Every month staff of The Northwood Omniscient recommends something for students and staff. For the month of March, staff members recommended resources for Women’s History Month. Resources include notable female figures.
Ava DuVernay
Writer, Director and Producer
Ava DuVernay was born in 1972 in California. DuVernay graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with degrees in English and African American studies. While attending university, she became interested in broadcast journalism; however, DuVernay didn’t start writing her own scripts until 2003. Before DuVernay switched to writing and producing her own content, she founded a public relations company, The DuVernay Agency, that worked on campaigns for film media. In 2006, DeVernay’s first film was released. DuVernay’s first few films won awards at many film festivals, but her most noteworthy films are Selma and 13th which both focus on conversations about race in the United States. DeVernay collaborated with Oprah Winfrey on the Disney live-action film, A Wrinkle in Time before starting her own film distribution company in 2010 called African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRMA). In 2019, AFFRMA rebranded to ARRAY to include both gender and race in filmmaking. With this rebrand, DeVernay also released a five-part miniseries for Netflix entitled When They See Us which DeVernay created, directed and co-wrote. When They See Us again focuses on racial discrimination, specifically on the 1989 Central Park jogger case. When They See Us is DuVernay’s most accomplished project with 2 million viewers during its first month of release. The series also went on to receive 16 Emmy nominations which makes DeVernay one of the first Black women to receive multiple nominations at the Emmys alongside Beyoncé. She is also the first Black woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, be nominated for a Best Director Golden Globe, direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and direct a film with a budget over $100 million. Her work has made her the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history.
DuVernay’s work in the film industry inspires me as a journalist to pursue stories that cover difficult and unsettling topics. The barriers she has broken as female push me to believe in the importance of the work I am doing.
-Co-Editor in Chief Ella Sullivan
Lucy Parsons
American Labor Organizer
Lucy Parsons was born in 1851 as a slave to a Virginia slave owner named Tolliver, who may have also been her father. During the American Civil War, she was relocated to Texas by her master. After the Confederacy was destroyed, she worked as a maid in several white households until she married a Confederate soldier by the name of Albert Parsons. Unfortunately, they were ostracized by Texan society because of their mixed-race marriage. They moved to Chicago, Illinois. Here Parsons was able to fully exercise her political rights. She began advocating on behalf of people of color, women and the homeless. She also was involved with the Labor Movement in Chicago. Her husband was similarly involved in political advocacy, especially for the eight-hour workday. He was later arrested on the accusation of being behind the Haymarket Affair, a bombing and riot that took place in Chicago. He was found guilty and executed. Parsons continued her activism, however. She wrote for several magazines about labor issues. Most notably, Parsons is credited with helping to start the Industrial Workers of the World, an important labor union, and with inventing the sit-in strike.
She inspires me because of her tireless advocacy on behalf of the most oppressed groups in society.
-Co-Editor in Chief Torin Priddle
Regina King
Actress and Director
Regina Rene King is an award-winning American actress and director. You might recognize her as Dana Jones in the 1995 movie “Friday,” but she has since risen far above side-character status. Born in Los Angeles, California, to Gloria and Thomas King, Regina began acting at just 14, playing a recurring character on the television show “227”. After an extensive acting career and headlining HBO’s “Watchmen” mini-series, King directed the critically acclaimed film “One Night in Miami…”, which was the first film at the Venice Film Festival to be directed by a black woman.
-Design Editor Ethan Westmoreland
Maya Angelou
Writer, Activist and Performer
Maya Angelou advocated against misogyny and racism through her creativity, writing and song. In her most famous piece, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Angelou writes about her youth and the trauma she endured, along with how she grew from the experiences. Angelou’s feminist work Phenomenal Woman, inspired many women in the 20th century to see their own importance and worth. Phenomenal Woman also won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word the year it came out. Along with her achievements in literature, Maya Angelou took interest in the performing arts and was the first female black director in Hollywood. She took dance and drama lessons at the California Labor School on a scholarship. Angelou had other notable accomplishments as an educator, along with working for Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. In 2000, she won the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton, and in 2010, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Maya Angelou inspires me to be resilient through my trials and tribulations, as she was a creative, hard-working and multi-talented woman who succeeded even in times of adversary.
