Remembering women of color during Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is celebrated in March in many countries around the world. The month also coincides with International Women’s day celebrated on March 8th. Throughout this month, let us all remember and honor women for their contributions in making this world a better place. In today’s post I pay my tribute to the women of color for their accomplishments and achievements.

Throughout history, women have made significant impacts. Here are few of the many facts, we all need to know, about women rights-

July 1848– First women’s rights convention

December 1869– Legislature passed in Wyoming granting women the right to vote and hold office

April 1917– First woman elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives

August 1920– The Susan B. Anthony Amendment to the 19th amendment about the right to vote

December 1955– Launch of civil right movement by Rosa Parks

May 1960– The first commercially produced birth control pill in the world was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

June 1963– Equal Pay Act was passed by President Kennedy

July 1964– Civil Rights Act was passed by President Johnson

June 1972– Title IX of the Education Amendment passed by President Nixon

January 1973– U S Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion

September 1994– Violence Against Women Act signed by President Clinton

January 2013– The U.S. military takes off ban against women serving in combat positions.

January 2021– Kamala Harris becomes the first woman and first woman of color vice president of the United States

Background:

Women’s History Month has been celebrated in the United States since 1987. Before that, in 1982 the week beginning March 7 was proclaimed as Women’s History Week. The International Women’s Day also celebrated in March originated in 1911, and the UN has been sponsoring International Women’s Day since 1975.

For me it is so difficult to chose which women to showcase in my post today because there are so many. Women in science, technology, engineering, art, math, music, literature, social justice and so on. This post is tribute to so many women that I have learned about growing up and now getting this opportunity to really talk about them. Read on to learn about few, out of the many, women that have made tremendous impact in shaping our world.

Women of color in STEAM

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

• Ellen Ochoa (1958)

Dr. Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman to go to space in 1993, when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

• Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927-2002)

 She is the first Asian American woman elected to Congress. She co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Amendment that prohibits sex discrimination.

• Malala Yousafzai (1997)

She is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient at the age of 17 and a Pakistani activist for female education.

• Shakuntala Devi (1929-2013)

She was an Indian mathematician, writer and mental calculator, and has earned her a place in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records.

• Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)

She was the first women of Indian descent to fly in space in 1997.

• Katherine Johnson (1918- 2020)

She was an African-American space scientist and mathematician, and was a leading figure in American space history. She has made enormous contributions to America’s aeronautics and space programs.

• Anna May Wong (1905-1961)

She was the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition.

• Annie Easley (1933- 2011)

She was one of four African Americans who worked in National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and developed and implemented code which led to the development of the battery’s used in hybrid cars

• Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

She is a Pulitzer prize-nominated poet and a civil rights activist who has worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

• Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)

Barbara Jordan was a prominent politician and civil rights leader who was the first black woman from the South elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Sonia Sotomayor (1954)

She is the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. She is also the third female justice in U.S. Supreme Court history. Sotomayor continues to support women’s issues, criminal justice reform, and legal immigration.

• Ibtihaj Muhammad (1985)

She is the first Muslim woman to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, and she also won an Olympic medal.

• Rosa Parks (1913- 2005)

She was the first Black woman to initiate the civil rights movement in 1955 by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus.

• Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015)

She was a prominent writer and activist, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, who worked hard during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

• Dolores Huerta (1930)

She is a labor activist and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, and has been advocating for immigrant and Latino rights in the United States.

• Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997)

She was a Chinese-born, American-trained physicist who helped the United States develop the atomic bomb during World War II

• Junko Tabei (1939-2016)

She was a Japanese mountaineer, an author, and a teacher. She was the 36th person and the first woman to climb Everest.

• Deb Haaland (1960)

She is a single mother, marathon runner, lawyer and member of Congress for New Mexico, and one of the first two Native American women to be elected to U.S. Congress in 2018.

• Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017)

She was an Iranian mathematician and Stanford math professor. She won the quadrennial Fields Medal in 2014 which is the most prestigious award in mathematics.

• Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923)

She was one of the first female graduates in Bangladesh and the entire British Empire. She became the first female practitioner of western medicine not just in India, but in the whole of South Asia.

• Alice Ball (1892 – 1916)

She was the first woman and first African American to receive a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii, and helped develop an effective treatment for the leprosy disease.

• Joy Harjo (1951)

She is a Native American poet, musician, playwright, and author who has received the United States Poet Laureate.

Conclusion

To conclude, history is filled with names of women of color who have made small and big impact to make this world a better place. Through pioneering and leadership, some of these women have opened doors to accomplishments even no one man had achieved at that time. As an educator, I know that we need to push our girls to pursue careers in STEM but letting them also know that being a leader and pursuing your passion in anything that interests you, is vital. Let us all take a moment to remember all the women of color, many unheard, who have helped create this world we live in with advancements in various fields. Let us not just remember them this month of March, for Women’s History Month, but always in our heart for their strength, perseverance and hard work.

Dear readers, we would love to hear from you. Have you heard of these women? Who inspires you the most? Do add more to this list to help spread awareness and pay them tribute. You may comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com

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