Welcome to Day 3 of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (2022) I will be discussing topics of interest to those who identify as women this year. The Book Connection is lucky number 78 in a list of more than 140 bloggers who are participating in 2022. I encourage you to check out the list and visit other blogs with topics of interest.
CHALLENGE
Oprah Winfrey, Louisa May Alcott, and Katy Perry are all women who overcame challenges to succeed and inspire women.
Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as an evening news reporter because she was too emotionally invested in her stories. By the late 1970s, she hosted a TV chat show followed by her own morning show. The Oprah Winfrey Show debuted in 1986. In addition to her book club, magazine, and her own television network, Oprah has the honor of being the first Black female billionaire.
In the years before the publication of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott was a teacher and a servant to help support her family. She also volunteered as a nurse during the American Civil War, which led to her contracting typhoid pneumonia. Her health never fully recovered. She was a lifelong advocate of social reform, believing in abolition and women's rights. She was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, MA.
Katy Perry would often move across the country as her parents set up churches. She left high school at the age of 15 to pursue her music career. She was dropped by two major labels before signing with Capital Records in 2007. Her first marriage ended in divorce, which left her contemplating suicide. No one can deny Perry has created a lasting legacy in the music industry, and she has used her fame and fortune to support various charitable organizations.
CHANGE
What do Susan B. Anthony, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Malala Yousafzai, and Dr. Mae Jemison all have in common? They all changed the world.
Susan B. Anthony's Quaker upbringing led her to advocate for women's suffrage, women's property rights, and the abolition of slavery. Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. These women traveled the country delivering speeches in favor of women's suffrage, which led to the 19th amendment being ratified in 1920.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell is known as the first woman in America to earn a medical degree. Though she faced discrimination and challenges as she pursued her degree, she graduated first in her class in 1849. After spending time in London and Paris hospitals, she returned to New York City and opened a clinic to treat impoverished women. Along with her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, she trained nurses during the American Civil War. In 1868, she opened the Women's Medical College in New York City.
Malala Yousafzai was only 11 when she began speaking against the Taliban's threats to close girls' schools. Three years later, she and two other girls were shot on their way home from school. After surviving the attack, she went on to publish I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. She founded the Malala Foundation in 2013 and received the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.
Dr. Mae Jemison is an American physician and the first African American female astronaut. Jemison attended Cornell Medical School and graduated in 1981. In the mid-1980s, she joined the Peace Corps and worked as a medical officer. Upon her return to the States, she entered private practice and took graduate level engineering courses before applying to the astronaut program. Jemison participated in a space mission in September 1992. In addition to being an author, Jemison is an active public speaker on the topics of science and technology.
These women have all left their mark on history. Who are some women who have inspired you?
Information for this article was taken from the following sources:
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