Grace Lee Boggs was an American author, social activist, philosopher and feminist. She fought relentlessly for civil rights, feminism and labor for seven decades and was hugely influential in bringing about social change in Detroit. Boggs (born Grace Chin Lee or Yuk Ping (玉平) to use her Chinese name) was born in Providence, Rhode Island …
Mary Fields (also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary) was the first African-American woman employed as a mail carrier in the United States. She was the second woman to work for the United States Postal Service. Fields was born a slave in Hickman County, Tennessee around 1832. When American slavery was outlawed in 1865 …
Beyoncé is an American multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning recording artist and actress. She is a philanthropist and co-founder of Chime for Change, a global campaign to raise funds and awareness for girls and women around the world. Beyoncé started singing at an early age, her talent was discovered by her dance instructor who was impressed when …
Tu Youyou is a Chinese medical scientist, pharmaceutical chemist, and educator. She has received the 2011 Lasker Award in clinical medicine and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She is the first Chinese woman in history to receive the Nobel Prize in the sciences. Tu was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China in 1930. …
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. She helped pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, and was a committed pacifist. Rankin was born in 1880 near Missoula, Montana. As a child, Rankin cleaned, sewed, and helped care for her younger siblings, in addition to sharing in …
Lindiwe Mazibuko is the former Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader. She also served as the National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance. She is currently a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. Mazibuko was born in Manzini, Swaziland and raised in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She speaks isiZulu, French, English and Afrikaans. When she was 12 …
Barbara Brenner was a renowned American breast cancer activist and leader of the Breast Cancer Action organisation. Brenner’s activism started at a young age when her mother took her to a Civil Rights march when she was 10 where she heard Martin Luther King, Jr speak. While at Smith College she was active in the …
Claudia Jones was a feminist, black nationalist, political activist, community leader, communist and journalist. She is the founder of Britain’s first black weekly newspaper “The West Indian Gazette” and has been described as the mother of the Notting Hill Carnival. Jones was born Claudia Vera Cumberbatch in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1915. At …
Indira Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India and central figure of the Indian National Congress party. She was assassinated in 1984. Gandhi (born Indira Nehru) was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was one of the chief figures in India’s campaign for independence from Britain along with her grandfather Motilal Nehru. …
Eva Perón served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She used her position to fight for women’s suffrage and improving the lives of the poor, becoming a legendary figure in Argentine politics. She is commonly known as ‘Evita’. Perón was born María Eva Duarte on May 7, 1919, …