Jamaican poet and journalist, Una Marson, was a role model for women within the Black Internationalist community and her work contributed greatly to the recognition of West Indian literature – her own writing included.
Inspiring Thursday: Margherita Hack
Known as the “Lady of the Stars”, Margherita Hack, the most famous Italian astrophysicist, was the first woman to lead an astronomical observatory in Italy. Committed atheist, feminist, and vegetarian, Margherita publicly advocated for laws in favour of abortion, euthanasia and homosexual couples’ civil rights.
Inspiring Thursday: Ana Mendieta
During her short life, Ana Mendieta created art that portrayed many different themes of life, focusing on incorporating natural elements in her pieces, which she felt brought her closer to nature. At the same time, her work was bold and challenged restrictive ideas of normative categories like gender and race.
Inspiring Thursday: Nadia Murad
Born in 1993, Nadia was a high school student when ISIS militants overran her village. She was one of an estimated 3,000 girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army.
Inspiring Thursday: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“I am a feminist. And when I looked up the word in the dictionary that day, this is what it said: Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. A feminist is a man or a woman who says – Yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it. We must do better.“
Inspiring Thursday: Dior Vargas
“It’s important to provide a space where people can be in charge of their own narratives.”
As a mental health activist and Latina feminist, Dior Vargas is spreading awareness about the challenging stigmas experienced by people of color who also suffer from mental illness.
Inspiring Thursday: Mae Jemison
“Sometimes people want to tell you to act or to be a certain way. Sometimes people want to limit you because of their own limited imaginations.”
Inspiring Thursday: Adele Faccio
Adele Faccio taught women to stand up for their rights. Thanks to her, women can enjoy rights which were unimaginable up to even a few decades ago and which are taken for granted nowadays.
Inspiring Thursday: Widad Akreyi
Dr. Widad Akreyi works as an international health expert, author, and she also co-founded the organisation Defend International – an NGO devoted to responding to human rights violations.
Inspiring Thursday: Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, Italy on 22 April 1909 and was one of the world´s most prominent scientific investigators of the human body’s nervous system.
