International Women's Day is March 8th. In honor of International Women's Day, I am sharing some bios on women that I was taught about from NationHouse many years ago and women who inspired me.
Nkechi Taifa
"Nkechi Taifa is a past president of the D.C. Chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and founding member and former chair of the Legislative Commission of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA). She is a Commissioner on the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC)."
Rev. Kathy English Holt
"Rev. Kathy English Holt, also known as Mama Kathy, is a community woman, born and bred in Washington, DC and buttered in North Carolina. Since 1993, she has had a private practice in Washington, DC as a massage therapist, hypnotherapist, Reiki energy healer, and spiritual counselor."
Nana Malaya
"Nana Malaya has been
performing since early childhood. Her versatility and expertise in the
arts has lead to many diverse opportunities. Her first major
choreographic work was, “The Hallelujah Chorus,” a liturgical dance (an
innovation at the time) for the prestigious Carnegie Mellon Institute in
Pittsburg when she was only 16 years old!
Nana Malaya was also selected to be one of the youngest members of August
Wilson’s first professional theatre company: The Black Horizon Theatre.
This friendship and collaboration continued, and she also served as an actress
and choreographer for the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. Her company,
The Nubian Theatre Dance & Music Company, has provided her the opportunity
to portray many characters and to be a featured performer at many major venues
including: The Lincoln Center, NYC; The Kennedy Center; The Smithsonian Institute;
Wolftrap; the Anacostia Museum; Discovery Theatre; The Historic Lincoln
Theatre; The Arc; The Lisner; The Harlem National Black Theatre and many more.
She has also toured and graced the stage with Malcolm Jamal Warner,
Phyliss Stickney, Phyliss Hyman, Stevie Wonder, Miriam Mekeba, Bill T. Jones,
Alice Coltrane, and numerous others!
Nana Malaya was declared “The Dancing Diplomat” since she has performed around
the world. She has had the honor of being selected to perform for the
King of Ghana, President Bill Clinton, Rosa Park and others."
Mary McLeod Bethune
"Mary McLeod Bethune was a passionate educator and presidential advisor. In her long career of public service, she became one of the earliest black female activists that helped lay the foundation to the modern civil rights movement."
“She believed she could, so she did.” –Unknown
“A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else.” –Unknown
“You can always tell who the strong
women are. They are the ones you see building one another up instead of tearing
each other down.” –Unknown