March is one of my favorite months. It signifies newness, change, and transformation of what was and what is to come. March is new life.
The pop-up spring showers. The pollen. The new blooms. The temperature is just right. It all signifies the new season of beauty.
Women are the new season of beauty. Women’s History Month prepares us for the driver’s seat to shape what is to come. We can see change, but now we are on a mission to seek total transformation for women.
A Woman’s Legacy
While preparing to write this blog post, I thought about all of the many women who came before me. All of the women had sacrificed so much to be visible and vocal about gender equality, racism, inclusion, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and the gender wage gap.
Women’s History Month gives a timeline to celebrate women’s forward movement fights throughout the years. We cheer the brave hearts’ accomplishments, the strong voices, and the determined trailblazers on a mission to change the world.
I’m sure the women we celebrate and admire today were not hailed as heroes when they were on their missions for change. I can only imagine the hardships they endured to be heard. We are still enduring hardships today, but women like Maya Angelou, Anne Frank, Rosa Parks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malala Yousafzai, Mother Teresa, Shirley Chisholm, Katherine Johnson, Bessie Coleman, Claudette Colvin, Jane Addams, and Sojourner Truth each accepted their leadership roles for a change. They set aside their fear and used their voice to make a sound to start the walls to come down. We still hear their Jericho sound. Please read Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman.” The words leaped off the paper and inspired me not to give up.
The following quote is one of my favorites. It comes to mind often when I think about the words and actions of women then and today. I think it permits us to be women on a mission to change history.
The Role of History
“Women’s History Month began as one day, International Women’s Day, in 1909. In 1910 the day was recognized on March 8th as the official International Women’s day by Clara Zetkin at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. The holiday was recognized in the United States after sponsorship by The United Nations in 1975.” (Source: people.com)
In 1978, the holiday was deemed as a week-long celebration in Santa Rosa, CA.
History is written instructions for us not to allow the bad to happen again and to give the next generations their assignments of what was still needs to be done. We can’t leave everything to everyone else to do when it’s something we all can do. We can’t do it all, but we can do enough to make a difference.
A Time to Celebrate
I love celebrating women during Women’s History Month. I actually love celebrating and empowering women every month. Some of us are unsung sheroes. We rarely get a “thank you” or even “I appreciate all you do.” But rest assured, you are inspiring other women connected to you. Celebrate each other as often and as meaningfully as you can. You can even get the kiddos involved. I came across this cute post of fun ideas for them to get in on the celebration.
I am fortunate enough to have some amazing women to do life with. We make it a priority to be intentional about checking in with each other. We pray with and for each other. And most of all, we celebrate each other as often as we can. We don’t take each other or our time together for granted.
I hope you all have been celebrated this month! I hope you all have been given time to shine brighter.
