The Awakened Woman
Page 25
While this might be difficult to judge, this is where your Dream Circles of Sacred Sahwira Sisterhood come into play. Debate and discuss these issues with your sahwiras. Equip yourselves with enough research and knowledge about the issues you intend to work on. More than financial gain, can ubuntu and social justice for all also be at the core of your work?
When we act out of authenticity, love, and feeding our Great Hunger, then we know that it is an honor to be of service to the greater good. It’s not about our greatness but about serving others. Sacred responsibilities bring collective empowerment, love, ownership, and change.
Our capacity to love and empathize is irreversible. Feeding your Great Hunger will always reveal this. With love as the energy that unites us, we will stop allowing fear and its triggers to silence us.
No pharmaceutical pill can replace the social medicine that comes with our collectiveness. We can break the bondage of an intergenerational cycle together. Our real hope comes from our strengths as global sisters whose humanity is weaved by compassion, love, respect for social justice, and being of service to each other.
In this book, we have formed our own Dream Circle of Sacred Sahwira Sisterhood, you and me. We have connected together over a dream you have, and worked through the challenges or blocks that may have so far stood in the way of your achieving it.
By the time you read these words, you may be well on your way to achieving your dream, or you might have just started out, and getting ready to spread the wings of your dream and take off.
It can be easy to read a book like this, be inspired while you are reading it, and then get distracted or disheartened by your immediate external reality or the world around you. There were many times when I lost touch with my own goals or believed they weren’t possible. The art is to find people and practices that keep you connected to your dream in the world around you.
It is my hope, even though we may have been raised in different cultures and thousands of miles apart, that this book has closed the gap between us. Perhaps you have found many similarities between my story and your own and realized that although the details of our journey may be different, that which lies in our hearts is the same.
We both had a dream, you and I. We both had challenges that we had to overcome in order to achieve it. It is my hope that this book serves you as part of my fifth goal, to better the lives of others, and that you are able to take it into your heart for yourself and then share its message with the world, so that you touch as many lives as possible with the good that is inherently within you.
I wish you joy, love, and peace as you take the dream in your heart and make it into a reality. We are forever connected, you and I, and I stand by you in times when you forget to stand by yourself and remind you that anything is possible. I will be part of your Sacred Sahwira Circle in spirit, holding you forth every step of the way.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
ORGANIZATIONS
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.: AKA’s mission is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service. www.aka1908.com.
American Association of University Women: AAUW is a nonprofit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. www.aauw.org.
Chrysalis Foundation: A statewide nonprofit organization focused on education, empowerment, and social and economic equality to ensure that girls and women have the opportunity to contribute to their community in meaningful and lasting ways. www.chrysalisfdn.org.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.: A private, nonprofit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. www.deltasigmatheta.org.
Emerging Women: A global network that exists to support and inspire women to express themselves authentically through the work they do. Through Emerging Women Live, a premier conference for feminine business leadership, the organization provides the tools, knowledge, and network to help women lead, start, and grow businesses in a way that integrates feminine values such as connection, collaboration, and heart.
Equality Now: An international human rights organization dedicated to action for the civil, political, economic, and social rights of girls and women. www.equalitynow.org.
Girls Who Code: A national nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and prepare young women for the jobs of the future. www.girlswhocode.com.
Global Fund for Women: An international organization whose mission is to champion the human rights of women and girls by using powerful networks to find, fund, and amplify the courageous work of women who are building social movements and challenging the status quo. www.globalfundforwomen.org.
International Center for Research on Women: The ICRW is the world’s premier research institute focused on tackling challenges facing women and girls worldwide. www.icrw.org.
Iowa Women Lead Change: IWLC is Iowa’s premier women leadership organization dedicated to the development, advancement, and promotion of women’s leadership, their organizations, and to impacting the greater Iowa economy. www.iwlcleads.org.
P.E.O. Sisterhood: An international women’s organization of about 250,000 members with a primary focus on providing educational opportunities for female students worldwide. The Sisterhood has chapters throughout the United States and Canada and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. www.peointernational.org.
Tererai Trent International Foundation: An international organization working to improve and provide universal access to quality education to rural communities in Zimbabwe, Africa. www.tererai.org.
Vital Voices Global Partnership: An international nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women’s political participation, and human rights. www.vitalvoices.org.
