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June 28, 2012
Women Activists
 Activism is defined as “vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving goals.”
When we hear the term “women activist,” we generally think of names like Gloria Steinem and bell hooks.
But there’s a new generation of activists, who are just as fired up as those before them.
Here are a few examples of inspiring, passionate women:
As a child, activist and psychologist Dr. Jana Kohl lobbied against a rule that forbade girls from wearing pants to school. These days, she fights for orphaned children and against animal abuse.
“Whether it’s a seemingly small issue or a big one, I’m not afraid to say the emperor has no clothes,” she says.
Shelby Knox is best known for her Sundance award-winning film The Education of Shelby Knox, chronicling her teenage sex education activism. Currently, she promotes sex health and equal rights.
Alyssa Bisanz began her activism at age 15, when she used her birthday money to fund 500 disaster preparedness kits for victims of Hurricane Katrina. She recently received the Truman Scholarship for her advocacy for students of color and college completion.
At age five, Alexandra Francis wrote a letter to President Clinton about world peace. He personally responded, encouraging her to remain involved. She now leads a chapter of Global Zero, an organization that fights to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Interested in becoming an activist? The UMBC provides a list of women-related activism organizations for all passions – from supporting the advancement of Arab women and reproductive health, to Title IX and sexual violence.
Bonus PINK Link: Read about activist Jane Fonda in our exclusive profile.
Do you fight for a cause? Comment and let us know!
By Farren Davis
“How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.”
Anne Frank
*Supporting images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net, imagerymajestic, Clare Bloomfield, and photostock
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Comments
The World Lost Another Amazing Woman Activist
Last Saturday, my friend, Charlotte Zieve, passed away at the age of 85. Her story is inspirational and is another reminder of how much one person with a heart, focus and determination can accomplish. I share both her obituary and a tribute from the local paper. From saving land from development and supporting women's reproductive rights all over the globe to building toilets in Malawi so that young girls would not have to drop out of school when they began to menstruate, she invested her time and resources to the causes she cared about.
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Charlo...
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20120626/SHE0101/206260373/Charlotte-Zieve-an-activist-huge-heart-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Charlotte will be missed.
Economic Impowerment for Women
For over 15 years my passion has been to advance and promote economic impowerment of women, particularly women business owners and corporate women. Women find themselves serving in many roles today, the business world being only one of those areas. Whether it is from death, divorce, illness or choice of the women
who finds themselves in the business world, they need equal opportunity to compete . For women business owners it is about creditability in who were are and the understanding of our capabilities to compete in all mainstream business today. For corporate women it is equal pay for equal skills, promotions for upward advancement, and opportunity to serve on boards.