Women's History Month: 11 Prominent Black Women Making An Impact
Women’s History Month is essential in honoring women who inspire us! Here are 11 prominent Black Women who are making a major impact!
Viola Davis - PHOTOGRAPH BY DARIO CALMESE
By: Kwana Adams
It’s a little comforting to know that right after Black History Month is Women’s History Month. As a black woman, both months are essential to me because they represent two pieces of my identity. They are the first things people will notice about me when they see me.
Being black and a woman means that I have to work so much harder to prove myself in a white and male-centered world. Tv shows and movies where black women are powerful, strong, and ruthless are some of my favorites, but I also love when black women can be soft and vulnerable.
Many of my favorite black women are actresses and writers because that’s what I aspire to be, but there are artists that I love because their music just speaks to me on a deep level. Here is a list of some of my favorite black women and women who inspire me.
Viola Davis
Viola Davis
As a fellow Rhode Island native, Viola is proof that I can also make it out of a state that some people mistake as part of New York. (Rhode Island is a state, guys!) As an aspiring actress, Viola is someone I look up to immensely. Before Covid, when I was able to walk the Rhode Island College campus, I would see her pictures on the walls and hope that it could be me someday.
Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson (Photo credit: Erik Umphery)
The first movie that I saw Taraji P Henson in was Tyler Perry’s ‘I Can Do Bad All By Myself.’ Her performance in that film shook me to my very core. The most memorable scenes are when she is crying about her mother passing away on a bus. I felt like I could feel the pain she felt, knowing that no one was there for her mom in her final moments.
The other powerful moment in that movie for me was after finding out that her man had tried to take advantage of her niece; she runs him a bath and almost electrocutes him. This scene gets to me because, at first, it looks as though she doesn’t believe her niece, but having gone through something similar at a young age, she was able to recognize who this man really was. Every movie I’ve seen Taraji in, she delivers 100%, and I love that about her.
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington - (Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times)
I’m just going to say it: No one, and I mean NO ONE could ever be Olivia Pope better than Kerry Washington. She played Olivia so well that she made me wish I was a lawyer and a gladiator in a suit. I was hooked on Scandal the second I began watching. Olivia was so powerful and had everything handled with nary a hair out of place. I even did an Olivia Pope monologue for an acting course, and I could swear I felt her power with every word I spoke.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union - CREDIT: ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/GETTY
Gabrielle has been one of my favorite actresses since I was a little girl. Being Mary Jane was the best thing BET has ever done, and it’s a shame they didn’t keep it on the air long before canceling it. Despite the tired trope that black women can’t have a successful career and a happy relationship simultaneously, Being Mary Jane was a fantastic show. No one could have played Mary Jane better than Gabrielle.
Regina Hall
Regina Hall - CREDIT: EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES
Girls Trip and Little are two of my favorite Regina Hall films. I remember waiting months for Little to premiere in theaters and then excitedly watching it when it finally did. I enjoy Regina on and off the screen. She’s hilarious, and I just know she lights up any room she walks in.
Regina King
Regina King - FREDERIC J. BROWN - GETTY IMAGES
We all know and love her for the ‘pour baby oil on the bathroom floor and beat your man with a belt’ trick, but my favorite performances of hers are Poetic Justice and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Her rap sheet is extensive, not just as an actress but as a director and voice actress. She’s incredibly talented, and she deserves her flowers.
SZA
SZA
CTRL came out in 2017, but I still listen to it endlessly to this day. It is one of the only albums that I can listen to nonstop for hours and study to. This album got me through a lot when it first came out. I do love the recent music that she has been dropping, but nothing will top CTRL in my eyes.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
I wrote a separate article about Maya, but this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning her. She’s my favorite writer and poet, and I wish I could have met her before she passed away; what I wouldn’t give to have had just one conversation with her.
Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis also got her own article, but it wouldn’t be right not to mention her here either. She is the most important black rights activist I’ve ever learned about. She has and still, to this day, makes it her mission to uplift and fight for black people. Black women tend to be overlooked in history, so I make sure to mention her as much as possible.
Rico Nasty
Rico Nasty
I discovered Rico Nasty while watching my favorite show, Insecure. After that, I checked out more of her music, and the rest is history. I love the diversity and aggression in her music. I love her style of dress and the way she moves through the world so carefree.
Issa Rae
Issa Rae - Credit: JABARI JACOBS
Insecure was my first introduction to Issa Rae, and I was hooked immediately. After A Different World was removed from Netflix and many other majority-black shows were canceled or removed, it was hard for me to find something to watch that I could somewhat relate to. Insecure is funny but also touches on important issues. Issa Rae is a comedic genius, and I aspire to develop something that gets people talking as much as Insecure does.
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Phenomenal Woman | Remembering Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is remembered as a renowned bestselling author, iconic poet, actress, and activist! We celebrate her legacy here!
By: Kwana Adams
Every time Black History month comes along, many articles pop up about historical black figures and their contributions to black history. I know you’re tired of it, but here’s another one. This person is significant to me, and I will always shout my love for them from the rooftops. This article is about one of my favorite black women of all time: Maya Angelou. She had such a long and beautiful life; it continually amazes me. She is one of my most significant role models and answers to, “who do I look up to?”
As a black woman and a writer, she stands out like a star for me. I can recite “Phenomenal Woman” word for word. Her poems and her books just speak to me on such a deep level. I never tire of reading them. I’ve always considered myself a great writer, but my Achilles heel is writing poetry. It’s one of the things I struggle with when it comes to being a writer.
Every time I read one of her poems, I marvel at the talent she had for putting words together and making them sound beautiful and flow so effortlessly. She had such a beautiful way with words for someone who didn’t speak a word for five years of their life. During this period of her life, she immersed herself in all kinds of literature, reading authors such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and even Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe. Although there were many men authors whose work she familiarized herself with, it was a black woman who finally helped her gain her voice back. In a way, Ms. Angelou is that woman for me. I like to think that ‘Phenomenal Woman’ was written for little black girls like me, as a child, who needed someone to tell them those words. I am a phenomenal woman, and so is every other black woman.
As a writer, anything and everything can be an inspiration. When I find myself struggling for words, I love to read her work and get out of my element; just go outside and find my own words. It helps me to read the work of legends and imagine myself one day being in their shoes. Her words and her work are important to me. Having black women figures to look up to in general is essential to me. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a man’s world. Ms. Angelou never dulled her shine for men, and neither shall I. One of my favorite lines from one of her poems is,
“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the hope and the dream of the slave.
I rise.
I rise.
I rise.”
Maya Angelou Recites a Poem at Bill Clinton’s Inauguration
My main ambition to succeed in life is to make my family and my ancestors proud. Sometimes when I think about life and where we are in history, I think about the suffering that my ancestors went through for me to be able even to be typing this right now. I think of every generation who got another step closer to making a better life for their descendants. Maya Angelou put all of those feelings into words for me, and I wish I could thank her. Since I can’t, this article is my tribute to her. Thank you, Maya. Thank you for teaching me why the caged bird sings. Thank you for helping me find my voice.