[Image description:Dr. Christina Dean stands in the middle of a huge pile of waste clothing.] Via Redress
Conversations around the climate crisis have finally reached the mainstream, especially as the current generation takes a firm stand and implores leaders worldwide to do better. Even as the climate movement gains momentum across the globe, there is still a severe lack of action in mitigating steps that are harming the environment. The fashion industry is one of the major contributors to climate change and one of the most polluting industries in the world. Research from McKinsey claims that greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the fashion industry are equivalent to “the entire economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined.” It’s imperative to revolutionize the fashion industry to become more environmentally friendly, and that is precisely what one NGO in Hong Kong has set out to do.
Redress was founded in 2007 by Christina Dean, an award-winning journalist and now a pioneer of sustainable fashion. Not only had she set out to create an NGO that would focus on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry at a time when few were talking about it, but Redress was also the first of its kind in Asia.
[Image description: Dr. Christina Dean standing in a clothing factory.] Via RedressWhen asked why she started Redress, Christina stated, “At this stage, the effects of globalization and offshoring of fashion production to Asia were just taking off, and fast fashion was becoming a mainstay of the fashion industry. As such, there was a huge acceleration in consumption and waste. Today, Asia truly pays the environmental price, which accounts for around 60% of global fashion production. I started Redress, and later The R Collective, because the wasteful fashion industry needs to be addressed and resolved.”
[Image description: A Redress collection box for unused clothing placed in a store.] Via RedressToday, Redress has many different programs tackling the problems in the fashion industry from various angles. The circular fashion department focuses on tackling the waste problem within the fashion industry. A report by the Ellen McArthur Foundation found that “every second, a garbage truck’s worth of clothing and textiles gets incinerated or tossed in a landfill.” Redress ensures that more clothes are given a second life through reusing or recycling to address this issue. The NGO has collection boxes in stores and offices throughout Hong Kong for people to discard their used clothing. After being sorted carefully in a warehouse, these clothes are either resold at the Redress store to support the organization’s functions or donated to 20 plus charities across the city. Every year, some of the best pieces make their way to a pop-up store organized by Redress.
[Image description: The 2018 Redress Design Award Winner on the runway with models wearing her designs.] Via RedressWhile clothing reuse and recycling are essential for solving fashion’s environmental problems, Redress is looking to support solutions throughout the supply chain and not just on the consumer end. The NGO regularly collaborates with industry stakeholders for initiatives such as an upcycling workshop with Tommy Hilfiger or panel discussions on relevant topics. Their website also provides various educational materials for both designers and educators to make sustainable fashion design more accessible.
However, their most notable achievement is perhaps the Redress Design Award, the largest sustainable design competition in the world. The competition aims to further educate young designers on the negative impacts of fashion and help them improve their sustainable design techniques while they compete for career-changing prizes. Since its inaugural cycle in 2011, the competition has expanded its alumni network to over 130 designers from 20 plus countries, demonstrating how young people are making waves in the sustainable fashion world.
[Image description: A group photo of Redress Design award alumni at the 2019 alumni booth.] Via RedressRedress has certainly dared to dream big as the company continues to tackle problems throughout the fashion supply chain, but that is exactly what we need as the climate crisis gets worse. Not only do we need organizations capable of working hard towards sustainability, but ones capable of thinking outside the box, which Redress has done recently via their first digital fashion exhibition.
The future can often seem bleak as both governments and industry leaders continue to fall short in mitigating the climate crisis. Many fear that the COP26 summit in Glasgow right now, our last chance to agree on climate policies, is full of empty promises. Despite such inaction, organizations like Redress continue to serve as an inspiration and hope for a better tomorrow. We can only hope that such efforts will lead to a long-lasting impact and fashion will one day truly be sustainable.
[Image Description: A close of Fatima Jinnah] via AP
Muhammad Ali Jinnah is celebrated as the founder of the Pakistani nation. Yet his sister, Fatima Jinnah, who served as a pillar of support for him, never got married and abandoned her medical profession to assist his political endeavors, remains obscured by his magnanimous legacy.
She was born in 1893. The epoch in which Fatima Jinnah was raised (colonial British India) was largely male-dominated, with fewer women belonging to the upper echelons of the professional and political world. In such a world, Jinnah heralded a new dawn for women.
She was an inspiring woman who was known for her power, perseverance, resilience, and fortitude—stuff that legends are made of. She received an excellent early education, which was rare for a woman during her time. This helped her eventually secure a position in a competitive medical college, Dr. Ahmad Dental College in Calcutta. She established herself professionally by running her own dental clinic in Bombay. She was financially independent and self-sufficient—the epitome of modern-day empowerment.
