At black women suffer a double discrimination, as they have to overcome gender and color barriers.
However, even facing all kinds of prejudice, some Afro-descendant women conquered their place in the sun.
Now let's look at 12 black women whose lives serve as an example to everyone.
1. Josephine Baker (1906-1975) - singer, dancer and political activist
Josephine Baker was born in Missouri, United States. From a humble family, she worked as a cleaner, helping her mother with household expenses.
Her passion, however, was dancing. By winning a competition at age 14, she joins several companies that toured the country, performing in theaters for an Afro-descendant audience. She lands small roles on Broadway and there, she would meet the American cultural attaché at the Paris embassy, who takes her to France.
Moving to this country made Josephine Baker a star. American rhythms such as charleston and jazz conquered Parisians. Josephine's uninhibited manner, coupled with her voice, made her a sought-after artist who would run her own show house.
When visiting the United States, she is faced with racial segregation and, therefore, refuses to perform in clubs that do not allow the entry of black people. She would later apply for French citizenship.
With the beginning of Second World War (1939-1945), she became involved in the French resistance and, at the end of the conflict, would be awarded the Legion of Honor for her services.
In the 1950s and 1960s, she actively participated alongside Martin Luther King in marches for civil rights and against racial segregation.
In addition to her intense career as a dancer, actress and singer, Josephine Baker adopted twelve orphaned children from different countries and religions, to show that the peaceful coexistence between beings was possible. humans.
She died at age 68 and was the first Afro-American to receive military honors during her burial in Paris.
2. Rosa Parks (1913-2005) - seamstress and political activist
Rosa Parks was born in the state of Alabama, where racial segregation laws were in place. According to these laws, blacks and whites could not attend the same spaces as schools, restaurants and cemeteries.
In 1932, she married Raymond Parks, who was a member of the "National Association for the Advancement of People of Color" (NAACP). He encouraged her to continue with her studies, arguing that blacks needed to prove they were as smart and capable as whites.
Despite this, Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress in the city of Montgomery. Returning home on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks took the bus and sat in the space reserved for blacks.
However, the collective began to fill up and the driver noticed that three whites were standing. Immediately, he ordered the four blacks who were seated to rise to give them their places. Rosa Parks was the only one who didn't. Warned that she would be arrested, Parks continued to refuse to give up her place.
So she was taken to prison immediately. In support of her gesture, the black community mobilized. led by pastors Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy, African Americans imposed a boycott of the city's public transport, claiming that segregation in these vehicles was unconstitutional.
After another year of struggle, the US Supreme Court declared segregation illegal. Even so, the Parks couple would suffer the consequences, losing their jobs, and being forced to move out of town.
Rosa Parks has become a symbol of Civil Rights in the United States and around the world. She received several decorations throughout her life and passed away in 2005.
3. Mercedes Baptista (1921-2014) - dancer and choreographer
Mercedes Baptista was born in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ) and from an early age felt racial prejudice, as she was the only black woman in the school where she attended.
Her family moved to Rio de Janeiro and she started to attend Eros Volúsia's dance classes (1914-2004), which were focused on Brazilian culture. Then, she studies at the Escola de Danças of Theatro Municipal, in Rio de Janeiro, where she comes into contact with classical dance.
Mercedes Baptista is approved in the competition for the Theatro Municipal Ballet and thus becomes the first black dancer to join it. Without getting good roles because of her color, she ended up dedicating herself to other projects that favored the black theme, such as Abdias Nascimento's Teatro Experimental do Negro.
She is later invited by the American dancer Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) to improve herself in the United States. Dunham was one of the first to use voodoo moves in modern dance.
When she returns to Brazil, she founds her dance school, where she reconciles classical and modern technique with Afro-Brazilian elements. In this way, she became a pioneer in creating her own language and methodology to teach and create choreographies based on Afro-Brazilian culture.
Mercedes Baptista would collaborate as a choreographer for samba schools, theater and various shows throughout Brazil and around the world.
She passed away in 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the city hall opened a statue of the artist in the Saúde district.
4. Alice Coachman (1923-2014) - Olympic athlete and medalist
Alice Coachman was born in Georgia, United States, where there was a series of racial segregation laws against blacks.
