The Queen of My Self

One third of all women in America are over the age of fifty, and one woman reaches that milestone every seven and a half seconds. Climacteric women, more than fifty million strong, now comprise the single largest population segment of American society. Silent no more, we are reading and talking and conspiring among ourselves. It…

The 2010 earthquake claimed the lives of three of Haiti’s most prominent sheroes of women’s rights. Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan, founders of three of the country’s most important advocacy organizations working on behalf of women and girls, were confirmed dead. One returned to her Haitian roots, to give voice to women,…

Two more inspiring Creole Queens: Esther Boucicault HIV/AIDS Activist Born in Saint-Marc in 1960, Boucicault was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1995. Following the AIDS death of her husband and her son, who was born HIV positive, she decided to dedicate herself to saving others from the same fate. In December 1998 she was interviewed…

Here are two of the Queens of Haiti who walk in the footsteps of Queen Anacaona: Yvonne Hakim Rimpel Feminist, Journalist Born in Port-au-Prince in 1906, Rimpel was a founder of the first Haitian feminist organization, the Women’s League for Social Action. It was founded in 1934 by a group of women intellectuals, professionals and…

All eyes have been on Haiti of late six months after the deadly earthquake. Our hearts go out to those who have lost so much, especially those who had so very little to begin with. Many of us have thought of Haiti as being a desperately poor, severely undeveloped, politically corrupt and brutal, socially unstable…

With the question of power — its uses and abuses — on my mind, I reached out to the Facebook fans of The Queen of My Self to see what power means to other Queens of Themselves. Q. What does power mean to you? A. Power to me is knowing what you stand for and…

After an inevitable midlife transition period of feeling lost, confused and out of control of Her destiny, the Queen finally takes charge. She steps up to the situations of Her life and takes back the reins of Her power. Or not. Becoming a Queen is not automatic, nor is it instantaneous. Unlike dynastic royalty, where…

There have been notable Queens in more recent times, as well. Eleanor Roosevelt, a shy, self-conscious, and naturally retiring woman, was thrust feet first into the limelight when she became First Lady of the United States in 1933 at the age of forty-eight. Though this new role was extremely painful for her, rather than allow…

     Perhaps nowhere in history were women held in higher standing and regard than in Mama Africa, the birthplace of humanity and the world’s first great civilizations, with its preponderance of matriarchal and matrilineal societies. “You know that in our country there were even matriarchal societies where women were the most important element,” writes…

I won’t be made uselessI won’t be idle with despair – JewelFrom “Hands” The media likes to portray peace, environment and human and animal rights protesters as a fringe element of whining malcontents teetering on the margins of proper society. The truth is that those who step forward to speak their mind are happier and…

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