“Well behaved women seldom make history…”
– Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
That quote from Ms. Ulrich is a mantra I have adopted over the past few years, is displayed on one of my tank tops, and very apropos for this occasion. Today marks the 100 year anniversary of International Women’s Day, an observance of the quest for women’s rights and the contributions women have made to humanity around the globe.
In honor of this most auspicious occasion, here are 3 magnificent women who have inspired and impacted history in our world with style and vigor.
Aung San Suu Kyi led the fight for democracy in Burma, was former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. For her work, she received Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and in 2007, she was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the United States. Suu Kyi’s house was blockaded and she was under house arrest for 15 years for her role in political change and finally release November 2010.
Angela Davis is a well-known, almost infamous, political activist, scholar and author has advocated for civil rights, women’s rights, and prisoner rights in the U.S.. Mostly known by many for being a leading voice of the Black Panther Party, the Soviet Union awarded Davis the Lenin Peace Prize for her civil rights activism. A co-founder of the Committee of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Ms. Davis continues her efforts for prisoner rights, civil rights, as well as speaking at colleges and universities throughout the U.S.
Frida Kahlo, a now renown Mexican artist, was a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit. As a young child, Kahlo was stricken with polio, then in her late teen years, she was a victim to a horrific car accident that crushed and broke her spinal column, ribs, collarbone, pelvis, and punctured her uterus. Frida Kahlo used painting as a coping mechanism while recovering, and spent most of her life in pain. Her works, specifically her self portraits, and story didn’t gain notoriety until after she died in 1954.
