BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS WOMEN WHO CHOSE TO CHALLENGE BY AWOMODU JOSEPHINE

Oprah Winfrey
I know brave and courageous women, both of the past and of the present. Woman who fought for their rights and for others’. Great women of the past and of the present who turned around the situation in their favour. Women who refused to be called weak or insignificant. Women who rose from dirts – cleansed themselves and refused to be defined by their pasts. Amidst ridiculous beliefs against the personalities of being a woman, amidst the vulnerability to being molested and underestimated as a woman, the determination and courage to challenge have produced a lot of courageous women in history. And to this day, the female gender is still challenging, and winning. The boldness to disown weakness and vulnerability as personalities has encouraged more women out there to be who they want to be, not who the society or some beliefs define them to be.
As it is often said that no one can stop you except you, courageous women in the past and today have demonstrated this in the most perfect ways ever. The likes of Malala Yousafzai, Rosa Parks, Folorunsho Alakija, Oprah Winfrey, Bolanle Awomodu, Cicely Tyson, just to mention a few, have sparked the spirit of determination and courage in a lot of women today, myself inclusive. The unbending will to make a difference and impact the lives of others has been a common attribute among courageous women who chose to challenge and won. A woman like Malala Yousafzai who was only a teenager when she was severely attacked for advocating for girls’ right to education in Pakistan. This movement began after the despotic Talibans took over Pakistan, banned television and girls’ access to education in the country. After recovering from this fatal attack, Malala pushed through with her advocacy. Instead of being dismayed and frightful, she felt the utmost need to advocate more earnestly. Although Malala was bred in a country devoid of gender equality and respect to human rights, she refused to submit to the decrees of the tyrannical Talibans. She pressed on for femlaes’ rights to education in her country. She believed that if all other voices were down but hers was not, it would make a difference. And it did make that difference. Today, Malala is responsible for girls’ access to education in Pakistan and some parts of the world.
As education is key and a significant tool to impacting lives, lots of women have ensured that girls are not denied this tool, just like Malala Yousafzai did. “To improve your life is by changing your mind first, which is through education”, according to Oprah Winfrey, the first Black American female billionaire. She revealed that her father’s love for learning was key to helping her turn her life around. She emphasised on the importance and significance of wielding the tool of education to impact lives. Despite her ignoble background: borne to an unmarried poverty-stricken teenage mother, molested sexually at a really young age by her relatives, and becoming a mother at the young age of fourteen, Oprah Winfrey stood high above all this. She refused to be defined by her ugly past. She put the past in the past and courageously took steps to greatness, through learning. Not letting her past weigh her down, Oprah obtained her degrees, continued her teaching career, and continued for greatness only. Oprah tried a lot of new things and did not stop at things she failed at. Much of Oprah’s successes can be attributed to the fact that she took risks and was willing to venture into new territories. She embraced many opportunities one of which was accepting a newscasting job offer at a local television station after spending several years at a radio station in Nashville where she began her broadcasting career. Rather than being limited by fear, she became unlimited by taking risks. Oprah continued to learn and grow instead of being complacent.
Women have impacted not only their lives, but also those of others, both males and females. Some of the freedom and rights we enjoy today should be accredited to courageous women who gave up their fear for fairness and equality. One of whom is Rosa Parks, a Black American seamstress whose bravery had a nationwide effect on other Blacks like her. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a White in a racial segregated commercial bus led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The courage to claim her right led to nationwide efforts to put an end to racial segregation. After she was arrested for such effrontery, members of the African-American community encouraged one another to stay off city buses on the day of Park’s trial, to protest against her arrest. The people were so determined that it was either they stayed home from school or work, took a cab, or walked to work regardless of the distance. All this to prevent riding the bus in protest of Park’s unjust arrest. This is the reason it was called The Montgomery Bus Boycott. It lasted for a year and sixteen days, but eventually ended with a Supreme court ruling, declaring segregation on public transit systems to be unconstitutional.
In spite being aware of the implications of disobeying the racial segregation laws (also known as Jim Crow laws), Parks refused to be cheated because of her skin colour and race. Of course she knew she could be arrested, charged to court, tried a number of times, and eventually be found guilty, she chose to challenge her way out of racism and segregation.
Those are just few among many other courageous women who challenged their ways to the top. Although to this day, women are still treated illy in some parts of the world, many women in other parts of the world are challenging. Not just challenging, but winning and impacting the lives of others.
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