Women for Women International: An organization that supports the most marginalized women to earn and save money, improve health and well-being, influence decisions in their home and community, and connect to networks for support. By utilizing skills, knowledge, and resources, women are able to create sustainable change for themselves, their families, and their community. www.womenforwomen.org.
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts: This is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world. Their diverse movement represents ten million girls and young women from 146 countries. www.wagggs.org/en/.
World Woman Foundation: A nonprofit organization, it provides a platform to give a collectivized voice to women to educate, inspire, and connect with other women; to foster learning so women can have an impact on themselves, their community, and the world at large; and to inspire women leaders. www.worldwomanfoundation.com.
FURTHER READING
A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman (Vintage, 1995)
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldūa (Aunt Lute Books, 2012)
Change Me Prayers: The Hidden Power of Spiritual Surrender by Tosha Silver (Atria, 2015)
Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks (HarperCollins, 2002)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Ballantine, 2009)
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker (Mariner Books, 2003)
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee (Beast Books, 2013)
Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich (W. W. Norton & Company, 1995)
Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead by Tosha Silver (Atria, 2014)
Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays by June Jordan (Civitas Books, 2003)
Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development by Vandana Shiva (North Atlantic
Books, 2016)
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire (flipped eye publishing, 2011)
The Black Unicorn: Poems by Audre Lorde (W. W. Norton & Company, 1995)
The Eros of Everyday Life: Essays on Ecology, Gender and Society by Susan Griffin (Anchor Books, 1996)
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Anchor Books, 2015)
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye (The Eighth Mountain Press, 1994)
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name—A Biomythography by Audre Lorde (The Crossing Press, 1982)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has come to life with the help of the many who have inspired me, most especially the audiences to whom I speak. For all their diversity, they share a desire to understand how dreams are achieved. I owe them my gratitude.
My mother’s wisdom and support has given me the confidence to define what I want my life to be. She encouraged me to peel back layers that hid inborn traits, such as perseverance, an independent spirit, and an instinctive understanding of the world. She helped not only my father but also the men and women in my community to “see” girls with different eyes and to appreciate their potential.
I am grateful to those who helped shepherd the book from inception to publication. I could not have wished for a more reflective and insightful companion along this journey than Colleen Martell. Colleen’s feedback was insightful, positive, and constructive. Her editorial contributions were invaluable and her elegant grace is evident on every page. A special appreciation for her insight into some of the background material helped shape this book. A deep bow to Emily Han, who helped me highlight the beauty that lies in the details. Her valuable feedback in the final stages of preparing the manuscript made this a better book.
My deepest gratitude to my literary agent, Stephanie Tade. Her fierce advocacy and her tender heart have greatly supported me through this process. Thank you to my publisher, Zhena Muzyka, for her belief in and commitment to this book and for bringing it to press. Both Stephanie and Zhena have helped me develop a book that I would love my great-grandchildren to read. I am deeply moved by their devotion and respect for this book.
I am forever thankful to Jo Luck, who motivated and inspired me. She lit a fire under me during a very vulnerable time in my life. Her respect for my work and commitment to my success has been humbling. I am grateful to Ron Beer, who never gave up on me. He carried a candle that reignited mine, rallying the Oklahoma community of Stillwater to add a further spark to the light that was my dream.
Heartfelt thanks go to my sister Tariro, my only remaining biological sibling; her encouragement and support have meant so much to me. As the institutional memory of our family, her thoughtful edits have helped me to explain the intricacies of my life. My sister has taught me so much, and in some ways, she has replaced the mother we both lost. On my mother’s side of the family, a special thank you to my aunt Rosie, for keeping me grounded and for reminding me of the importance of healing. Rosie’s passion and encouragement helped me to stay the course.
I extend sincere gratitude to Oprah Winfrey for her generous donation. She helped to make my final, most sacred dream a reality—that of giving the gift of education to my community in Zimbabwe. I have great appreciation for Save the Children, which skillfully managed project funds and provided educational expertise and guidance to local government officials, and to the leaders and the entire Matau community, who worked tirelessly to produce the bricks for the school building.
More than anyone can possibly understand, this book belongs to my children and to all the children in Matau as much as it does to me. I pray that they do not remain silent when they feel marginalized. I pray that they find their own voices and construct the lives they deserve.
