It is Black History Month, and this week, at HCDU, we wanted to recognize the power and important contributions of womxn in black history. Too often, men get all the glory, but there have and continue to be so many amazing black womxn making a difference. One of my favorite Huffpost articles highlights 35 black women who haven’t gotten enough credit for the differences they have made. Here are a few of these wonderful women.
- Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
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Phillis was a well-known poet and writer in both England and the American colonies. After being kidnapped from West Africa, the Wheatley family ‘bought’ her and encouraged her to read and write. She became the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry!
- Septima Poinsette Clark (1868-1987)
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Septima was an educator and civil rights activist who developed workshops to help African Americans obtain citizenship and voting rights. Her work was so influential, she became known as the “Grandmother” of the Civil Rights Movement, but was largely underappreciated by other black men in the Civil Rights Movement.
- Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)
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Ida was an investigative journalist and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is one of the largest civil rights organizations in the United States. She was born into slavery and later freed; her journalism is best known for her documentation of the horrors of lynching.
- Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
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Billie, also known as Eleanora Fagan, was an African American jazz singer. Her style was a huge inspiration to future jazz. She had an extremely successful nearly 30-year career in singing and was one of the first black women to do many influential things in the singing industry, including sing with an all-white orchestra and go on tour in the segregated U.S. South (where she ran into a lot of harassment). There is so much more to her career, so I highly recommend reading about her!
- Ruby Bridges (1954-present)
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Ruby is an American civil rights activist and is well known for being the first American child to desegregate an all-white school in Louisiana. She had to be escorted to school by federal marshals every day to protect her from violence. She eventually graduated from a desegregated high school and founded her own foundation; the mission of her foundation states: “racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it.” and we must stop using our children to spread it.”
These are only five of the so many influential black women in history to learn about and commend for what they’ve done. Happy Black History Month, from HCDU to you!