Today is the worldwide celebration of International Women’s Day, an event that all too often goes totally unnoticed by men out there (Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you buddy! You with that dumb expression written across your face).
Now anyway as I was sayin’, today is International Women’s Day and this celebration has been around for quite some time, since 1911 to be exact. There were a whole bunch of events and protests and marches organized by women in different parts of the world dating back to the 1800’s that layed the groundwork for this celebration of women’s rights and contributions to HUMANKIND, not just MANKIND, but contributions for all human beings.
Two of my favorite bloggers, Ingrid and Mshairi, have got the day covered in their postings and if you call yourself a modern, well-informed, member of the male human species then trot on over to their blogs and checkout what they have written for today. I’ve added a couple of links from sites I use to monitor news and information on women’s rights and issues for my readers as well. If you take the time to read some of this over the next several days and weeks you may come to realize that International Women’s Day is not some joke. The terrible plight of women and girls around the world has never been a laughing matter and it is especially serious and dire for them in these days and times we are living.
Following are two of my favorite “quotes of the day” borrowed from Mshairi's 1st posting. She is one of the many hard-working and outstanding women writers out there in the Blogosphere.
“African women in general need to know that it's O.K. for them to be the way they are - to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.”
Dr. Wangari Maathai – 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“If women want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it.”
Sojourner Truth (1797-1893) – former American slave, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist
Here is a link to the famous “Aint I a Woman” speech Sojourner Truth delivered in 1851 at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio U.S.A. Here is a link to her narratives and history from the University of Minnesota’s Voices from the Gaps – women writers of color project.
Ingrid’s Intl. Women’s Day posting “2 Wheels of a Chariot”
Mshairi’s Intl. Women’s Day postings: Nr.1 and Nr.2
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United Nations Development Fund for Women UNIFEM-CSW site
UNIFEM’s Noeleen Heyzer commemorating Intl. Women’s Day 2005
U.N. official homepage for International Women’s Day 2005
UNESCO’s project 20 Films to Celebrate Intl. Women’s Day 2005
Have a nice day, Ladies.
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UPDATE MARCH 9th:
I just could not resist sharing a fine piece of writing by the outstanding blog author Molotov of Booker Rising that highlights the contributions to women's rights made by the Somali-born Member of Parliament for The Netherlands, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. We here in Europe may well remember the brutal assasination of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on the streets of Amsterdam last year and the subsequent death threats by Islamic extremists to this young, vibrant, and outspoken Parliamentarian which forced her into hiding for over 2 months. Ms. Molotov, a self-proclaimed libertarian feminist hailing from the great midwestern capitol Chicago, Illinois has provided her readers with a link to an excellent article by journalist Kay Hymowitz "The Sisters They Ignore" published March 08, 2005 in The Australian. Be sure to visit Booker Rising's March 8th postings to read and enjoy Molotov's analysis and commentary on a wide variety of issues. Another good example of an outstanding woman author working hard for us all out there in the Blogosphere.
P.S. ...and she likes to use the contraction "ain't" sometimes just like I and Sojourner do. Love it! I've been putting the doggone apostrophe in the wrong place though. Mrs. Smith (my 3rd grade teacher) would whack my knuckles for making that kind of mistake, then whack me again for using the word "ain't" in the first place because she knows that I know better than to use that word.
Mandela, Mobutu & Me
5 years ago
2 comments:
Thankfully we here in America are no longer bound by the parameters of the King's English, although it has taken us several hundred years to throw off the bonds of linguistic repression. Up the rebels!
But in fact it is still not excepted within anything but casual writing. It's more representational of the way people actually speak, African-Americans and country people most specifically. But I think the word has developed its own power which far surpasses in strength and effect that of "aren't" or "are not". It has something of a theatrical quality when used strategically.
I think we Americans have made quite a contribution to English, and I believe a language must continue to evolve for it to remain alive.
I agree that we are no longer bound by the parameters of the British rules and styles of the English language, and that we have contributed much to the language over the past few hundred years. I don't think that the purists appreciate it though, but that is another matter.
I did become curious about the origins of the contraction "ain't" so I researched it on the Web and was surprised that the word goes back to the 17th century and was used widely by the better educated citizens of our country. That is also the case today in America, I've heard "ain't" used by several races and ethnic groups of Americans in various settings at home and abroad. It is not reserved mainly for African-Americans and country people as you say. The article was not clear about the word being used by the British or by people elsewhere throughout the British Colonial Empire or today's Commonwealth countries.
I rarely use the word myself, especially here in Europe because people generally don't understand its meaning or its power as you describe, so I play with it in my writings to this blog (sentimental reasons).
You can check out the origins of the word yourself if interested at:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~spike/
ling290/badEnglish.html
By the way, I checked out your new blog and read some of the posts and comments. Your extreme opinions and views oughta draw some serious hostile fire from the Blogosphere, if not outright death threats. I'll drop in from time-to-time to see how you are doing.
Thanks for behaving yourself on my blog though because I have a terrible sense of humor when it comes to a--holes and am a strong believer in the death sentence. Great comment Mr. Dead.
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