Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is the 49th Vice President and also the first female, Black, and Asian Vice President of the United States of America. Her mother was from India, and her father is from Jamaica, making her a daughter of immigrants. Kamala talks a lot about her mother and how progressive she was. Often, she says that her mother made her into the woman she is today. As Harris is a trailblazer for young women and people of color, many people were very excited about her being elected because this would be one of the first times that there is representation in America’s politics. Harris is known for her views on climate change, gun control, the LGBTQIA+ community and more.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also known as RBG, was a jurist and lawyer. In 1993 she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve in the Supreme Court. She fought for gender equality throughout her life, helping women have the same rights as men. And in 1999, because of her contributions to gender equality, she won the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Award. Also, for the constitution’s 14th amendment, using the protection clause, Ginsburg won five cases in front of the supreme court, helping to end the blatant discrimination towards women. Sadly, she died on September 18, 2020, but her legacy is still remembered and honored to this day.
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama is an attorney and activist. She is the former First Lady of the United States and is the wife of Barack Obama, the 45th president. Obama has written several books, including Becoming, American Grown, and Michelle Obama in Her Own Words. She is known for her advocacy for gender and racial equality, as well as being a role model for many. Obama has faced many challenges as the first African American First Lady, but through her hard work and dedication, she has been able to push past them and accomplish great things such as starting the “Let’s Move” campaign to help child obesity rates, starting the “Let Girls Learn” initiative to educate young women and winning the best-spoken album Grammy award for her book, Becoming.
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright was the first-ever Secretary of State in the United States of America. During her time in office, Albright was a big advocate for military intervention, as well as human rights and democracy. In 1999, she helped stop the war after pushing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombings to a halt. Which in the end proved to work, as Yugoslavia agreed to the terms and ended the war. After she left office, she formed the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm. She also wrote many books including Fascism: A Warning and Madam Secretary.
Shirley Chisolm
Shirley Chisolm, born in 1924, was the first African American woman in Congress. In 1972 she also ran as a candidate for the Presidential Election. The motto she used was “unbought and unbossed.” In her seven terms in the House of Representatives, she advocated for women and minorities. A great achievement of hers was the 1974 Minimum Wage Law, where it helped to expand the minimum wage to domestic workers. In 1969, the African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom was founded by Chisolm and 15 other people, and in 1970, she became the co-founder of the National Organization for Women.