-Staff Writer Nellielou Errett
Eleanor Roosevelt
First Lady, Activist and Diplomat
Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the U.S.from 1933 to 1945. Married to husband President Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was a powerful figure in her own right. Roosevelt changed the position of First Lady from that of an official hostess to an important part of the president’s administration, becoming a role model for women everywhere in the process. She was an active champion for social issues, advocating for American workers, civil rights and women’s rights. She wrote many articles and columns while in the White House, traveled across the country to give speeches, wrote six books and held weekly press conferences with female reporters. After serving as First Lady, Roosevelt served as a delegate to the United Nations. During this time, she chaired the United Nations Human Rights Commission and helped write the 1948 United Declaration of Human Rights.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s work in social reform and government inspires me to create active change in my country and in the world and to advocate fiercely for issues I believe in.
-Staff Writer Lily Kate Witcher
Malala Yousafzai
Pakistani Activist and Writer
Malala Yousafzai, known internationally as Malala, is a Pakistani activist for female education. Born in 1997, she grew up with a passion for knowledge which later propelled her into taking action against the ban on girls’ schooling by the Taliban extremists. After submitting numerous anonymous online entries regarding the Taliban’s ban, Malala won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in 2011 for her ceaseless efforts to stand up for girls’ schooling. Though receiving this award was helpful to her cause since it massively propelled her into the spotlight, it simultaneously made her a top target to the Taliban. She was finally tracked down and shot in the head three times by a Taliban gunman in late 2012 while taking a bus home. Malala was quickly transported to the U.S. since she required extensive medical attention and resided there until she miraculously recovered from her near-fatal injuries, which pushed her more than ever to fight for education rights. By 2013, she had released her bestselling memoir co-written with Christina Lamb, I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, and launched the Malala Fund, a program whose goal is to aid girls in attending school. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following year for her dedicated efforts to advocate for children’s educational rights. Currently, Malala is 23 years old and recently graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Malala Yousafzai inspires me to stand up for what I believe in—without hesitation and even through humiliation—and empowers me to use my voice to stand up for those who don’t have one or are afraid to use their own.
-Staff Writer Olivia McMurray
Serena Williams
American Professional Tennis Player
As an avid and successful tennis player, Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and several Olympic gold medals. She began practicing tennis at the age of three. Along with her individual success, Williams has teamed with her sister, Venus Williams, to win a series of doubles titles. She was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, and by 1991 Williams was 46-3 on the Junior United States Tennis Association Tour and ranked first in the 10-and-under division. Since then she has made a very successful career for herself. On top of her tennis career, she is the mother of Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. who was born on September 1, 2017.
Serena Williams inspires me because she embodies the mental and physical toughness needed to overcome challenges in one’s life. She also beat all racial and gender barriers to become the champion of women’s tennis, which makes her important to women’s history.
-Staff Writer Loren King
Virginia Woolf
Author and Journalist
Born in London in 1882, Virginia Woolf was a pioneer of feminism in the nineteenth century. One of her most notable feminist works is A Room of One’s Own. Published in Sept. of 1929, A Room of One’s Own is an extended essay describing the plight of women in the world of writing. Woolf argues that a woman must have ‘a room of her own’ and financial security to become a great writer. It is based on lectures she gave to students at Newnham and Girton College. These colleges were the historically female institution counterparts to the University of Cambridge. Even in her fictitious works, she wrote about complex topics such as discrimination, war and class. Woolf’s literary legacy is powerful, and in the decades since her death in 1941, she has become a feminist icon.
As an author and a journalist, Woolf inspires me to use my voice and speak about issues I am passionate about.
-Staff Writer Gianna Cacciato
Hedy Lamarr
Actress and Inventor
Hedy Lamarr was born in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 9, 1914. As a teenager, she was discovered by a director,and started acting in films and theaters. In 1933, she married Fritz Mandl, yet after being controlled in the unhappy marriage, she escaped to Britain in 1937. While in Londen, she met Louis Mayer of MGM Studios, who hired her to go to Hollywood and become an American actress. In the midst of World War II, she teamed up with composer George Antheil, who recognized her unique inventive mind. They worked together to make a communication system designed to guide torpedoes to targets. Lamarr and Antheil’s system used frequency hopping, which prevented the interception of radio waves. After the completion of the technology, they were awarded a patent in 1942; however, the Navy rejected the implementation of the system. She continued to focus on her film career, and it wasn’t until after the patent expired in 1977 that she was rewarded for her work. She received the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1977, and she was the first woman to receive the Invention Convention’s Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award. Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame fourteen years after she passed away in 2000. In her lifetime, Lamarr was known as a beauty, yet she is remembered as “the mother of Wi-Fi”.
Hedy Lamarr’s perseverance and accomplishments despite the lack of support for women during her time serves as an example for everyone. She inspires me to pursue a career within STEM, and never let restrictions stand in my way.
-Staff Writer Revy Godehn
