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Amplify InBetween: The Second to Last

Welcome to our second-to-last piece of Amplify of the year and our final Amplify InBetween for 2022! We hope you enjoyed learning about the fantastic womxn we shared this year. To end the year, we’re doing something a little different. By now, everyone’s a little burnt out for the year, so instead of an entire article, we decided to switch it up. This piece will give you some resources and recommendations, a short article on a womxn you should know, and what’s to come from Amplify in the future.

 

Amplified Resources to Check Out:

 

Civil Disobedience: Nwanyeruwa Oleka Okpo and the women of Oloko

Have you heard the story of the ten thousand women’s war or the Women’s Market Rebellion of 1929? It was a war against colonialism led by Nwanyeruwa Oleka Okpo from the village of Oloko in southeastern Nigeria. Most people believe the women were fighting the British only because they were taxing them, but it was more than that. How else would you explain their civil disobedience as they destroyed everything around them and defied police orders? Yes, leader Nwanyeruwa Oleka Okpo and her band of sisters protested against the British because of their continuous tax on goods, property, and more, but it was more than that. It was about the British denying Nigerians access to their own land and way of living, about how the British treated the people of the land as less than others, and about fighting against colonialism.

Check out The Heroin Collective for the full story, or watch Journey of an African Colony: The Making of Nigeria on Netflix for the amazing womxn of Oloko who defied and marched against oppression, even in the face of bullets.

Here is a hint of what’s to come:

Amplify 2022 has been excellent. We’ve introduced you to some fantastic womxn, added new features/digital content, i.e., polls, graphics, interviews, and a comic, and presented our second series, “Shapers of A Movement.”

So what’s next?

Well, we have one more surprise for you. To end the year, we’re looking back at Amplify to see “how far we’ve come.”

And for 2023?

Well, that, I don’t know. This is my last year as your Amplify columnist, so I can’t tell you what’s in store for next year, but I’m hoping for something and someone new. 2022 was filled with many surprises, and I hope the same can be said for 2023.

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Joycelyn lives in Cypress, Texas. She’s the daughter of immigrants and did not go to law school, but she received three degrees (BA, MA, MPH) and is happily freelancing and working in the nonprofit world. She enjoys writing about healthcare recruitment and even worked as a Healthcare Organizer. When she’s not writing, she’s transcribing, developing community toolkits, and researching womxn’s history. Which is why she’s excited about writing for AMPLIFY. On her off days, she spends her time on Twitter, reminding everyone to drink water and enabling others to watch more dramas. Follow her on Twitter: @jg_humanitarian