Heroes and Heroines

Blog posts by author Lynette M. Burrows about men and women who inspire through acts of courage, generosity, and/or selflessness.

Women Empowering Women

Lynette M Burrows

Women empowering women is a strong and beautiful act. How does this happen? Women lift others with their voices through song, art, dance, speech, poems, stories, and mentorship and so many other ways including small acts of kindness. Art Feminist art emerged in the 1960s. From sculpture to paintings to drawings and performances, these artists highlight societal and political differences associated with gender identity.  Here’s a list of 15 artists to get you started. POETRY Poetry, or words that make music in your heart, has many forms. And there are thousands of strong women poets. Below are two examples. “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou “You are more than beautiful” by Rupi Kaur SPEECH 2014 Emma Watson gave this fabulous speech at the UN launcing the HeForShe campaign. There are many, many TED talks about women’s rights and empowerment. Here’s a list of 3,000 titles. BOOKS There are many nonfiction books and many fiction books that tell the story of women empowering other women or themselves.  Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Margarot Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, and Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things To Me,  are a very small sample. MUSIC Songs of celebration to songs of protest, music has always been […]

30 Amazing Women You Never Heard Of

Lynette M Burrows

In four short weeks, I can’t begin to honor all the women who should be honored during Women’s History Month. But I’m fascinated to learn about women who’ve dared to be different or make a difference. Here are 30 amazing women you never heard of–at least not in school: Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị  1 – 43 Vietnam Chose 36 women to be generals and successfully drove the Chinese out in 40 A.D. Trắc became queen, abolishing tribute taxes and attempted to revert back to a simpler government. Hypatia of Alexandria 355 – 415 EGYPT An unwed Pagan woman who taught astronomy and mathematics from her home and was a philosopher of the Neoplatonic school. Fatima Al-Fihri 800 – 880 Kairouan, Abbasid Caliphate (Moracco) Founded the world’s oldest continually operating, degree-granting university, the University of Al Qarawiyyin. Tomoe Gozen 1157-1247 Japan A legendary 12th century samurai warrior noted for being a skilled archer, often referred to as a “warrior worth a thousand.” Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz  1651–1695 Mexico Credited as the first published feminist of the New World. Sybil Ludington  1761 – 1839 U.S.A. Riding twice the distance, perhaps she should have been remembered in poem and song instead […]

Hoofing it for the Love of Books

Lynette M Burrows

For $28 a month, these librarians loaded books and magazines into saddlebags or pillowcases. They climbed on a horse or mule and rode through the mountains of eastern Kentucky. This was the Packhorse Library project. They were hoofing it for the love of books, to help their community and combat illiteracy. The History of Horse & Books May Stafford, a Kentuckian, raised money in 1913 to take books to rural people on horseback. That program lasted one year. Berea College sponsored a horse-drawn book wagon. The book wagon operated in the late teens and early 1920s. After that, the mountain people had no access to libraries and the books provided there. The Great Depression began in 1929. There was no work. No money. The mountain people of eastern Kentucky suffered. By 1933 the unemployment rate in the Appalachians was 40%. The New Deal President Roosevelt’s New Deal created The Works Progress Administration (WPA). Its function was to create jobs for men (usually unskilled). The President’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, knew many women were the heads of households. She encouraged the creation of WPA projects that would benefit women and children. She knew women would respond best to projects that supported their […]