Category: Women

Empowerment

Throughout history women have had to fight and claw their way to get recognition in a male dominated world. This is not because women are not good enough, not educated, talented, or as hardworking as her male counterpart. However the stereotype that governs society dictates that she is the weaker sex and she is treated accordingly.  Let us be clear women are important and play a vital role in society not only as mother and a wife but as unique human beings who are equal to their male counterparts.

Copyright © 2017 by Marva Seaton  (Excerpt from 11 Steps to Empowerment)

 

 

 

2 Types of Men to Avoid

  • The Gambler  –

The gambler is someone to avoid unless you don’t mind living worried and broke. A Gambler has little direction in life. Instead of a plan to succeed in life they rely on luck. They often squander what little money they have trying to make it big and usually fall deeper and deeper in debt.  The moment you find out you are dating a gambler end the relationship. If you value your happiness and do not want to live a life of wants run and don’t look back.

  • The Alcoholic

It is often easy to tell if the man you are dating is an alcoholic by the amount of alcohol he consumes when you go out and how he behaves. Whether he is an angry drunk or a mellow drunk, it is a cause for concern. The fact that he gets drunk means he has a problem. No matter how much you like him don’t think that you can fix him. A man who consumes too much alcohol will spell trouble for you. Not only do men like that find it difficult to keep a job but they are also difficult to live with.

Honor Killings

In certain cultures women are denied the right to choose their life partners and any defiance on their part can caused them to be murdered by their own family. One of the most horrendous cases of Honor Killing took place on December 7, 2012 when 22 year-old Nilofar Bibi was publicly beheaded by her own brother in Kolkata, India.

Bibi was only fourteen years old when she left home in an arranged marriage. She alleged that she was tortured by her in-laws and returned to her parent but disappeared days later. Her brother Mehtab Alam 29 at the time found his sister living with an old boyfriend. He stormed into the house and dragged Bibi into the street in broad daylight.

On that fateful day passersby watched in horror as he cut off his sister’s head saying that she had sinned and had to be punished. He left his sister’s body lying in a pool of blood on the road and calmly walked to the police station with her head in his hand to surrender himself. At the station he placed his sister’s head and the butcher knife he had used to decapitate her on the table in front of the police officer. It was later reported that the family expressed support for Alam saying they were proud he upheld the family honor.

Years later nothing has changed and women continue to be murdered in the name of family honor.

Woman of The Week

Our woman of the week for this week is:

Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962)Image result for image of eleanor roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City. She was a First Lady, Writer and Humanitarian. Eleanor became an orphan at an early age when she lost her mother at the age of eight and her father two years later.

In 1905 she married Franklin D Roosevelt – a distant cousin who would later become president of the United States. Eleanor became active in public service during world war 1,  and worked with the Red Cross.

When her husband became president in 1933 Eleanor changed the role of the First Lady and showed the world that The First Lady was an important part of American politics. As a humanitarian she stood against racial discrimination and spoke out for human rights, children’s causes, and women’s rights.

After the death of her husband she served as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 – 1953. She became Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission and helped to write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Woman of the Week

Our Woman of the Week is:

Mother Teresa 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997

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Mother Teresa also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta was born in Skopje, which is now the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. At the age of eighteen she moved to Ireland and later to India where she lived for most of her life.

In 1950 Mother Teresa founded The missionaries of Charity which had over 4500 sister and was active in 133 by 2012. They manage homes for people dying of AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. The also manage schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, dispensaries and mobile clinics. The also offer children and family counselling programs.

Mother Teresa received many honors including a Nobel Peace prize in 1979. She was canonised by the Catholic Church on September 4, 2016. We pay tribute to this great woman who gave of herself selflessly to help the less fortunate.

