Celebrating women who make a difference in Boston & beyond
We’re all caught up in the coronavirus crisis, but it is Women’s History Month, and I would like to salute several who are not only history makers, but whose work and contributions are inspirational for our next generation
Harriet Tubman is my all time favorite heroine for so many reasons — her heart, her soul and courage — and not just as an emancipator of her enslaved people but also as a suffragist who spoke up for the rights of women while still fighting for the rights of her fellow African Americans.
Kudos to United South End Settlements CEO Maicharia Weir Lytle for her commitment to keeping Tubman’s spirit of service alive in trying times for nonprofit service delivery and despite a few mean-spirited and unnecessary delay tactics designed to forestall the sale of property that would give the group needed funds to continue its 128 years of helping the most needy.
Praise is due as well to past and present heroes whose work makes a difference, starting with legendary activists Thelma Burns,
Melnea Cass and Ruth Batson, who set the standard by their work in community advocacy, civil rights and educational equality.
Kudos to other trailblazers like Sarah Ann Shaw, Boston’s first African American journalist. Also Frederica Williams, CEO of Whittier Street Healthcare and Dr.
Valerie Roberson, president of Roxbury Community College and Boston NAACP President Tanisha Sullivan who follows in the footsteps of Florence LeSueur, as one of only a few women chapter presidents of the civil rights organization. Role models all. The very dynamic Milly
Arbaje-Thomas is the new CEO of METCO, the morethan-50-year-old voluntary and highly regarded educational diversity program. She follows the legendary
Jean McGuire as CEO and is already charting her own progressive course for the revered group.
And this year, especially, highlights the tremendous talent and work by women in the political sphere. Among the standouts:
Congresswoman Ayanna
Pressley — first woman of color elected to Congress from Massachusetts can always be counted on to speak out on behalf of those left out and left behind in her diverse district. She draws some of her inspiration from U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, whose office Pressley now occupies.
Chisholm herself made history as the first African American elected to Congress and ran for president in 1972 with the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed.” Chisholm and Pressley can also easily share that slogan.
Kudos to all the women on the Boston City Council, not just because of the historymaking racial diversity, but for the vast array of talent — all are rock stars! Julia Mejia‘s wonderful temperament and innovative solutions to old issues is refreshing. And how awesome was it seeing the Herald’s photo of councilor Annissa Essaibi-George in her shop recently sewing masks for our first responders. Dynamic president Kim
Janey, councilor Lydia Edwards and past presidents
Michelle Wu and Andrea
Campbell — all contribute outstanding ideas that help to move Boston forward.
Rachael Rollins, the first woman of color to serve as a Massachusetts District Attorney and the first woman in the post in Suffolk County, is set to make her own history of change for a better and more fair Boston in the area of criminal justice.
And let’s not forget about the women who broke barriers and made history in state government, such as:
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, AG Maura Healey and State Auditor Suzanne Bump
And where would we be without the women who support the success of other women like Benaree Wiley, Rosalind Watson, Georgia Murray, Barbara Lee, Maria Jobin Leeds, Charlotte Golar Richie, Beth Boland, Jackie Jenkins Scott and Colette Phillips.
I proudly count myself among this number as a continual mentor and forever supporter of women’s progress and diversity.