I think it’s particularly inspiring that Liberia, the country founded by freed American slaves in 1847, has just elected their first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and she was sworn in today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I have a soft spot of love and heartbreak for Africa, and even though I was young when I lived there, I wasn’t too young or sheltered to see that the real hope in Africa is its women. In the years my parents and I lived there, my mother did a herculean amount of work with women in inner-city and rural areas, with tribes to help give them an autonomous industry and in shelters run by nuns. I saw the work she did, heard the stories she told, and couldn’t help thinking of these women when I watched Johnson-Sirleaf talk about the power of her country’s women. Not to mention, the work she has ahead of her to repair the damage of fourteen years of civil war.
I’m very moved by it. I hope this is another way we can recognize contributions from men like King and women like Johnson-Sirleaf.
progress
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I almost wrote a very long comment saying how much I also love Africa and why, but then decided it was too long. However, I do love Africa (South Africa, Sierra Leone and Ghana in particular).
I didn’t realize what was going on in Liberia today, but reading your post reminded me of Wangari Mathai (I don’t know if I spelled that correctly, I didn’t look it up) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 (or 2004?). Her work planting trees is such a beautifully simple concept but does so much good for so many; because of her work, I would also believe that hope and change in Africa can and will come from its women.
In another large step for women around the world, Michelle Bachelet was confirmed the new Chilean president, the first ever female elected president in South American… so it looks like progress is being made on multiple continents! Hopefully, ours will be next…