Sojourner Truth
“The truth is powerful and will prevail.” - Sojourner Truth, 1863 speech in Angola, Indiana.
Sojourner Truth (Born Isabella “Belle” Baumfree; c. 1797-November 26, 1883), was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man She delivered a now-famous speech at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron Ohio. Two versions of her speech appear here: Ain't I a Woman? In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine's list of the “100 Most Significant Americans of All Time.”
Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta
“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.” - Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta helped organize the Delano grape strike in 1965 in California and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that was created after the strike. Huerta has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers', immigrants', and women's rights, including the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1993. Huerta is the originator of the phrase, "Sí, se puede". As a role model to many in the Latino community, Huerta is the subject of many Mexican or Mexican-American ballads and murals.
Malala Yousafzai
Celebrating Women's History Month - Malala Yousafzai, (born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat valley, Pakistan), a Pakistani activist who, while a teenager, spoke out publicly against the prohibition on the education of girls that was imposed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP; sometimes called Pakistani Taliban). She gained global attention when she survived an assassination attempt at age 15. In 2014 Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of their efforts on behalf of children's rights.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 - October 26, 1902) was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid-to-late 1800s. Imagine a world where women could not own land, earn a wage, were not allowed to vote, forced to submit to laws they had no representation in, no authority in divorce or child custody, were not allowed to earn a college education, or allowed to participate in public church affairs, held to a different moral code than men, and were forced to be dependent and submissive to men. This was the life Stanton fought against, she was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, the first convention to be called for the sole purpose of discussing women's rights, and was the primary author of its Declaration of Sentiments. Her demand for women's right to vote generated controversy at the convention but quickly became a central tenet of the women's movement. She was also active in other social reform activities, especially abolitionism.
