Happy Women’s History Month! Every year during the month of March, women around the world are being celebrated and recognized for all of the contributions we’ve been making for years. With that being said I wanted to highlight four women of color that have been making strides in the industries they have been working in as well as breaking barriers in order to create opportunities in the future for other women.
Tarana Burke:
Tarana Burke, is an African American civil rights activist. Before the #MeToo movement (A movement sparked by activist and actress Alyssa Milano via Twitter in October of 2017, that spread virally as a way for celebrities and survivors of sexual assault and harassment to share their stories of harassment in the workplace after the sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against producer Harvey Weinstein) Tarana Burke created the original me too movement in 2006 as a program for African American girls to share their stories dealing with sexual assault. Tarana Burke also founded her own organization; Just Be Inc. Her organization focuses on the empowerment and development of young girls. Through her work, she has inspired and helped develop the confidence and well- being of so many women of color.
Gina Rodriguez:
Gina Rodriguez is a Latina American actress that started the social media movement, “Movement Monday’s”. This movement began in January 2016, after the backlash the 2016 Oscars faced over their lack of diversity in Oscar nominations. Out of the desire to see more Latino Americans as well as other marginalized groups on screen, Gina began to make posts every Monday as a way to draw attention to people of color working in the entertainment industry. For the past two years, Gina has been highlighting Latinos and other marginalized groups that she feels have been overlooked and underrepresented.
Nyma Tang:
Nyma Tang is a social media influencer that has been using her platform to emphasize the lack of shade range in cosmetics available for people of color. Nyma started her YouTube channel series after realizing a lot of makeup companies would release products that did not suit her skin tone as well as people darker than her. Since starting “The Darkest Shade” series Nyma has racked up hundreds of thousands of views, and her reviews have helped shed light on how deeper skin tones, as well as lighter tones, are underrepresented in the makeup industry.
Linda Sarsour:
Linda Sarsour is a Palestinian-American Muslim activist. Linda is one of the founding members of the women’s march movement, as well as the Co-founder of the organization Muslims for Ferguson. Muslims for Ferguson, is an organization that was created in solidarity after 18-year-old African-American Michael Brown was shot down and killed by a Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson. Through her activism, Linda has worked hard to fight for the rights of women of color everywhere.
These four women have been using their platforms to speak out against racial and gender bias and have been making great strides so that other women of color have the chance to go out and achieve all of their dreams. Use this month as a tool to educate yourself on the many women that have worked hard and sacrificed for current as well as for future generations.