March is National Women’s History Month!

By: Tia Love

I have to tip my crown to all of the women writers that paved the way before me. The ones that shared their intimate thoughts, views, and positions so that readers like me could feel encouraged, empowered, and inspired.

Some of my favorite women writers:

J.K. Rowling
Maya Angelou
Audre Lorde
Lois Lowry
Bell Hooks
Sister Souljah
Zora Neale Hurston

This year’s theme for National Women’s History Month is: Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment. When I think of my favorite women writers and how they embody those characteristics, a few things come to mind.

All of these women were bold enough to step outside of the box times and society had placed them in. They displayed imagination and the extraordinary ability to create worlds we would have never learned of otherwise.

Along with creativity, some of these women had enough nerve to stand firmly and speak truths that went against everything the masses had ever known or believed in. Those women used writing to speak out against sexism, class-ism, racism and so many social injustices. With each stroke of their pens, they quietly ignited the spark of a revolution that has bonded women together for decades.

Take a few cues from my personal library and see why I’m so smitten with these women.

J.K. Rowling provided me with an escape from the harsh realities of my own world when she created the entire universe within the Harry Potter series.

Lois Lowry opened my eyes to the reality of what our world could and would become with her best-seller The Giver. If we continued to strive for safety beyond all measures, perfection, and uniformity in a world that wasn’t built to be molded that way.

Sister Souljah gave voices to the many lives trapped inside the ghettos when she wrote The Coldest Winter Ever. Her work is a testament to the reality that surrounds me everyday.

For more revolutionary and avante garde works, check out Audre Lorde and bell hooks. Both black feminists that played a phenomenal role in breaking down the barriers of social constructs. bell hooks captivated my feminist mind with Communion: The Female Search for Love.

Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings showed me that a woman could emerge from an ugly situation as an elegant. It was a beautiful reminder of the strength that any woman can possess when she considers herself a survivor rather than a victim.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston helped me find the joy and beauty in being a black woman. It encouraged me into looking for love within, instead of without.

Take this month to celebrate all of the women that may have written a book, poem, or play that in some way altered your conscience, thought pattern, or why of life. Use their works as I do; not only as a source of entertainment and knowledge, but as a driving motivation to become a writer-woman in history as well.

Toodles!