Theresa did or the perils Irena Sendler faced. It’s a little easier to look outside yourself when you think of what some women did for others and how they risked their own lives and safety out of compassion. And maybe our goals seem a little more achievable when we remember the things our heroines of the past achieved. I hope you learned something from this blog, but I really hope that you were inspired by something you read–inspired to be compassionate like Lou Xiaoying, brave like Harriet Tubman, smart like Marie Curie, enterprising like Biddy Mason, adventurous like Amelia Earhart, and willing to fight for you rights like Susan B. Anthony and the rest of the suffragists. Some of these women were leaders and politicians, and some were the greatest minds of their day, but many of them were just everyday people with a passion and a dream. But whoever they were, they all made a difference, and you can too. I hope you’ll be inspired to dream great dreams and to make a difference in your own life and your own world as the very special, strong, and kind person that you are. Thank you so much for all of the follows, likes, and views, and thank you for being a part of this journey with me. It’s been a blast.

Today, be inspired to…Make a difference. The world is changed by people like you.

Sheryl Sandberg

Activist and writer Sheryl Sandberg knows that women can do anything they put their minds to if they only belief and try. Graduating from Harvard with high honors in economics, Sheryl was already proving she believed in herself at a young age, and she demonstrated a desire to encourage other women early in life by co-founding the Women in Economics and Government organization while still in school. After spending some time as high-powered businesswoman, Sheryl landing a spot as the first female member of Facebook’s Board of the Directors. Having been so successful in the business sphere herself, Sheryl wants to help other women by addressing some of the problems they experience in the working world and seeks to encourage women to tackle some of the obstacles they face. Her TED speech “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders” was followed by her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, both of which encourage women to assume leadership roles and to actively say no to sexism and harassment in the work place. She also discusses gender roles and the unequal workload women still face when they have to perform all of the housework and child-raising while also working to provide an income. Her book inspired the Lean In movement, which seeks to help women achieve their profession goals through community, education, and the support of small group circles. Sheryl was also part of the “Ban Bossy” campaign, an attempt to stop the use of the word “bossy” for referring to any girl or woman who expressed assertiveness, took control, or showed leadership skills. Sheryl Sandberg proved what believing in yourself and your abilities can help you accomplish with her own life, and today she tries to help other women achieve their careers and to bring down the glass ceilings that stands in their way.

Today, be inspired to…Know you can do anything you put your mind to. The business world is only a man’s world if you let it be. A woman can have all the intelligence, skill, and business-savvy it takes to succeed anywhere, if she believes that she does.

Photo credit: levo.com

Anita Hill

Sexual harassment is a major issue in the workplace today now that it’s common for women to work outside the home, but though it’s illegal and reprimanded now, that wasn’t always the case. I’ve heard stories from an older relative about how anytime the boss at one of her jobs would start hitting on her, she just had to quit and find a new job. She never felt she could complain to authorities, and she never even felt her parents would take her seriously. But sexual harassment in the workplace has become a serious issue today, and we owe some of the attention the subject receives to Anita Hill. Back in 1991, Anita Hill charged her former boss Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment while she worked for him. Thomas was accused of making advances, speaking crudely, and describing off-color topics in graphic language. The allegations were a big deal because Thomas had just been made a Supreme Court Justice, and Anita was only the assistant he had fired. Anita had to stand firm through the ripping of the media, the insults from the public, and the denials of a man she had once worked for. It took a lot of bravery for her to sit through those televised trials, having to relive a difficult part of her life and having her character and honesty criticized, but she was determined that a man shouldn’t get away with treating a woman like that just because he was in a powerful position. Anita’s brave David versus Goliath stand was the beginning of the modern outcry against sexual harassment. Laws were changed in victims’ favor, companies started programs to end harassment, and sexual harassment complaints went up fifty percent now that women were emboldened to speak up and believed they would be listened to. The dismissal of the case by a group of male judges also sparked an upsurge in women’s participation in politics as angry women wanted their voices to be heard. Anita Hill may not have gotten a perfect ending to her own sexual harassment case, but she opened the door for discussion about harassment to begin, and she empowered other women to take a stand and to demand to be treated respectfully. We owe our current attitude toward sexual harassment largely to Anita Hill and her unwillingness to be treated poorly by a man in authority over her.

Today, be inspired to…Say no to sexual harassment. Don’t do it, and don’t allow it to be done to you. Report offenders to your superiors, and please don’t even stay silent because you think it’s somehow your fault—it never is.

