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Filtering by Category: Making HERstory
Why do we study women's history? The lives of women and their role in, and impact on, our history has rarely been spotlit. We need to know women's stories, we need to look to them as models, beacons of inspiration to follow as we aspire to our dreams and follow our convictions. We need to learn about their lives and experiences. Their trailblazing paths will show us the way forward. Ensuring that every woman's story is heard and respected provides every little girl, and not so little girl, with the opportunities to understand and to know they can realize the power of their dreams because there was someone who came before them who showed that Yes! This Girl Can! Change the World. So, let’s make HERstory!
"I desire you would remember the ladies", Abigail Adams- Celebrating Women's History Month
Jacqui Fishman
“... I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
Abigail Adams was not a woman who kept her opinions to herself. She did not sit idly by in Quincy Massachusetts while her husband forged a new nation. As the wife and the mother of presidents, and her husband’s closest advisor, she had a unique opportunity to influence the decisions of how a young country would be shaped and she implored her husband to “remember the ladies.” Abigail like so many women was left alone to manage the farm and raise her children while her husband was in Philadelphia and England for months and years, all in the midst of a revolution on her doorstep finding her life and her children’s lives in danger at all times. Abigail knew very well that the future of the new country would depend as much on its women as the men and she let her husband know that to not include women in the decisions and for them to have a real voice would set the new country on the wrong path. It would be 144 years until women were recognized as having the right to legally participate as a citizen with the passage of the 19th amendment acknowledging women’s right to vote, and would not be until 1965 and the passage of the Voting Rights Act that all women were allowed to vote.
“Well behaved women rarely make history”
American history is filled with stories of women, most unknown, who made their own way, defied societal expectation and command, and bravely and independently pushed down doors, ignorance, harassment and even threats to their lives and well being. Women such as Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who in a 1912 New York Times article was cited as “the symbol of the new era, when all women will be free and unhampered.” She was just 16 years old at the time and was already gaining notoriety for her work as a suffragist who had led over 10,000 in the New York suffrage parade. Mabel would go on to become the first Chinese woman to get a PhD in economics. Think of Maria Mitchell, born who on Natucket in 1818. In 1847 at the age of 29 Maria discovered a comet. She was the first female astronomer in the United States, and was also the first American scientist to discover a comet! Maria was a strong advocate for science and math education for girls and became the first female astronomy professor. Then there is Charlotta Spears Bass. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Charlotta was the editor of the African American newspaper The California Eagle. She worked as a journalist, civil rights activist, and politician...she was also the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States in 1952. Charlotta dedicated her work to fighting what she called “The two-headed monster, Segregation and Discrimination.”
“Where there is a woman there is magic.”
Why do we study women's history? The lives of women and their role in, and impact on, our history has been overlooked for so long. We need to know women's stories, we need to look to them as models, for inspiration, to follow our dreams and convictions. We need to learn about their lives and experiences. Their trailblazing paths will show us the way forward. Ensuring that every woman's story is heard and respected let’s every little girl know there is a role model to show her that This Girl Can!
This #WomensHistoryMonth we celebrate the rule breakers, the trailblazers, the fearless and the indefatigable who said Yes! #ThisGirlCan and She Will!
Be sure to follow us to help us celebrate. For more great stories and biographies visit The National Women's History Museum and PBS Videos on Women in American History
"Dwell in Possibility"-Celebrate Your Creative Voice
Jacqui Fishman
This week, at a once in history Presidential innaugural celebration, 22 year old Amanda Gorman ,the former junior poet laureate of the United States, delivered the innaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”. Her powerful and inspiring piece had everyone wrapped in her words. She truly stole the show, and we will carry her words with us through these days:
"The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it."
Amanda is a voice, has a voice, and uses her voice, but she could not always do that with confidence out loud and so her poetry was her outlet. “I think that passion was exacerbated by the fact that I had a speech impediment. So having an arena in which I could express my thoughts freely was just so liberating that I fell head over heels, you know, when I was barely a toddler.”
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Being creative, immersing ourselves in creative activities, does not require any special skill or talent, really! Pick up a pencil, a paint brush, a camera, knitting needles…sit at a piano, put on your dancing shoes, open your voice …
Who cares about what the end result, this is for you! Just be open to moving your thoughts, emotions, energies into your favorite creative outlet as a wonderful way to express how you feel, and who you are!
January is #CreativityMonth. Let's celebrate some of the extraordinary women whose creativity moves us, engage us, bring us joy, and inspire us everyday. #ThisGirlCanCreateHerWorld
“I Dwell in Possibility”
This Girl Can! Change the World...and She Did-Ruby Bridges
Jacqui Fishman
“Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail.
When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction,
the only thing that can stop you is you!”
