03/31/2026
When I think about women in history I think about my mother. She consistently showed me how to speak up for myself. She believed in women’s rights, civil rights, and human rights and she showed me why that mattered. Both of my parents did. For many women across many generations, cultures, and race, that kind of encouragement simply didn’t exist.
I think about my Mémère and my Nana and their mothers and grandmothers as well. Their story, like so many of your ancestors’, is one of immigration, poverty, struggle, and sexism. Yet they carried on. They were the women behind the women, the ones who held things together, who showed up quietly and persistently across decades, for their families and their communities. I carry them with me every day in the work and choices I make.
To my mother, for telling me I could. To my Mémère and my Nana, for showing me what it looks like to persist. To the women throughout history who held the line so we could stand where we stand.