The years leading up to the birth of Pakistan in 1947, paralleled Fatima Jinnah’s transformation from a dental surgeon to a political figure, shadowing her brother. Choosing to not get married, she abandoned her profession and continued to manage the domestic front of the Jinnah household for 28 years. However, it would be a great disservice to restrict her contribution to the domestic sphere. When her brother embarked on his political journey and coped with widowerhood, she became her brother’s chief political confidante. Once Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, told ADC Ahsan “nobody had faith in me; everyone thought I was mad except Miss Jinnah.”
She accompanied him on numerous political tours. In 1932, she attended the Second Round Table Conference with Muhammad Ali Jinnah. She also became a part of the Working Committee of the Bombay Provincial Muslim League and held that position until 1947. In March 1940, she was present at the Lahore session of the Muslim League (the political party led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah), where she stood in favor of democracy. By this time, she was convinced that the Hindus would continue to practice dominance over Muslims, and the latter would have to wallow in poverty, oppression, and subjugation till the end. Because of her belief, she helped in organizing the All India Muslim Women Students Federation in Delhi in 1941.
After her brother passed away in September 1948, she assumed the role of taking his legacy forward and ran for the presidency of Pakistan as a candidate for the Combined Opposition Party of Pakistan (COPP) in 1960. Her opponent was Ayub Khan, whom she openly proclaimed to be a dictator. Her political campaigns attracted massive crowds, swarming all over Dhaka and Chittagong. Later, she famously came to be known as Madr-e-Millat (Mother of the Nation).
In 1965, she contested elections at the age of 71. She stood against Khan—the dictator and self-installed president of Pakistan. Khan’s victory was inevitable. He exercised complete power over the governmental apparatuses of the country and drew legislation over electoral matters as the head of the state. He lumped together with the discontented, yet equally fundamental aspects of the social spectrum in the country to his favor, and drew support from the ulema (Muslim scholars), bureaucrats, students, and journalists.
When the elections were finally held, Jinnah suffered a defeat, leaving the populace in disbelief. Some even claimed that Khan dabbled in filthy election tactics such as rigging, coercion, and manipulation. They believed Jinnah’s defeat was impossible and advocated her rightful and democratic claim to leadership.
Jinnah died on July 9th, 1967 under mysterious circumstances. The cause of her death continues to be ambiguous to this date; with interpretations ranging from political assassination to natural death.
She made enormous contributions to Pakistan’s political history. Yet in the historical archives, her existence is obscured by her brother’s dominant presence. Muhammad Ali Jinnah is revered in Pakistan as the man who outfoxed his political opponents and stood up to the British. The mantle of attention conveniently falls on him, while Fatima’s own political and personal participation in nursing the nascent country goes unappreciated.
Jinnah fought for all Muslim women—for equality, for their economic independence and liberation, and for their political empowerment. She became a symbol of hope for Muslim women.
She will always be remembered in the yellow, parched, and frail pages of history.
[Image description: Photos of 4 women who won the 2019 awards.] Property of The Tempest, Inc. | via Thoughts, Words & Actions / Medium / BookSparks / Youtube.com
Nominations for The Tempest’s 2020 40 Women to Watch List are now open.
Every year, we honor women who are making an impact on the world at large, their industries and communities. Founders, activists, writers, policy-makers, filmmakers, influencers—they’re all here. It’s an impressive club. The Tempest is built on the belief that women and nonbinary people from every corner of the world should be able to tell their own stories and own their impact and legacies. We especially love featuring people who may have just begun on their journeys – journeys with potential to create real change.
Last year’s honorees included up-and-coming comedians like Jenny Yang and Fatima Dhowre, who are making space for all of us in predominantly-male comedic spaces. Past honorees also include United States Artists’ Deana Haggag, AccessNow‘s Maayan Ziv, poet Jasmin Kaur, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen. These honorees were just a few from thousands of nominations that we received – nominations that you submitted.
Every year, we work through thousands of nominations, submitted by people like you. Through a careful process, these nominations serve as the first step for our team working on the annual list. Think you or someone you know should join the ranks of the 40 Women to Watch? Please completethis online nomination formfor our 2020 Global List.
Here’s some helpful information about the process.
Which countries and regions are covered?
Incredible women from all over the globe are eligible to be nominated. Citizenship does not matter, instead please apply to the region where the nominees (and their business) are most prominent.
Can nonbinary or genderfluid people be nominated?
Absolutely. We acknowledge that people who experience or have experienced the world as women come in many gender expressions and we are open to nominations of nonbinary and genderfluid individuals.
