Black Women Trailblazers: Past & Present
This month, we recognize the centuries of oppression the Black community has faced in America and abroad and the sacrifices that were made for eventual progress. This month is also a time to celebrate and pay tribute to some of the most influential change-makers and leaders throughout history who have overcome adversity and challenged the status quo. Listed below are a group of 5 prominent women of color who have led and continue to lead the way towards a more just and equitable society. Not only do these women and all women of color have to endure the prejudiced speech and systems that are meant to oppress them based on race, but their gender adds challenge. The marginalization of this community of people has been entrenched in society for centuries, making the accomplishments and progress of the women below even more impressive. Let this month, these women, and their stories be a lesson that no matter how difficult the circumstances, some causes are just worth fighting for.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, born a Maryland slave, was one of 9 children. She suffered at the hands of slaverly mentally and physically, enduring brutal emotional and physical abuse at a young age. In 1849, Tubman escaped and was freed in the North. Dedicating her life to helping others like her avoid a life of slavery, she began working as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a voyage made of a series of shelters and volunteers who would help enslaved people seek freedom in the north. She became one of the most famous conductors and the face of the Underground Railroad, helping free hundreds of slaves and their families and risking her life while doing so. She also eventually went on to work for the Union army as a spy and armed scout, aiding the North in the fight. Her sacrifices saved hundreds or thousands of lives and paved the way for progress before and after the war.
Madam CJ Walker
In the 1890s, Madam CJ Walker, a mother and wife, worked as a washerwoman in St. Louis, Missouri. After suffering a scalp disorder forcing her to lose much of her hair, she began coming up with home remedies to improve her condition. After working for commission for a hair-product company, Walker left the company to begin her selling her own perfected remedy. Her husband, an advertising agent, traveled the country with her helping her promote her product. Her company began to grow rapidly, with the help of her employees known as “Walker Agents” who traveled and sold her products. By 1905, she became one of the first African-American women to become a self-made millionaire. Her products revolutionized the hair-care industry and helped advance the status of Black women in the world of business. She also used her fortune for good conducting many philanthropic events and initiatives for Black Americans.
Michelle Obama
Growing up in a small house on the South Side of Chicago, Michelle Obama came from rather humble beginnings. Her parents taught her and her brother the value of education and pushed them both to strive for more. After accelerating through school as a gifted child, Obama graduated from her high school as salutatorian, cum laude from Princeton University, and went on to study law at Harvard University. It was there that she met her now-husband and former president Barack Obama. Before becoming the first lady, where she led nationwide initiatives on healthy living, poverty, and education, she was a wildly successful lawyer, Chicago city administrator, and community-outreach leader. As the U.S.’s first African-American First Lady, Michelle and her successes dramatically influenced a variety of global issues.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks grew up in the early 1900s attending segregated schools in a racially divided and prejudiced Alabama. After high school and marrying her husband, she became increasingly involved in the NAACP. In December of 1955, Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger. Her refusal to give up her seat began the 381-day-long Montgomery Bus Boycott that was ended with the Supreme Court deciding that the segregation of public transportation is unconstitutional. Her activism led to the end of racial segregation in public facilities and awarded her the Martin Luther King Jr. Award by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Shirley Chisholm
In November of 1924, Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York as a daughter of immigrant parents. As a star student and debater throughout middle and high school, Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn College cum laude in 1946. She worked as a school teacher and earned her masters in early childhood education in 1951 from Columbia University. After joining local chapters of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP, she began her life in politics. In 1964, she became the first African American in the New York State Legislature. Then, she won a seat in the House of Representatives and introduced nearly 50 pieces of legislation and she was a co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus and became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee. Chisholm eventually became the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties. She paved the way for women and women of color in American politics and government for generations to come.
Vocabulary list:
Status quo (n): the existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.
Equitable (adj): fair and impartial
Marginalization (n): treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant
Voyage (n): a long journey
Philanthropic (adj): seeking to promote the welfare of others, especially by donating money to good causes
Humble (adj): of modest pretensions or dimensions
Legislation (n): laws considered by law-makers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hailey Womer is a third-year student at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York pursuing a dual major in Public Relations and Political Science. With interests in communications, public diplomacy, and politics & government, she hopes to use communication to grow the passions of the public and advocate for others. In her free time, you can find her editing social media content, engrossed in the fashion trends of the season, catching up on the latest political buzz, or on a philanthropic mission to make the world just a little bit brighter!