As we commemorate International Women’s Day, the Amazons Watch Magazine and CELD wish to celebrate the different shades of women’s achievements all over the world. Women who fought for change and so many noble causes in their communities; women who held the fort in their families and communities; women who made and continue to make history, treading uncharted waters and leaving a trail of examples for upcoming women to follow.
This month of March, we choose to celebrate these women in a poem, written by our editor.
To all women out there, please read on, this is for you:
Today, I choose to celebrate women the world over
I celebrate the Inventors
I see Grace Hopper and Stephanie Kwolek
Who? You ask. I bet their names sound Greek
How many female inventors do you know by name?
When men tell the stories, they keep the fame
Today, I sing a song for women
Whose exploits have brought us gain.
I celebrate the politicians
I see the likes of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Hilary Clinton
Who came in a skirt rather than a tuxedo
With chances they knew was anyone’s call
Wouldn’t they be better at answering phone calls?
And letting the men know when to stop by for dinner?
They knew it would be tough but they dared to succeed
Amidst tears and all which gave them nicknames
Their names deserve to be in a song
Today, I raise up my voice to sing their praises!
I celebrate the Entrepreneurs
Those who dreamt big and let their passions soar
Who knew doing otherwise will leave them Nillonaires
And so, they challenged the status quo
Rising early, knowing ‘’there is much to be done’’
Making bold moves and raking in the profits
No liability zone is her watchword
She toiled day and night and now is successful
As she provides jobs for countless others
Who will begrudge her as she smiles to the bank?
Let my tongue be stuck to my palette if I choose silence
Today I sing a song for all female entrepreneurs.
I celebrate the white-collar workers
Who often have to work three times as hard to be recognized
With a glass and pay ceiling looming over her as a cloud
She fights in this turf with a hand tied to her back
And when she makes a valid point – she is too assertive
While her male colleagues are very confident.
Though diligent with a pedigree marked with achievements,
Her authority is often undermined because she comes in a skirt.
And even as nature gifts her hormonal surges and period pains
She has to wear a smile through her grimace
Exhausted, she is home at the end of the day
But often, as mother, her day is just beginning
Yet, she lives both lives perfectly balanced
Which makes her every attainment weighted in gold
Would it not be injustice if I left them out?
I sing the song for working women today!
I celebrate the stay-at-home mums
Who may lack might or intellect
But chose to dim their light for others to shine bright
Her toil day and night mostly without pay
Busy with drudgery on a daily basis
The wellbeing of their family is enough wage, they believe
They often have to bear the sneer and grunts from their circle
To their partners and friends, it seems, they just love whining
‘After all they rested all day’, these ones often reason
If you know the burden these women bear
Then join your voice in this song of mine!
Kembet Bolton
March, 2020
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