Woman of the Week

 

This Week’s Woman of the Week is:

Harriet Tubman – 1822 – 1913

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Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross) was an American Humanitarian and Abolitionist. She also served as a spy for the US Army during the American Civil War. Harriet was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland. As a child she was beaten by her various masters. She suffered a traumatic head wound when a heavy piece of metal thrown at another slave by an angry master caught her instead. The injury caused her dizziness, pain and hypersomnia which affected her throughout her life.

In 1849, Harriet escaped to Philadelphia and quickly returned to rescue her own family. Thereafter she made it her mission to free other slaves. Using a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad she made a total of thirteen missions and rescued approximately seventy enslaved families and friends.  Harriet (also called Moses) never lost a passenger.

When the civil war began Harriet worked first as cook and nurse for the Union army and later as an armed scout and spy. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war. She guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which freed more than 700 slaves. After the war she retired to her family home in Auburn, New York where she had purchased property, and cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women’s suffrage movement until she became ill. Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913.

Tribute to Harriet Tubman who was truly one of the bravest women in history

Woman of the Week

Image result for images of maya angelou

This Week’s Woman of the Week is:

Maya Angelo – April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014

Maya Angelo born Marguerite Annie Johnson was a Civil Rights Activists, Poet, Actress and Writer. She published several autobiographies, books of poetry, and three books of essays. She has been credited with a list of movies, plays and television shows spanning 50 years.

She is best known for her autobiographies and in particular, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing, published in 1969 and tells of her life up to the age of seventeen. It brought her international recognition. In the book she tells how she was severely raped at the age of eight and her sense of responsibility when her rapist was found dead because she thought by calling his name she had caused his death. The traumatic event caused her to go mute for five years.

Maya was the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. She was participant in the civil rights movement working alongside the likes of Malcolm X and later Martin Luther King. Maya held many jobs during her lifetime including working as a dancer, calypso singer, fry cook, prostitute and as manager for lesbians, magazine editor, actress, and administrative assistant. Maya was the recipient of many awards.

Her poem ‘Still I Rise’ speaks to every woman who thinks she can’t rise above her situation.

Still I Rise

BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

 

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Heartiest tribute to this woman whose words of wisdom lives on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take Back Control of Your Life

My message today is for you to stop playing the victim card. Instead of accepting your role as the victim of a relationship ask yourself, how can I take back control of my life?
My belief is that God did not create anyone so weak that he or she lack the strength to deal with life. Change your mindset and think VICTOR instead of VICTIM. Think I CAN instead of I CAN’T.
I am telling you today that you possess the strength within you. Dig deep, find it and change your life.

Woman of the Week

This Week’s Woman of the Week is:
Malala Yousafzai

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Malala was born in Pakistan on July 12, 1997. She is a human rights activist who is well known for standing up for the education of women in her country where at times the Taliban banned girls from attending school.

At the young age of 11-12 she wrote a blog anonymously for the BBC detailing her life during the Taliban occupation of Swat. She rose in prominence and gave interviews in print media and on television. She was nominated for the International Children Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu and was also the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize.

On October 9, 2012 Malala was wounded in a murder attempt by the Taliban. She was left unconscious and in a critical condition at the Rawalpindi Institite of Cardiology. Her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. The murder attempt brought her an outpouring of international support. Malala is presently a prominent education activist. In April 2017 she was awarded honorary canadian citizenship and became the youngest person to address House of Commons of Canada.

This week we salute this brave young woman who has become an inspiration to women in all walks of life.

Woman of the Week

 

This week’s Woman of the Week is:
MARIE CURIE – November 7, 1867 – 4 July 1934

Image result for free Images of marie curie

Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalized French Chemist and Physicist. She developed the theory of radioactivity, technique for isolating radioactive isotopes. She also discovered the elements polonium and radium. During world war 1 she developed mobile radiography units which provided x-ray services to the field hospitals. Today mobile X-ray units are a life saving part of health care.
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win twice. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and in Warsaw. Sadly she died of aplastic anemia caused by her exposure to radiation from her research in radiology.
This week we pay tribute to this iconic woman who contributed so much to the field of Science.