I’m inspired by women who are using technology to leave their mark on history. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk “The Danger of a Single Story“, speech addressed the role stories play in helping us understand other cultures and our own. It went viral and was later topped with her most recent TED talk “We Should all be Feminists“; elements of this address since sampled by Beyonce on the song “****Flawless”
Chinese freedom fighter Wang Lihong spread information quickly by Internet microblogging, moving virtual protests into the real world by co-ordinating ‘flash protests’.
Human rights activist “Angry Arabiya” Tweeted about the abuse suffered by protesters in clashes between Bahrain’s dictatorship government and the citizens, providing a shocked world with live updates on the brutal crackdowns on protesters.
Just three of the many admirable women who may have doubted themselves, their knowledge or their capability yet took to technology to generate global awareness and the hope of action to address injustices being played out across nations. It takes just one droplet to form a ripple to develop a wave to power a tsunami.
Whether it’s to fight a great social injustice or simply battle through another day, inspiration can be found in a few simple yet profound words to live by. Here are my favorites:
“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success” (Arianna Huffington – editor in chief, Huffington Post
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. It may even be necessary to encounter the defeat so that we can know who we are, what we can rise from, how we can still come out of it” (Maya Angelou – poet & author)
Amen to that sisters!
With International Women’s Day just passed, who are you most inspired by? Why?
(Marie Clare: March 2014)
