Women’s History Month 2021

March is Women’s History Month, and also includes the day that we celebrate International Women’s Day. The official theme for this year was “Choose to Challenge” and as women around the world battle the social, economic, and political inequalities and fallout from Covid-19, the need for this is greater than ever.

Join us in celebrating some of the many women who have made history as trailblazers, activists and change-makers – and who are still making history today! The contributions women have made and continue to make to our world are truly awe-inspiring. The women we have chosen here are utterly fearless, determined and as important a part of herstory as any old white man you’ve ever read about!

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

An American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in September 2020, Ginsburg spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court.

Maya Angelou

An American poet, memoirist and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

Dr Hawa Abdi

A Somali human rights activist and physician. She was the founder and chairperson of the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF), a non-profit organization. Author of “Keeping Hope Alive: How One Somali Woman Changed 90000 Lives” (17th May 1947 – 5th August 2020).

Roxane Gay

Author of the essay collection, Bad Feminist (2014), Gay is a commentator, editor, writer and professor of English who is at the forefront of feminist multiplicity. Gay, far from having an academic style, speaks plainly about how feminism intersects with race, religion, context, location, history and heritage. In her TED talk, she says she is “a mess”, failing as a woman and as a feminist while encouraging others to find new ways to make genuine change for equality. “When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement,” she says.

Michelle Obama

Lawyer, activist, former-US First Lady. “A truly modern-day, revolutionary woman, who has championed a multitude of important causes throughout her life, she has encouraged better education for girls, equal rights, healthy living and more help for families living in poverty”.

Edith Eger

Edith was born to Hungarian Jewish parents and is a psychologist practicing in the United States. She is a Holocaust survivor and a specialist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Her memoirs entitled The Choice – Embrace the Possible, published in 2017, became an international bestseller. Her second book, titled The Gift – 12 Lessons to Save Your Life was published in September 2020.

bell hooks

The American author was known for her social activism that was often mirrored through her writing of oppression, women’s rights and race. Some of bell hooks’ most notable works include Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women and Feminism and The Feminist Theory in which she declared, “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.”

Gloria Steinem

Writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organiser, she is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice.

Malala Yousafzai

The courageous teenager rose to fame with her memoir, I Am Malala, documenting her fearless journey as a young student fighting for access to education in Pakistan. Ever since, Malala has been traveling the world advocating for education rights for women and children through her foundation, The Malala Fund.

Autumn Peltier

A world-renowned water-rights advocate and a leading global youth environmental activist. In April 2019, Peltier was appointed Chief Water Commissioner by the Anishinabek Nation and has spoken about the issue of contaminated water on Indigenous reserves in Canada at the United Nations