Amplify is a once a month series written by HerStry columnist, Joycelyn Ghansah. Each month Joycelyn explores one of the lives lesser known from women in history. It is our goal to bring these women’s stories and works to the forefront so that their stories are not forgotten.
Welcome to Amplify InBetween, where you give you samples with a bit of herstory and a little bit of fun. In our final Amplify piece for 2021, we will look at the first Amplifiers in their class. These ladies were the first to fly, teach, create, disrupt, bring new perspectives and innovation, and inspire generations.
Read MoreDo you believe your words have the power to move and heal a community?
In our last WarriHERS piece, we’ll meet a warrior who used her words to address the horrors of war and bondage, and who advocated for equality. This WarriHer was a crusader for the people; she spoke up against institutional racism and helped communities express their traumas and heal through words. As a poet, she wrote about issues affecting marginalized communities around the world, not only inspiring others to share their stories, but also healing from the battles she fought throughout her youth.
Read MoreWelcome to Amplify InBetween, where you give you samples with a bit of herstory and a little bit of fun.
In this Amplify InBetween WarriHER Edition, we give you facts and resources, and answer the question of what makes a warriHER. Can you be a revolutionary warriHER off the battlefield?
Read MoreHave you ever thought about how great it would be if specific historical figures had met, how they’d probably have been best friends or allies if they had lived in the same country or time? Or maybe you have a list of historical figures who had the same background or goal, and you thought it would be great if you could just put them in a room together and talk with them about saving the world? No? Maybe that’s just me.
Learn about the Revolutionary WarriHERS the Trưng sisters and Laskarina Bouboulina in this edition of Amplify!
Read MoreAnnouncement: Hello! Welcome to the first Amplify InBetween post! What is an InBetween post? It’s a post where we share multiple posts or people at once, in between our main stories.
Since the Revolutionary WarriHERs series is from July to October, we realized we couldn’t share all the Revolutionary WarriHER women that we want; so, we decided to write an InBetween post and share a list of four Revolutionary WarriHERs you should know.
Read MoreHave you ever heard the story of the lead strategist and propaganda creator who helped lead an uprising against colonizers in Peru in the late 1700s? Who united multiethnic groups in the name of freedom and resistance against tyranny? She recruited not only Indians, but also mestizos, Blacks, Creoles, and “good” Spaniards, something unheard of in eighteenth-century Peru. Famously known as the wife of rebel leader Túpac Amaru II, Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua was second-in-command of the most significant uprising in Spanish colonial history.
Read MoreWhen I was young, I used to pretend to be Xena, the Warrior Princess. I would wear my mother’s leather jacket, grab the removable stove ring, and run around the apartment screaming Xena-esque dialogue. After ten minutes, my mother would tell me to stop and read a book. Instead of reading, I’d become the great Maa Yaa Asantewaa. She was the queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire (modern-day Ghana); she led her people into battle with the British in 1900.
Read MoreThe great socialist, feminist, and community activist Grace Lee Boggs once said, “You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”
Read MoreWhat’s your ideal camping trip? Does it involve about 250 of your closest girlfriends, some in witch's costumes and military gear? What about a 36-woman-human chain surrounding an army base, a couple of arrests, fights with the UK government and police, and disarming nuclear missiles? If your answer is yes, you'd fit in with the Women of Greenham Common Camp.
Read MoreWhat happens when an anarcha-feminist creates an organization, or even two, in the middle of the Spanish civil war? You get a movement of 30,000 members fighting for women’s liberation, with some working-class empowerment thrown in! Breaking tradition, demanding independence and freedom from the patriarchy, and fighting for equality, is what Soledad Estorach was all about.
Read MoreThis month’s AMPLIFY is about the Lavender Menace action during the second wave of the feminism movement in the 1970s. The Lesbian members felt, or rather they were excluded from many of the feminist movement activities. They started the Lavender Menace action and fought for their voices to be heard. They made sure they were heard as well not only their issues but the issues of the WOC and lower SES women issues.
Read More
