Celebrating our Favorite Influential Women
In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, TUGZ is happy to present you with a list of our favorite influential women! Though it was first celebrated as a local holiday in Santa Rosa, California, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8th “Women’s History Week”. Because of this, March 8th was chosen to be International Women’s Day. Since then, the celebration has expanded tremendously and now, the month of March is known as Women’s History Month around the world. Today, we’re celebrating women from all backgrounds, both historical and present, from journalists to tennis players!
Wangari Maathai was an environmentalist and a professor that focused on environmental conservation and women’s rights. She founded the Green Belt Movement which has planted over 51 million trees and she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. She was also the first African-American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Christiane Amanpour is a British-Iranian journalist and is the current global affairs anchor for ABC News. In the span of her three-decade career, Amanpour has won several awards including 9 Emmys, 4 Peabody Awards, and a Courage in Journalism Award.
Marsha P. Johnson was a Black Trans activist born in 1945 in New Jersey. Marsha is one of the most prominent and well-known LGBTQ+ activists to this day and paved the way for transgender women in America. Marsha was also one of the main faces of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and established the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) group which continues to help house homeless trans youth in New York City.
Georgia O’Keeffe, the “Mother of American Modernism”, was one of the most significant and revolutionary female artists. Though she died in 1986, she had a tremendous influence on generations of artists, not only in terms of her dramatic and innovative works of art but also for her trailblazing status as one of the first female art stars. She holds the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a woman and was the first woman to have an art museum dedicated to her.
Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, was an inspiring public figure during her lifetime. She was born into British nobility in 1961 and married Prince Charles in 1981. She and Charles had two sons, William and Harry. She was beloved by the public and was given the nickname "The People's Princess". As Princess, she was involved in many different kinds of charity work, focusing mostly on children and the elderly. Later, she became involved with two main campaigns, the acceptance of AIDS and the removal of landmines (through the International Red Cross).
Serena Williams was born on September 26, 1981. She's an American professional tennis player and has won the most Grand Slam singles titles (23) by any player in the Open Era. This is the second-most of all time, behind Margaret Court. She has also been rated singles World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks. She has been widely discussed as being one of the best female tennis players in the Open Era. BBC presenter and former French Open Champion, Sue Barker, said "Serena is the greatest because this era is so much more competitive than previous eras. The pace she generates - her serve is without question the greatest ever - combined with her movement and her power, she pushes her opponents constantly on the back foot".
That's all from us! Happy Women's History Month!!