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| My mom and sister Dorothy! |
Reading this blog, it will seem as if I watch The Oprah Network quite often. I know that I refer to things that I have seen on her show quite often. But, actually, I rarely watch TV, and when I do, I really want to watch things that may add positively to my life. To this end, I will switch over to OWN, and it seems like I always end up watching something that makes me ponder.
A few weeks ago I was randomly changing channels, and Oprah was doing an interview with Gloria Steinem. I love Gloria Steinem!
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| Gloria Steinem |
Gloria Steinem is a name that is closely related to the Women's movement. Being a woman of color, I have wondered over and over, did women of color really have a place in The Women's Movement? All of the women that I know worked. My mother never worked outside of the home, but she worked in our acre garden just as much as my father. And, she went a step further than he did, she not only picked the food, but she canned food, cooked, washed, pressed hair etc.
However, after watching Gloria's interview with Oprah, I had that light bulb moment. Gloria's movement seem to not be about women just working, but about women having the right to enjoy many things that just were not afforded to women such as the right to compete in marathons, to bike competitively, to play tennis professionally etc. I love to bike and run, and I like to do these things with women and men, and the thought that there were women who were not allowed to do these things along side other women and men really baffles me. I wonder if the suppressors used the same logic to suppress women that they used to suppress African Americas? Hmmmmmmmm
Today, on Mother's Day, I am writing this post to celebrate women and choices. The choice to have children, to not have children, to get married, to not get married, to be an Olympic athletic, to bike, to run, to laugh, to dance, to get a driver's licenses without her husband's signature, buy a house in her own name, to be damn happy, to throw up the middle finger at anyone who dares to say "Women shouldn't be doing that?"
Today, I am paying homage to my mother who decided at 76 years old to buy a house in her own name; my sister, Dr. Dorothy Reed, who decided to "take the road less traveled" and attend and graduate from Tuskegee Institute, sparking a family tradition of college educated women; my sister, Tracy, who had the audacity to decide that she would start and pastor a church in the South; Zora Neale Hurston who decided that she would abruptly leave the man whom she loved in order to pursue her writing passion; Billy Jean King who was determined to play tennis competitively; Hillary Clinton who decided that a woman can be taken seriously and even one day be The President of the United States; Sojourner Truth who had the courage to stand before a whole lot of men and boldly state "Ain't I a Woman."
Today, I want to send a special shoutout to two of my co-workers, Erica and Angie, and the countless other women who made the choice to spend the morning biking, with me, along side of many men, women, and children of all different backgrounds on Mother's Day.
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| The official ride logo! |
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In front of The White House!
 We ran into another co-worker and his girlfriend at the end of the ride! |
Women, we don't have to wait to be celebrated; we can celebrate ourselves!
Women Rock!
Happy Mother's Day!
2 comments:
Loved it!!!! (even though you said the D word) lol!! Women sure have come a long way!!!!
Thank you for the compliment. You are a phenomimal woman as well.
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