Just imagine being only six years old and having the eyes of the entire world on you as you are simply trying to do what every six year old does each day, go to school. For Ruby Bridges,however, her entryway to the first grade and to school was literally blocked because of the color of her skin. 60 years ago this week Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to attend an all white school, the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. As Ruby walked to enter the school, along with her brave Mom Lucille, and escorted by white federal marshals, she was met with angry white crowds shouting racial slurs and throwing things at her. That day was of course captured in Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting “The Problem We All Live With” and Ruby Bridges became the face of school integration.
Ruby and her parents didn’t give up or give in to the hatred they endured despite threats and fear, her father losing his job and shops refusing to serve them. As soon as Ruby entered the school 500 students left and never came back while other children were literally hidden away from her. She would spend the entire school year all alone in a classroom with the only teacher who would teach her, Barbara Henry who came from Boston to work in the school. In a recent interview on NPR Ms. Bridges talked about her amazing teacher "Barbara came from Boston to teach me because teachers actually quit their jobs because they didn't want to teach black kids. I remember the first day meeting her, she looked exactly like the mob outside the classroom. So I really didn't know what to expect from her,…But I remember her graciously saying, you know, come in and take a seat — and there I was sitting in an empty classroom with her for the whole year, you know, she showed me her heart. Very early on, and I realized that she cared about me, she made school fun, and ultimately I felt safe in that classroom." It would be Barbara who finally persuaded the school principal, a member of the opposition, to allow the children to meet Ruby and come together.
Ruby Bridges has spent her life as a Civil Rights icon and activist, going into schools and speaking with kids about her experiences and about racism which she tells them is a “grown up disease”. “None of our babies are born into the world knowing anything about disliking one another, or disliking someone because of the color of their skin.” she says “Babies don't come into the world like that. And so if babies are not born that way, then we as adults are the ones who are passing it on to them, and we have kept racism alive.”
Ms. Bridges has just published her third book “This is Your Time” inspired by recent social justice activism by young people throughout the country and the world. In the book she tells her own story, speaks to her work through her Ruby Bridges Foundation, explores the parallels between the 1960s and this moment while sending out a call to action to this generation to act for change. The book was published on the same day she lost her Mom and in a social media post she paid tribute to her - “Today our country lost a hero. Brave, progressive, a champion for change. She helped alter the course of so many lives by setting me out on my path as a six-year-old little girl. Our nation lost a Mother of the Civil Rights Movement today. And I lost my mom. I love you, and am grateful for you. May you Rest In Peace. Lucille Bridges (August 12th, 1934 - November 10th, 2020),"
The short and iconic walk that Ruby Bridges took over 60 years ago changed so much for so many as schools became integrated. As powerful as those steps were, however, one small girl’s extraordinarily brave act remains a very powerful and necessary inspiration for us all to take steps to keep us all moving forward not backward for social justice and equity for all children.
"Dream with Ambition" This Girl Can! Believe
Jacqui Fishman
"But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a county of possibilities."
Kamala Harris, Vice-President-Elect, November 7, 2020
How many times in the last 24 hours have we seen and heard little girls, ALL little girls, looking wide-eyed and smiling at images and footage of the soon to be Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris. How many little girls of color looked at their Mom and Dad with expressions of glee and exclaiming, “She looks like me!” The Vice-President elect has made history not only as the very first woman to be elected to higher office-about time wouldn’t you say!, but also the first woman of color and the first woman of South Asian descent -lots of glass shattered this week!
Kamala Devi Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants has been elected to the second highest office in the land 100 years after the passage of the 19th amendment enfranchised women. Wearing. white, as she made her first public appearance as Vice-President elect, in honor of all who came before, the Kamala Harris spoke directly to every little girl and made it clear in NO way would she be the last to make history. It is also 55 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act abolishing the disenfranchisement of Black Americans. 35 years ago Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman to run for Vice-President and she was asked repeatedly throughout that 1984 campaign if she was “tough enough” for the job. Whether with a stiletto or Jack Purcell All Star, Kamala Harris has kicked a door down, a very big door, and in so doing she has shown EVERY girl that Yes! This Girl Can!…and She Will! Congratulations Madame Vice-President-elect.
“And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction. And see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they’ve never seen it before, but know that we will applaud you every step of the way.”
~Kamala Harris, Vice-President elect , November 7, 2020
This Girl Can! Read ALL Day
Jacqui Fishman
“In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to, and what I might dare to dream about my world and myself. ”
Do you remember the very first book you ever read all on your own? How about the very first time you got lost in the shelves of a bookshop or library? Do you love falling into the pages of a book so deep that everything around you just stops. A book is a magical place! The stories we read can not only transport us to other worlds, other times, other lives, but can also open us to understanding, tolerance, self discovery and the the real possibility of realizing our dreams. THAT is how powerful a book can be!
