Skip to main content

Women's History Month

Internationally, March has been declared Women’s History Month highlighting women’s achievements, roles and contributions in the effort towards equality between women and men worldwide. The Status of Women Canada announced the theme for 2009 as ‘Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World. Equality.’ See the web page here,

http://www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/dates/iwd-jif/index-eng.html

It is equally important for men to be involved in the celebration of the women in their lives and to recognize these women for the equal partners they are.

I am proud to be raising four very strong, independent daughters who are clearly leaders of their generation. Over the years, they have been exposed to many powerful and passionate female role models ranging from school principals to reverends, and most importantly, mothers. I do include myself here, but the list is long in our family of strong independent matriarchs that struggle for the life they want while remaining the nurturing mother too.

As a Canadian, I like to explore those female role models that have made contributions to the movement of equality in our country. We have made great strides, though there is still movement necessary in order to close the gender gap. For a great list of some famous Canadians worth celebrating click on the following link;

http://www.heroines.ca/

A first reading of my poem In the Name of Gaia takes place on International Women’s Day, March 8th, at the Town Hall in Bloomfield Ontario from 2-4pm. The works of other commendable female contributors will also be displayed and read with a print version to follow.

Stand tall.
Peace.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One Day I Saw Ty Conn

(This is being recalled from a very young mind...) When my father would begin telling a story from his childhood, he would begin with “When I was a little girl…” which would cause an uproar of high pitched objections from my sisters and myself. He would simply smile and continue on, as he now had our complete attention. I started this post at the beginning of November of this year when thoughts of my father return annually on the anniversary of his birthday. This story, however, is not about my father… When I was a little girl, I lived in a small house on Pine Street with my father, mother and three sisters. Ours was a busy, full house. Lisa was the oldest, very beautiful and very bossy. Pam was next, also very beautiful and we envied her fashion sense. I was the third in the line of my sisters, a middle child that cried a lot, made funny faces and was very comfortable at the centre of attention. My little sister, Joanne, enjoyed the status of being the baby in the family. She wa...

Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf

Rich in History. High in Achievement. Belleville is home to Sir James Whitney School, one of North America’s oldest schools for the Deaf, opening its doors on October 20, 1870. This past October, SJW held a celebration to commemorate its 140 th anniversary. One of my all time favourite grade school memories was touring this amazing school with my grade six class from St. Michael’s Academy almost 30 years ago. Recently, I was privileged to visit it once more. “The school was founded through the persistent efforts of John Barrett McGann, an Irish immigrant and educator,” says Gary Wheeler, a representative with the Ministry of Education. McGann was a pioneer of deaf education. The school is named after the former premier of Ontario, James Whitney, who was known for his advances in education.  Crossing onto the grounds and up the long circular drive, you can feel the rich history this school and the vast grounds hold. This history includes a self-sustaining community that at...

Linda Barber The Art of Painterly Realism

What exactly is painterly realism you ask? Well, that is how artist Linda Barber of Prince Edward County describes the work she does. Linda originally hails from the pretty little town of Marmora, Ontario. Her post secondary studies took her to the east coast where she studied Fine Art at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, graduating with a degree in printmaking. After graduating, she moved to the County and has made it her home for more than 30 years now. Visiting Linda at her studio in her beautiful old Colonial home, you are greeted with the charm of this historical place (her husband is the fifth generation on this farm), the beauty in this rural setting and the welcoming bark of their family dog, Benny. It is here at her home studio that she first began her painting and her framing business; both of which are still in operation. Although Linda has painted many works with watercolour; her medium of choice is now acrylic paints and working with a palette knife f...