Women Who Would Not Be Silent

WOMEN WHO WOULD NOT BE SILENT Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader, noted for her groundbreaking ideas about spirituality and health, which she named Christian Science. She articulated those ideas in her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875. Four years later she founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, which today has branch churches and societies around the world. In 1908 she launched The Christian Science Monitor, a leading international newspaper, the recipient, to date, of seven Pulitzer Prizes. “Woman must not and will not be disheartened by a thousand denials or a million of broken pledges. With the assurance of faith she prays, with the certainty of inspiration she works, and with the patience of genius she waits. At last she is becoming ‘as fair as the morn, as bright as the sun, and as terrible as an army with banners’ to those who march under the black flag of oppression and wield the ruthless sword of injustice.” ~Pulpit and Press, 83:8 “Let the voice of Truth and Love be heard above the dire din of mortal nothingness, and the majestic march of Christian Science go on ad infinitum, praising God, doing the works of primitive Christianity, and enlightening the world.” ~The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, page 245 “Let it not be heard in Boston that woman, ‘last at the cross and first at the sepulchre,’ has no rights which man is bound to respect. In natural law and in religion the right of woman to fill the highest measure of enlightened understanding and the highest places in government, is inalienable, and these rights are ably vindicated by the noblest of both sexes. This is woman's hour, with all its sweet amenities and its moral and religious reforms.” ~No and Yes page 45 Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933–2020) graduated from Columbia Law School and became a staunch courtroom advocate for the fair treatment of women, working with the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. In law school, Ginsburg encountered a very male-dominated, hostile environment, with only eight other females in her class of more than 500. The women were chided by the law school's dean for taking the places of qualified males. But Ginsburg pressed on and excelled academically, eventually becoming the first female member of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1980 and appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow. Malala Yousafzai (1997 - ) is a Pakistani education advocate who, at the age of 17, became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban. In 2013, she gave a speech to the United Nations and published her first book, I Am Malala. In April 2017, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Yousafzai as a U.N. Messenger of Peace to promote girls education. The appointment is the highest honor given by the United Nations for an initial period of two years. Following the attack, Yousafzai said that “the terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.” “The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women... Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.” “Dear friends, on the 9th of October, 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed.” Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005) is best known for becoming the first Black congresswoman (1968), representing New York State in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms. She went on to run for the 1972 Democratic nomination for the presidency—becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to do so. Throughout her political career, Chisholm fought for education opportunities and social justice. Chisholm left Congress in 1983 to teach. “My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn’t always discuss for reasons of political expediency.” Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) was an American writer, lecturer and abolitionist who was a leading figure in the women's voting rights movement. Raised in a Quaker household, Anthony went on to work as a teacher. She later partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and eventually led the National American Woman Suffrage Association. “It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed this Union.” “Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done.” Greta Thunberg (2003 - ) is a Swedish climate youth activist who sparked an international movement to fight climate change beginning in 2018. With the simple message "School strike for climate" handwritten on poster board, Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays and protesting outside the Swedish Parliament. Thanks to social media, her actions have spread and influenced millions of young people all over the world to organize and protest. “My role is to be one of many, many activists who are pushing for climate action. I don’t see myself as a leader, or icon or the face of a movement.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989– ) is an American Democratic Socialist who made headlines in 2018 by beating a 10-term New York Democrat incumbent in a congressional primary, before becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Despite drawing a disproportionate share of ire from foes across the aisle, Ocasio-Cortez hasn't shied away from speaking out on issues important to her. “Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.” Maya Angelou (1928 -2014) was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. Lorraine Hansbury (1930 – 1965) was a playwright and activist. She was the first Black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award for her play A Raisin in the Sun, a play about a struggling Black family which opened on Broadway to great success. Throughout her life she was involved in civil rights activism. “This is one of the glories of man, the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit: whenever life doesn't seem to give an answer, we create one.” “A status not freely chosen or entered into by an individual or a group is necessarily one of oppression and the oppressed are by their nature (i.e., oppressed) forever in ferment and agitation against their condition and what they understand to be their oppressors. If not by overt rebellion or revolution, then in the thousand and one ways they will devise with and without consciousness to alter their condition.” Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) was the first female prime minister of Britain. As prime minister, Thatcher battled the country's recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation. She was best known for her destruction of Britain's traditional industries through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner's union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport. One of her staunchest allies was U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a fellow conservative. The two shared similar right-wing, pro-corporate political philosophies. “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” “I've got a woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.” RAISING UP WOMEN’S VOICES “I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. … We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” ~Malala Yousafzai “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” ~Madeleine Albright “Women are always saying, ‘We can do anything that men can do.’ But men should be saying, ‘We can do anything that women can do.’” ~Gloria Steinem “A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” ~Melinda Gates “We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women's voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.” ~Sheryl Sandberg “I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak.” ~Harriet Beecher Stowe “Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet.

Load more