BLACK MANNER : 10 INSPIRING BLACK WOMEN IN HISTORY | IMAGE SOURCE @UNSPLASH

10 INSPIRING BLACK WOMEN IN HISTORY

Caption reads, "Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. / [WKL]." Original black and white negative by Warren K. Leffler. Taken August 28th, 1963, Washington D.C, United States (@libraryofcongress). Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003654393/

Image via UNSPLASH

 

Here we are, our month : the month of our history !  

The month of February marks the month of black history. In this special month, we want to honour black women who sacrificed themselves to bring the black community to light.

We particularly chose women, because they are key people in our society. Many first think  of women like Beyonce, Michelle Obama and many other women of the current era, but do not know that before these women of stature there were rays of sunshine who sacrificed themselves for our independence.

However, we in no way question the sacrifices that exceptional women like Beyonce or Mrs. Obama have had to make for society but here, we would like to introduce you to those that were present from the beginning.

Beyoncé Writes About Michelle Obama for 2019 TIME 100 List

Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Michelle Obama, January 2013 (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Here is for you dear community the list of 10 black women who deserve to be known by the general public :

 

MARY ELIZA MAHONEY

MARY ELIZA MOHONEY(May 7, 1845 – January 4, 1926) was the first African-American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States.

Image source via biography.com 

Born in 1845, Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African-American to work as a professional nurse in the United States of America. At the age of 33, she entered in a nursing program for 16 months, and earned her certification. 

During her career, she directed Howard Orphan Asylum in the city of New York. After her career she continues to fight for women's rights, and became in 1920, the first women to register to vote.

 

CLAUDETTE COLVIN 

Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin, September 5, 1939)[1][2] is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide.

Image source via bbc.com 

Many believe that the first person to refuse to give up her bus seat was named Rosa Parks. The first to have tried the experiment is called Claudette Colvin, who did it 10 months before Rosa Parks. 

Claudette Colvin was born in 1939. She's recognize as an American pioneer of the 1950's civil rights movement. It's on march 2, 1955 that she was arrested just at the  age of 15 years old in Alabama, because she refused to give up her seat to a white woman in a segregated bus. 

 

WILMA RUDOLPH

 

Wilma Rudolph was rammed the " fastest woman in the world "

Image source via lottie.com

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born in 1940 and died November 12, 1994.

She was an American sprinter. After winning 3 gold medals in the same 1956 Summer Olympics, she was glorified " The Fastest Woman In The World ". She was then became a heroine for black female athletes.

 

MAE JEMISON  

 

Image source via biography.com 

Mae Jemison was born in Alabama in October 17, 1956. She became the first African American woman in space into the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

At the age of 16 years old, she began studying at Stanford University. In 1987, she was chosen for NASA's astronaut program.

 

PHILLIS WHEATLEY

 

Image source via wikipedia.com 

Phillis Wheatley was an American author. She was born in West Africa, and was sold during the slavery. After that, she was transported to North America.  

She was a lucky slave, because the family who bought her allowed her to read and write. When the family discovered her real talent, they helped her travel to London in 1773, and then she published her first poems. She was recognized as the first African American author to published a book of poetry. 

 

MAGGIE LENA MITCHELL 

Image source via biography.com 

M. Mitchell was born in Virginia in 1864, and died at the ago of 70, in 1934. In 1903, Maggie Lena Mitchell made history.

Not only she was the first African American woman to serve as a bank president, but also she was at the same time the first African American woman to charter a bank.

Unfortunately with time, this amazing woman faced major health issues, and the became a symbol for people with disabilities. 

 

MARY JANE PATTERSON

 

Image source via webuyblack.com

Mary Jane Patterson was born in North Carolina in 1840, and passed away at the age of 54. She moved with her family in Ohio at the age of 16 years old.

Her family hope was to send their children to college. Successful chalenge, because Patterson became the first black woman to graduate from an established American college named Oberlin College.

 

ALICE DUNNIGAN

 

Image source via courrier-journal.com 

Dunnigan graduated from Kentucky State of University. In 1947 she became chief of the Associated Negro Press, and the first African-American woman accredited cover the White House.

Thanks to the arrival of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the USA,  Alice Dunnigan saw the light. In the past, she was most of the time ignored during White House news conferences. 

 

WANGARI MAATHAI

 

Image source from nobelprize.org

Wangari Maathai was the first African women to win the Nobel Peace Price. She was from Kenya and was also known as a social, environmental and political activist. 

She had the opportunity to studied in the United States of America thanks to the Kennedy Airlift. The Kennedy Airlift was a program who has to help Kenyan students to get college and university educations in the north continent of America. After that, she earned a bachelor's degree from Mount St. Scholastica and a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh. 

She also has the privilege to became the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of philosophy. She earned this diploma at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. 

 

ANDREA JENKINS

 

Image source from mprnews.com 

Andrea Jenkins was born in May 1961 in Chicago. She's known as an American politician, writer, performance artist and poet. In 2017, she became the first openly transgender person of color elected to a public office in the United States of America. 

 

BE YOUNG - BE AWESOME - BE BLACK 


          
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