PILLARS

They were days where I chose to challenge myself as a woman, days I got so tired cause my hormones were kicking me in the ass, days where I felt non existent and not good enough

I drew my strength in my darkest days from women who challenged me and told me that my strength goes beyond what everyone sees, women who stood tall in the face of adversity and fought tooth and nail to be given an audience

Women who proved to me that I could move in my own timing, be the beat of my own drum even when they were criticized and picked on, even when they were told they were fit for a certain role in society

I am a woman and I know of women who had to grow up in a world where anonymous was a woman with rules that was supposed to keep them shut, dim their light and make them weak

“It’s a man’s world” They sang yet I know of women who were strong and brave enough to be seen and heard in a world where their opinions didn’t matter

Out of the ribs of a man was one woman made yet out of one woman many generations came to light

Women are like a constellation of stars that shine bright in the night sky and each with its own unique characteristics, dreams, hopes and aspirations

I know of Malala Yousfazai who taught me courage, determination and strength by becoming an international symbol for the fight of girls’ education even when she was shot for opposing the restrictions on female education in her country

I know of Virginia Woolf who was bold enough to raise the question of why women could not be independent and made a lasting and significant representation of how women are viewed in the society today

I know of Marie curie who told me that I am intelligent enough by being the first person to win the Second Nobel prize

I know of Rosa Parks who taught me bravery by refusing to give up her seat on a bus which challenged race segregation

I know of Ada Lovelace who told me that I can be exceptional by being the first programmer in an industry still dominated by men

I know of Susan B Anthony who told me I am enough and I have equal rights by being an outspoken and well known pioneer of the women rights movement

I know of shirley Chisholm who told me that as a woman of color I could be anything I want by being the first black woman to be elected in congress

I know of Katherine Switzer who told me I am feminine regardless of the sports I choose play by fighting to overcome the prohibition that prevented women from competing in the marathon

I know of Diana, the princess of wales who taught me compassion and told me that my background doesn’t matter when it came to helping and contributing positively to society

I could go on and on about how Margaret thatcher, Florence nightingale, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Gloria Steinem… impacted on how we view ourselves as women today

There was a time where regardless of your wealth, race and education you didn’t matter so long as you were a woman and now I look back, and I’m proud of how brave women long gone before me ran so I could walk and how fearless women fought so my voice will always matter and now I’ve come to acknowledge myself that as a woman I could be anything regardless of the circumstances that surrounds me

I am proud to be a strong and independent woman who can be tired and still channel the strength from women before me to be better and I am proud of women across the globe for daring to be exceptional and great

I’m proud of how far we’ve come from having no voice to making history