Celebrating Black History Month

3 incredible Black women who changed the way we think about everything…

First celebrated in 1987, Black History Month was founded with the aim of recognising the contributions influential Black figures have made throughout history.

Below are three incredible women who changed the way we think, not just about race, but so many vital aspects of society.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s work will always hold a special place in my heart. When I was younger, I used to believe poetry was sappy, whimsical nonsense. But I distinctly remember sitting in an English lesson in Year 9, and reading ‘And Still I Rise’ for the first time. It is a powerful piece on femininity, confidence and resilience. I was astounded. It was the first poem I read which had truly moved me. Now I can’t get enough of poetry. I have Maya Angelou to thank for that.

Angelou was born in 1928 and grew up in poverty in Arkansas. Her neighbourhood was very segregated and in her autobiography she recounts her experiences of the discrimination she and her family faced at the hands of their white neighbours. As well as this, she was raped when she was very young, leaving her so traumatised that she was mute for years, until she found consolation in written words and books.

While her story contains suffering, it is also full of great joy. She loved to dance and write poetry, and had a son when she was 17. To escape racism and build a new life for herself and her child, she moved to Ghana, but faced just as much prejudice there. When she returned to the United States, she became an influential activist for Black rights, working with people like Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X.

Her work is still considered some of the most influential American literature to this day, having received dozens of awards and over 50 honorary degrees. She even read her poetry during President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. For those who haven’t read her work, her autobiography, beginning with the book ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, is an incredibly moving piece.

It was a great loss to the world when she died in 2014.

Lucy Anderson

Lucy H. Anderson was a trans woman born in California in 1886. From a young age, she insisted on wearing dresses to school. When Anderson was a child, her concerned mother took her to a doctor, who suggested that she allow her child to live as a female. By age 15, she had officially changed her name to Lucy and left home. In 1944, Lucy married Reuben Anderson and they lived happily together.

But when undergoing a medical physical examination, it was found that Lucy was assigned male at birth. The marriage was voided by the Ventura County District Attorney and Lucy was arrested for perjury, the charge justified by the fact that she had signed the marriage license stating there were “no legal objections to the marriage”.

Lucy insisted that a person could appear to be of one sex and actually belong to another: “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman.” She told reporters, “I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.”

After the trial, she relocated to Los Angeles where she lived until her death in 1954. During a time when there was open hostility towards members of the LGBTQ+ community and when mainstream ideas of gender in the US were purely binary, Anderson was a brave trans pioneer fighting America’s legal system just to be recognised as who she was.

Dr Mae Jemison

Dr Mae C. Jemison was born in Alabama in 1956 and grew up in Chicago. She was the first African American female astronaut and the first Black woman to go to space.

Her uncle encouraged her love of science; even at a young age she was interested in anthropology, astronomy and engineering. After leaving school, she went on to study at Stanford University, where she received degrees in biochemical engineering and African American studies, as well as going on to study medicine at Cornell University, New York. She left the US shortly afterward and for years she travelled to places such as Thailand and Kenya, where she worked as a medical officer.

However, upon her return to the United States in 1987, she saw that NASA was looking to recruit female astronauts, and thinking she fit the job description, she applied on a whim. She became one of the 15 accepted out of 2,000 applicants. After rigorous training, she became the first Black woman in space in 1992 while aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.

Her role was not only a testament to her talent, but it also sent a clear message to all girls hoping to pursue a career in STEM, an area which even today is still dominated by men. Jemison taught young Black girls that not even the sky is the limit.