Photo credit: businessweek.com

Ida B Wells

Ida B. Wells was an all-around activist, journalist, and supporter of civil rights and women’s suffrage. Her personal experiences of discrimination had already started a little flame of rebellion in Ida’s mind, and her education at Fisk University and LeMoyne started her thinking about social justice, politics, and civil rights. Her growing opinions took action one day when she was ordered to give up her seat on a train and refused in true Rosa Parks-fashion and was forcibly removed. As she became more outspoken and active, she began writing about racial subjects in newspapers like The Living Way and Free Speech and Headlight, tackling all tough issues about segregation and racial injustice. She was particularly vocal against lynching, even encouraging African Americans to leave Memphis for their own safety, and she used her journalism to investigate and document the lynchings that went on around her. Ida recorded the charges brought against lynchers, raised money to investigate lynchings, documented the reasons behind the vicious attacks, and published her research in a pamphlet. Needlessly, her outspokenness was ill received, and her newspaper office was destroyed by a mob. Despite the retaliation, she remained one of the fiercest opposers to the crime of lynching, even taking her campaign abroad. Ida was the founder of the National Association of Colored Women and the co-founder of the National Afro-American Council, important groups working for equality and fair treatment. Ida continued to be a crusader for Civil Rights throughout her life, spending her last years working in urban reform in Chicago. Ida B. Wells can be credited with shining the harsh light of truth on the nasty subject of lynching through her journalism and with tirelessly campaigning to bring an end to the hateful practice.

Today, be inspired to…Don’t be hateful today. You may never be hateful enough to murder another person, but we’re still often hateful in little ways to each other when we’re tired, stressed, or irritated, so try to be a little kinder today, even to the people who really push your buttons.

Photo credit: nabj.org

Night Witches

The WASPs of the United States Air Force had an interesting Soviet counterpart—the daring female fighter pilots known as the Night Witches. And unlike the American women who were limited to a civilian status despite their important work, the Night Witches were an official part of the military and engaged in dangerous activities like dropping bombs and harassing enemy planes. The pilots flew mostly small, old-model bi-planes constructed out of wood and canvas, only big enough to carry six bombs at a time and with engines slower than the idling speed of the larger German planes. The girls performed such daring maneuvers as cutting their engines to reduce the noise and gliding to the bomb drop point unheard. They usually had to make several trips out each night and flew without the reassuring back-up of a parachute because their planes flew too low for a parachute to open on the way down. The brave women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (their official name) went on an estimated 23,000 sorties and dropping about 3,000 tons worth of bombs during the war. Each pilot flew over 800 missions herself, an astounding feat for a woman in a tiny bi-plane, and it is no wonder they were the most decorated female unit of the Soviet Air Force, with twenty-three Hero of the Soviet Union titles. The brave women of the Night Witches were instrumental in defeating Hitler in World War II, taking on the most daring and dangerous of missions to ensure victory. The gave all of their skill, courage, and grit to their work, and thirty of them even gave their lives. Today the Night Witches are recognized as an important piece of both Russian and women’s history, inspiring women who made a difference.

Today, be inspired to…Do your part. The Night Witches didn’t win the war on their own, but it probably couldn’t have been won as quickly without their help either. It takes a lot of people pulling together to accomplish something.

Photo credit: madefromhistory.com

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current president of Liberia and a social activist for women, children, and the reputation of Africa as a whole. After putting her education in economics to use working for several banks, Ellen started to turn her attention toward more political and social issues and began working for the United Nations as an assistant administrator for the United Nations Development Programme. As part of the Organization of African Unity, she helped investigate the Rwandan Genocide and worked with UNIFEM to study the effects conflict had on women’s lives. After she became president in 2005, Ellen concentrated on children’s education, freedom of the press, and reducing Liberia’s national debt. She also started the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help the country to develop a sense of peace and unity as a nation. In addition to rebuilding her country from the inside, Ellen also works to establish good international relationships around the world through the United States African Command, commerce with China, and the United Nations. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for supporting the rights and safety of women in peace-building efforts. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has put years of effort into creating a more democratic and peaceful political environment in Liberia and hopes to make her country a safe, prosperous, and educated place for the future. Her political career has been rocky and imperfect, but she is trying to make a difference in the world, and as one of Forbe’s most powerful women, you can bet she will.

Today, be inspired to…Keep trying. Even when you feel like giving up, because we all do sometimes. Just keep going, one day at a time.

Photo credit: livingcivil.org

Susan B Anthony

Ah, Susan B. Anthony, my personal favorite of all the women in history who championed women’s rights, saved for a very special day, of course. Susan was raised with a strong sense of political activism and social justice by parents who believed girls should be just as well educated as boys. As an adult, she was keen to be politically active but was discouraged that she was not allowed to speak out at political meetings because she was a woman, and her attention began to turn toward women’s rights. Susan helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention, one of the biggest events in women’s rights history, and served as a secretary for the 1852 National Women’s Rights Convention. Her early activism concentrated on issues women’s faced everyday rather than specifically on voting, like a woman’s right to her own earnings, property, and even custody of her own children, and she help to have an improve Married Women’s Property Act passed. When she joined forces with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the magic really started to happen. The duo organized the Women’s Loyal National League, revamped the National Women’s Rights Convention, and published the newspaper The Revolution. The two also formed the National Woman Suffrage organization, which eventually became the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with both women taking a turn as the president. In addition to her involvement with so many organizations, Susan traveled almost constantly to give lectures and encourage support for women’s rights, giving between 75-100 speeches a year. Everywhere she went, she won more people over to the side of women’s suffrage and made certain the necessity of the right to vote never faded from the political eye. She wasn’t afraid to do whatever needed to be done either—she was arrested for attempting to vote but only used the situation to bring more attention to her cause (she never did pay her fine either). Susan even took women’s suffrage abroad through the World’s Congress of Representative Women and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. Susan B. Anthony was not just yet another activist during the women’s rights campaign—she WAS the women’s rights campaign. She was the driving force behind the movement, the brain that did the thinking and the feet that did the walking. Almost everything that was ever done or organization in the long campaign was touched by her hand. She was a sharp-minded, determined, and strong woman who worked tirelessly for the acknowledgment of women as equals, and we owe the fact that we can vote today largely to her.

