Black History Month!
Happy Black History Month! this month we will be highlighting all the amazing black women who have fought for equal rights, change and paved the way for women of colour all over the world. We are living testimonies of their hard work and dedication. Celebrating HERstory is the theme for this month. Stay tuned for our amazing new letter, Facebook Live event, giveaways and so much more! To create a better future we must first learn about our past. Stay tuned...
Ida B. Wells
1862-1931
was a journalist, activist, and researcher. She was born into slavery during the Civil War. She was introduced to politics by her parents who were very active in Reconstruction Era politics. After one of her friends was lynched, she began to focus on white mob violence and investigated cases of Black men who were lynched. She published her findings in a pamphlet and in several columns in local newspapers. She was one of the only women to sign the founding papers of the NAACP, she helped to found the National Association for Colored Women, and she marched in suffrage parades. “White women like Stanton and Anthony and others actually would ask Wells to not March because they felt that her presence and the presence of Black women would bring too much controversy,” says Dr. Myers.
ROSEMARY BROWN
1930-2003
Born in Jamaica in 1930, Brown immigrated to Canada in 1951 to study at McGill University and later moved to British Columbia to earn her Masters of Social Work. After years of activism, she decided to join provincial politics. She won a B.C. seat for the NDPs in 1972. Rosemary Brown became the first black woman to be elected to any provincial legislature in Canada. Rosemary served 14 years as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Rosemary made sure to dedicate herself to a variety of issues, including eliminating sexism from B.C.’s educational material. Rosemary brown also became the first black woman to run for the leadership of a federal party. She came in second in the NDP’s 1975 leadership election, her campaign used the slogan “Brown is Beautiful”. Rosemary left politics in 1988, returning to advocacy. She was eventually appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission five years later.
ELLA BAKER
1903-1986
Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in North Carolina hearing stories of resiliency from her grandmother, a former slave. After graduating from the Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, as class valedictorian in 1927, she moved to New York City and joined social activist organizations. She was an active member of the NAACP and later moved to Atlanta to help organize Dr. King’s then-new organization the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Inspired by a group of Black college students who refused to leave a lunch counter where they were denied service, Baker founded the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. It became one of the most radical and influential branches of the civil rights movement.