She always excelled in sports, but didn't have the same opportunity to train as her white counterparts. However, her talent earned her a scholarship to study and continue her training.
For ten years she was an American champion and in 1948 she was able to show the world her skills at the London Olympics.
There, at the age of 24, she won the gold medal in the high jump, becoming the first black woman to do so and the only American to receive it at these Olympic Games.
Upon returning to the United States, she was received by President Harry Truman. However, despite her historic victory, her town mayor refused to shake her hand.
After leaving athletics, Coachman devoted herself to teaching and, since 1994, a school in her hometown bears her name.
5. Maria d'Apparecida (1935-2017) - opera singer
Maria d’Apparecida was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music.
Soon after graduating, she won a singing competition at the Associação Brasileira de Imprensa. However, she heard from one of the directors that she had a beautiful voice, but that she was black and therefore would never sing at Theatro Municipal.
Without giving up her dream of having an artistic career, she worked as a radio announcer and saved money to go to Europe. In Italy she took second place in an opera singing competition and then went to Paris, where she studied at the Conservatory of Music in that city.
Maria d’Apparecida was a mezzo-soprano and shone on stages in France, Russia and Bulgaria. In 1967, he received the highest award in lyrical music in France, the Golden Orpheus, for his performance in the opera "Carmen" by Bizet. Ironically, she was the first black woman to play this role at the Paris Opera, something she was denied in her native country.
Only after her success in Europe was she invited to perform at the Municipal Theater in Rio de Janeiro.
Never forgetting her Brazilian roots, she recorded albums by erudite composers such as Waldemar Henrique and Hector Villa-Lobos.
After suffering a car accident, her voice was no longer the same and she started to dedicate herself to popular music, recording works by Baden Powell, Vinícius de Moraes and Paulo César Pinheiro.
She died completely forgotten in Paris and was almost buried as a pauper. Faced with the mobilization of the community and the Brazilian consulate, the singer was given a dignified grave.
6. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (1938) - Former President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize
Ellen Sirleaf was born in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. She went to the United States with her husband and there studied economics at the University of Harvard, majoring in Public Administration.
Back in Liberia, she worked in various government positions, including as Minister of Finance, until the 1980 coup d'état. Right now, Liberia is going through a bloody civil war and Ellen Sirleaf has to go into exile a few times.
She runs in presidential elections for the first time in 1997, but is defeated. In 2003, the civil war ends and two years later, Ellen Sirleaf returns to stand as a candidate and, this time, is democratically elected for the position.
With this, she becomes the first African woman to occupy this post and is re-elected in 2011. This year, she receives the Nobel Peace Prize for “her efforts to promote peace and her struggle to promote women's rights”.
Despite being admired around the world, Ellen Sirleaf was accused of nepotism by appointing her children to strategic positions in her government.
She is currently a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women Presidents and Prime Ministers.
7. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) - Biologist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Kenya and was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for "her contribution to sustainable development, to democracy and peace".
As she excelled at school, she received a scholarship from the US government to study in this country. Later, she would major in biology and pursue a master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh.
She returns to Nairobi, and carries out her doctoral studies there and in Germany. She thus becomes the first woman to obtain it in Central Africa and the first university professor in her country.
Concerned about forest devastation, she created the “Green Belt” movement with the aim of planting trees across the country. With this, the women begin to prepare seeds and seedlings, also gaining financial independence.
In 1998, she fought against the Kenyan government and stopped the destruction of forests and the privatization of Uhuru Park.
It is estimated that she and her companions have planted more than 50 million trees, enabling the restoration of Kenya's natural surroundings.
Wangari Maathai died in 2011 as a result of ovarian cancer.
8. Angela Davis (1944) - philosopher and feminist activist
Born in Alabama, Angela Davis lived early on with the racial segregation imposed in this American state. She lived in a neighborhood called “Dynamite Hill”, as several houses had been blown up by members of the Ku Klux Kan.
At 14, she was able to continue her studies, thanks to a scholarship, and went to New York. In this city, she came into contact with the Marxist ideas that would shape her philosophy and political action.
She enters Brandeis University to study French and there attends several lectures by writer James Bladwin and philosopher Herbert Marcuse. The latter would advise her to study philosophy at the University of Frankfurt.