October is National Book Month, while many of us do not need a special month to celebrate our love of books and reading any excuse to reach for a book is welcome. Reading,however, is more than a joyful pastime.
For any girl growing up the characters they meet in a book can iinfluence their sense of self and help inform who they may want to be and the lives they want to aspire to. Be it Anne Shirley, Madeline, Jo March, Pippi, Elizabeth Bennet, Mary Lennox, Ramona, Hermione Granger, Meg Murry,Princess Magnolia, Matilda Wormwood, Enola Holmes, Harriet the Spy, Olivia…strong, determined, smart, driven characters who have their own brain and ther own plan allow gilrs to hold up a mirror and find their own power!
The critical importance of literacy and education for girls around the globe is palpable. When girls have literacy skills and access to education where they can learn and thrive it literally changes their world. Yet so many girls all over the globe don’t have access to books or formal education and right now more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school.
This Girl Can! encourages you to learn more and support two terrific organizations working to bring books and educational access to ALL!. First Book and Room to Read.
We know that 61% of kids from low-income families in this country do not even have a single children’s book at home. We also know that education is the magic wand for girls everywhere helping them to grow to become women with secure, healthy, impactful futures.
In celebration of National Book Month, learn more and make a donation to these two great organizations. First Book will help bring a child the gift of books and reading-for many it may be the first book they get to call their own. Room to Read's Girls’ Education Program was founded with the belief that educated women can change the world! We know they can! .Learn More about the importance of Girls Literacy and Education at Room to Read
Let’s Celebrate #NationalBookMonth with Some of our Favorite Books that inspire us, move us, bring us joy, and confirm that Yes! ALL Girls Can! Find more great Book Ideas for EVERY Girl at A Mighty Girl
“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.”
“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.
”
This Girl Can!...and She Did! Women Belong! Thanks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Jacqui Fishman
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
Had she never been nominated to the highest court Ruth Bader Ginsburg would certainly be remembered as a single indomitable force who dedicated her life to championing women's fight for equality, and society's road toward equal justice. At every point in her life she was pushed on closed doors in her quiet, often shy, demeanor which left many having never seen her coming! She left an unparalleled legacy of justice and equality with groundbreaking cases that changed the legal landscape and this country. She is responsible for changing women's legal rights and access, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg did so much more, for every woman, for every little girl, for everyone who has ever been told-"sorry, this isn't your door" she blazed a trail in her demure yet tough as nails way- “Women belong,” she said, “ in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” and she dedicated her work and her life to ensuring just that.
“We should not be held back from pursuing our full talents, from contributing what we could contribute to society, because we fit into a certain mold––because we belong to a group that historically has been the object of discrimination.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought in every corner of her life with a steely determination. She said that starting out she had three strikes against her-she was Jewish, a Woman , and a Mother-all of which meant doors that swung open for men with far less ability were not even available to be seen for her. Cancer would be an incessant presence throughout, from her Mother, to her cherished Marty, to her own numerous private battles... but nothing, not even cancer, stopped her-she worked and battled through pain and loss with a laced glove iron hand and will. She found great joy in her Notorious RBG fame and how amazing that so many little girls would have such an icon to emulate. In her first ever case as a Supreme Court justice she showed she was not there to just fill a chair but would continue her fight for equality.
In her first ever case as a Supreme Court justice she showed she was not there to just fill a chair but would continue her fight for equality.
"Sex, like race, is a visible, immutable characteristic bearing no necessary relationship to ability.
Sex, like race, has been made the basis for unjustified or at least unproved assumptions, concerning an individual’s potential to perform or to contribute to society…
These distinctions have a common effect: They help keep woman in her place, a place inferior to that occupied by men in our society."
In conclusion Justice Ginsburg quoted Sara Grimke:
"I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks."
She showed that it simply didn't matter that you were born a woman-gender was irrelevant and she worked to her last days to ensure that justice for everyone would be secure. She simply changed how society is for American women, full stop. She was a revolutionary at every step of her life who created a revolution, so may her memory be just that, a revolution that fulfills her last wish and in her death may she blaze one last irrevocable trail again for us all. Thank You Justice Ginsburg.
“In my life, what I find most satisfying is that I was part of a movement that made life better, not just for women … gender discrimination is bad for everyone.”
“I do think that I was born under a very bright star...When you think about — the world has changed really in what women are doing. I went to law school when women were less than 3% of lawyers in the country; today, they are 50%. I never had a woman teacher in college or in law school. The changes have been enormous. And they’ve just — they’ve gone much too far [to be] going back.”