This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNT chapter.
March marks the beginning of Women’s History Month!
To celebrate Women’s History Month, I would like to talk about a few women who mean the most to me and a few women who were hell raisers and icons.
- My mother is the most amazing woman I have ever met. She works so hard and does so much for me and my siblings. I couldn’t imagine a life without her. She brings light and sunshine to my dark and rainy days. She always tells me it’s important to be loved and be myself even when it seems difficult to accept love and yourself. She is a woman in my life who I look up to and love so dearly. She’s the reason I am where I’m at and the reason for my incredible upbringing.
- Rosa Parks was a fighting machine. Not only was she a woman but she was a black woman who fought for black rights. She challenged racial segregation and stood her ground. It takes immense courage to do what she did. She was a huge part of the civil rights movement and did what so many others were afraid to do. In a time where her protest was so dangerous, she did it, she refused to get up for a white person. For this, she was arrested which led to a citywide boycott of buses. It last for a year until the supreme court outlawed bus segregation. What is so mind-blowing is that she passed in 2005.
- Princess Diana of Wales was a beautiful woman and a fashion icon. She edged over the lines and really stuck it to the royal family. Her death was a tragic one and one that has sparked controversial views. Her wonderful son also married a black queen and has protected her from the disrespect of the royal family. She advocated and and raised awareness for those affected by mental illness, aids & cancer. She cared about people and cared and took to know many people of need, she was also involved with numerous charities.
- Wangari Maathai was an environmental activist in Kenya. She founded the Greenbelt movement which was a movement that campaigned for tree planting, women’s rights, and the more that could be done for the environment. She was also the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to be elected to congress, she served her first term in 1969!
- Harriet Tubman led the Underground railroad! She helped numerous slaves gain freedom after escaping in 1849. She was a runaway slave who had a humongous offer for capture after her success. In the Civil War era, she was a spy for the union Army. She was a tremendous leader in black and women’s history!
- Katherine Johnson, whose name you may recognize from the movie Hidden Figures. She was a mathematician at NASA. Her trajectory calculations helped place the first American man in space.
- Oprah Winfrey, a famous and inspirational black woman is the first Black billionaire. This is so incredible in a world that fights harder to diminish black success than protect it. She also created a leadership academy in young woman in South Africa.
I want to raise a huge holler to all the amazing women in the world. You are the movement, you are life. Without us, life would cease to exist. Women are so important and have done such incredible things in this world. Our fight never stops.