His stay in Europe is marked by the participation of protests against the Vietnam War (1955 -1975). Upon returning to the United States, she joins the Communist Party and participates in the movement Black Power.
In the 70s, she finds herself accused of kidnapping and murder. Her imprisonment causes worldwide commotion and makes her a symbol of the anti-racist and feminist struggle. She would later be acquitted of all charges.
Angela Davis' thinking places the racial and female issue within the context of classes. In this way, racism and misogyny in a society would only be banned when the exploitation of capital ended.
Angela Davis is still active, writing books and lecturing around the world.
9. Janelle Commissiong (1957) - Miss Universe 1977 and businesswoman
Janelle Commissiong was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and in 1977 she became the first black Miss Universe.
At 14, she went to live in the United States, where she graduated from the Technological Institute of Fashion, in New York. In 1976, she returned to her native country and, the following year, would be chosen Miss Trinidad and Tobago.
This title allowed him to represent the Caribbean island in the Miss Universe 1977 contest, held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Janelle Commissiong was not one of the favorites for the title, as everyone was betting on Miss Austria. However, her elegance and friendliness made her the winner, and crowned her as the first black woman to win this contest.
At the time, Janelle Comissiong was honored with postage stamps and decorated by the government of Trinidad. She has also worked for tourism promotion in Trinidad and Tobago and is currently an entrepreneur.
10. Oprah Winfrey (1954) - presenter and philanthropist
Oprah Winfrey, born in the state of Mississippi, in the United States, is considered the first African American billionaire and one of the most influential people in the world.
She was born into a poor and unstructured family, but which encouraged her skills as a speaker. She was chosen as Miss Tennessee, worked as an announcer and won a scholarship to study Journalism.
As an actress, her role in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The Color Purple earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She has also acted as a film producer and cartoon voice actor.
She became the first black woman to be a news anchor and later to have her own talk show. He innovated the format by telling his life to viewers and thus gaining their complicity.
As her popularity increased, she went on to interview Hollywood celebrities and music stars like Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, among others.
In the 21st century, Oprah opened her own television channel and created a magazine focused on topics such as spirituality, women's issues, and family relationships.
Currently, Oprah is dedicated to her work in philanthropy helping to empower girls and has opened a leadership school in South Africa.
11. Chimamanda Adichie (1977) - writer and feminist
She was born in Engu, Nigeria, in 1977, into a middle-class family where her parents worked at the University of Nigeria.
Initially, she started studying Medicine and Pharmacy, but changed fields and received a scholarship to study Communication in the United States. She would even complete specializations at John Hopkins University and Yale.
She wrote novels about her home country such as “The Purple Flower” which were very well received by critics and won the 2005 Commonwealth Best Novel Award. Also her book "The Other Half of the Sun" won the Orange Award in 2008.
In 2009 she became famous for her interventions in the TEDx conference cycle where she warned of the danger of knowing only one version of history.
However, it was her essay “We Should All Be Feminists” that catapulted her to worldwide fame. Adichie argues that the story should be told from the perspective of women and so everyone would be aware of the importance of their role in society. Some excerpts from the book were mentioned in the song Flawless, of Beyonce.
Currently, Chimamanda Adichie lives between the United States and Nigeria, and will have one of her titles, “Americanah” adapted to film.
12. Simone Biles (1997) - Olympic gymnast
Simone Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA, but grew up in Texas. Currently, she is considered the best gymnast of all time for the 25 medals obtained in the sport's tournament and for the daring of her movements.
Artistic gymnastics came into his life by chance. On a school trip to a gym, Biles began imitating the pirouettes that gymnasts displayed and his skill caught the attention of the coaches. They then convinced Simon Biles' parents that she should enroll in gym class.
His star emerged in 2013 when he won the American championship. That same year, she would compete in the Gymnastics World Cup in Antwerp, where she would win three gold medals.
However, it was at the Rio Olympics, in 2016, that it became a worldwide phenomenon, winning four medals from another: three in solo exercises and one per team. In this competition it was also proved that black women can be great gymnasts.
In 2019, Simon Biles achieved a new feat by surpassing the 23 medals won by gymnast Vitaly Scherbo in artistic gymnastics worlds.
There are more texts on the subject for you:
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