Today, be inspired to…Vote! Susan B. Anthony would want you to. The very idea of a country where women can’t even vote seems so foreign to a modern Western mind, but appreciate that you have the right to and that someone worked very hard so that you have that right today. Check here https://2014.votinginfoproject.org/ to find out where you should vote and what’s on your ballot.

Photo credit: gccschool.org

Daisy Gatson Bates

The integration of the Little Rock Nine was one of the most iconic events in all of Civil Rights history, the infamous introduction of the nine African American students into a previously all-white Arkansas school. One of the people most involved in the event and its aftermath was Daisy Gatson Bates. Daisy and her husband owned a small newspaper in Arkansas called the Arkansas State Press and used journalism to promote Civil Rights and advocacy for African Americans. The paper and its publishers highly supported school integration and after closely following Brown v The Board of Education decision, they were primed to cover the next big event. Daisy became a mentor to the nine African American students at the center of the controversy, there to guide and support them as they entered Little Rock High School. She organized an escort of ministers for the children, assisted in their enrollment, joined the parent-teacher organization, and simply oversaw and coordinated the entire process. After the angry outcry against the school’s integration boiled over, Daisy was briefly arrested and charged a fine for failing to provide information on NAACP members, but she remained undeterred in the face of what was obviously a ploy to discourage her and other activist. At the end of it all, the school was successfully integrated, with no injuries toward any child thanks to her careful work and planning. In addition to her long-time membership with the NAACP, Daisy also worked for the Democratic National Committee and served on President Johnson’s anti-poverty programs. At home, she created a program that enabled poor, rural citizens to improve their neighborhoods and quality of life through self-help. For the entire country or in her own backyard, Daisy Gatson Bates made a difference for African Americans during the crucial Civil Rights era, but her most important work undoubtedly was the personal attention and advice she gave to nine scared, uncertain students taking a giant step toward a better world.

Today, be inspired to…Be interested and involved in your own neighborhood. It’s worthwhile investing in the place you live and spend most of your time.

Photo credit: wikipedia

Jovita Idar

Jovita Idar was a journalist and political activist who championed the civil rights of Mexican-Americans. Much of her work as an activist took place through her writing; she frequently published works under a pseudonym in the newspaper La Cronica, disclosing the poor living conditions and ill treatment of Mexican-born workers in the United States. Her commentary included on everything from politics to literature and was widely read. Jovita also supported the Mexican Revolution and worked caring for the wounded during the conflict, joining the White Cross relief organization to lend aid. Jovita taught school for a time and was also the first president of the League of Mexican Women, an organization that largely existed to support free education for Mexican children. Through the League, she also supported Civil Rights, women’s rights, and labor organization and provided food and clothing to those in need. Jovita was a thought-provoking and honest journalist throughout most of her life, never ceasing to expose the discrimination, struggles, and particular worldview of Mexican-Americans in the United States and giving voice to people who needed to have their opinions and feelings heard by the rest of the country.

Today, be inspired to…Write something, about what you see, believe, or know. Your words might make a difference to someone.

Photo credit: wikipedia

Tina Strobos

This blog has already mentioned a few selfless women who sheltered Jewish citizens during the holocaust, but there is always room for one more kind woman who deserves a little recognition for endangering her own life to save others. Tina Strobos was physician and child psychologist who was living in Amsterdam during World War II when the Nazi Germans occupied The Netherlands. Tina, her mother, and her grandmother, set up the attic of the boarding house they owned as a secret refuge for Jews fleeing persecution. There were able to keep four or five refugees at a time and also built a secret compartment a couple of people could squeeze into in case of a raid or search. Tina also helped bring food, supplies, and information to Jews hiding in other parts of the city or in the countryside so they would not have to risk being seen to find food and would know when it was safe to run. She transferred weapons and radios for the Dutch resistance and used a radio to send secret messages to Great Britain. Her dangerous work caused her to be questioned by the Gestapo nine times, but she was always released. Tina Strobos and her family managed to save the lives of over a hundred Jewish people, not to mention the aid she lent to those that didn’t stay in her home and to those who were striving to oust the Nazi regime from the country. Her courage and compassion made a difference to a lot of people and an important impact on history.

Today, be inspired to…Built a tradition of charity with your family. Maybe do something with your mom and grandmother, or maybe instill the value of compassion in your daughter or granddaughter’s life.

Photo credit: db.yadvashem.org