Finally, I am grateful to my husband, Mark Trent, for his unwavering support of this project from the very beginning.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DR. TERERAI TRENT is one of the most internationally acclaimed voices for women’s empowerment and quality education. Dr. Trent is an inspiring and dynamic scholar, educator, humanitarian, motivational speaker, and author and the founder of Tererai Trent International. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, SuperSoul Sessions, CNN’s African Voices, and CNBC and has spoken at the United Nations, TEDx, the Women in the World Summit, and Emerging Women Live, among other forums. She received her PhD in interdisciplinary evaluation from Western Michigan University and holds master’s degrees in public health and plant pathology.
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CHILDREN’S
The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can
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NOTES
Chapter 1: Find Your Great Hunger: The Call to Awaken
1 A. C. Swift, et al., “Oronasal Obstruction, Lung Volumes, and Arterial Oxygenation,” Lancet, 1 (1988): 73–75.
Chapter 2: The Women the World Forgot: Reclaiming Your Voice
1 Georgia Douglas Johnson, “The Heart of a Woman,” Poetry Foundation, June 6, 2016, accessed at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/52494.
2 Bertice Berry, Bertrice: The World According to Me (New York: Scribner, 1996), p. 29.
3 Judith Shulevitz, “The Science of Suffering,” New Republic, November 16, 2014, accessed at https://newrepublic.com/article/120144/trauma-genetic-scientists-say-parents-are-passing-ptsd-kids.
4 Kit O’Connell, “Native Americans Have ‘Always Known’: Science Proves Genetic Inheritance of Trauma,” Shadowproof, August 27, 2015, accessed at https://shadowproof.com/2015/08/27/native-americans-have-always-known-science-proves-genetic-inheritance-of-trauma/.
5 Walidah Imarisha, “Introduction,” Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, edited by Walidah Imarisha and Adrienne Maree Brown (Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2015), p. 5.
6 Adrienne Rich, A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1996–2008 (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009), p. 35.
7 Muriel Rukeyser, “Käthe Kollwitz,” Poetry Foundation, accessed June 10, 2016, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/90874.
8 Gloria Steinem, “Why Our Revolution Has Just Begun,” Ms. Magazine, February 27, 2014, accessed at http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/02/27/gloria-steinem-why-our-revolution-has-just-begun/.
9 David Smith, “Lindiwe Mazibuko: ‘The Insults Are a Signal That We’re Having a Huge Impact,’ ” The Guardian, February 9, 2014, accessed at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/09/lindiwe-mazibuko-south-africa-democratic-alliance.
10 Ibid.
11 Derek Hawkins, “The Silencing of Elizabeth Warren and an Old Senate Rule Prompted by a Fistfight,” Washington Post, February 8, 2017, accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/08/the-silencing-of-elizabeth-warren-and-an-old-senate-rule-prompted-by-a-fistfight/?utm_term=.94e04453a1eb.
12 Smith, “Lindiwe Mazibuko.”
13 “This Artist Is Changing the Lives of Domestic Violence Survivors, One Tattoo at a Time,” Huffington Post, August 31, 2015, accessed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jornalismo-de-rede-e-rua/tattoo-artist-domestic-violence-survivors_b_8033004.html.
Chapter 3: Midwife to Your Sacred Dreams: Sowing Fertile Seeds
1 See, for example
, Christopher F. Karpowitz and Tali Mendelbergand, The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation, and Institutions (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014). This study found that women speak much less frequently than men do in meetings, and when they do speak up they are much less likely to be taken seriously. See also Iris Marion Young’s “Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality,” Human Studies 3, no. 2 (April 1980): 137–156.
2 Michelle Stronz, chairperson of Women’s Leadership Council, United Way, interviewed by author, March 7 and April 16, 2016.
Chapter 4: Be Your Own Storyteller: Creating New Pathways
1 Judith Warner, “Fact Sheet: The Women’s Leadership Gap,” Center for American Progress, March 7, 2014, accessed at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2014/03/07/85457/fact-sheet-the-womens-leadership-gap/.
2 Ibid.
3 “The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2015,” Women’s Media Center, p. 6, accessed at http://www.womensmediacenter.com/reports/2015-statistics.
4 Ibid., p. 31.
5 Ibid., p. 36.
6 Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1942), p. 176.
7 Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice (New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2012), p. 86.
8 Amrita Pritam, Black Rose (New Delhi: Nagmani, 1967), quoted in Susie Tharu and K. Lalita, Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present, Volume II: The Twentieth Century (New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1993), p. 162.
9 Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007), p. 55.