How do we create the list?
It’s a multi-step process. Through open nominations, recommendations by past List-makers, organizations, and influencers, and reporting by The Tempest editorial team, we assemble thousands of candidates. Next, The Tempest team will narrow down the list, looking carefully for women who are rising stars, tackling new challenges and making a difference in the world and their communities. Finally, our founder and co-founder, Laila Alawa and Mashal Waqar, review the list and green-light it for publication.
What are you looking for in the nomination?
Our team takes a fully holistic approach as we evaluate each nomination. There’s no one metric that is key for making it on the list – but it helps if you include all of the most impressive attributes that put the candidate’s best foot forward.
What are the 10 categories?
For the 2020 list, there are 10 categories: Activism, Art & Design, Beauty & Fashion, Content Creator, Entrepreneurship, Media & Literature, Music & Entertainment, Politics & Policy, Sports, STEM & Finance.
What if I’m not sure what category to pick?
Most people could fall under a number of categories. Take some time and try and identify which industry your nominee is most prominently impacting. For example, even though an Artist could qualify for a number of categories, you should pick Art & Design. Don’t worry if you feel like you made the wrong choice. Our editors review all the nominations and make the final call.
What if a company or organization has more than one founder?
Yes, two women co-founders of one organization can be nominated together. When nominating, be sure to include all names of your co-founders or partners. If you don’t, we may not consider them. Note: if they aren’t women, they aren’t eligible, but you still are.
What is the deadline for submissions?
Our nominations will close in November 2019.
Who owns the nominations?
Once you hit submit, the nomination becomes the property of The Tempest. We may choose to use the contents of your nomination for the purpose of advertising, marketing, promotion, and publicizing the 40 Women to Watch List. Contact information will remain internal.
More questions? Please email womentowatch@thetempest.co.
In 2012, December was my first month back in New Delhi as a single, financially independent woman. Having spent three years in the capital for my undergraduate studies, the city was familiar and a second home. However, returning to it as an adult was comforting and unnerving at the same time.
Primarily because Delhi is notorious for being unsafe for women; a statistic that continues to rank the city highest in India.
This was also the month when 23-year-old Jyoti Singh was brutally raped and assaulted by six assailants in the city. The inhumane violence she suffered at the hands of her perpetrators sent shivers across the country and the capital was engulfed in protests. Referred to as Nirbhaya, the fearless one, her case brought the issue of women’s safety right in the heart of political and societal discourse.
My parents began making regular calls for me to return home.
I convinced them that fleeing the city was not the solution, rather fighting for justice and making this city safe for everyone. While my parents grappled with the fear, I sensed a disturbing insensitivity existing within my relatives regarding women’s choices and behavior.
“Why was the girl out that late? If she had stayed at home and not gone to watch a film with a male friend, nothing would have happened,” a female relative said in the aftermath of Nirbhaya’s case.
I stared at her in disbelief and disgust. I wanted to scream at her but was held back by my cousin. We were supposed to respect our elders, she reminded me. Fuming, I walked out of the room, promising myself never to engage with her again.
It’s important to understand that while institutions created by men have given birth to the present patriarchal traditions, these continue to be upheld by countless women who silently or vocally support them.
These are our mothers, aunts, grandmothers, sisters, in-laws, and neighborhood aunties who choose to side with patriarchy, eventually choosing to side with oppression.
Early on, girls are silenced by female family members from speaking about their sexual, physical or emotional abuse at the hands of men.
What begins with rules like: “Do not talk to boys. Do not wear short dresses. Do not stay out late at night,” eventually turns into: “Learn to adjust with an abusive husband. Learn to stay at home and become a better homemaker. Learn to listen to your in-laws. Learn to understand the importance as a mother, career is secondary.”
In feminist theory, this form of behavior is called a patriarchal bargain, where women in order to uphold their limited authority under patriarchy, exercise it onto other women. A classic example is the case of mothers-in-law who try to govern the lives of their daughters-in-law. There are several accounts of Indian women where their mother-in-laws’ insecurity issues with them led to power struggles within families.
With every undesired act viewed as rebellion and considered a transgression, young girls are morally policed by women who then internalize the misogyny and continue this vicious cycle of oppression.
This behavior was reflected during the recent #MeToo movement in India, by senior female journalist and author, Tavleen Singh. While defending a celebrity consultant,Suhel Seth, who was accused of sexual misconduct, she stated, “Why did you go to Suhel’s house? Surely even an ‘innocent’ young girl like you should have known not to go alone to a strange man’s house alone?”
Statements like these reflect the entrenched patriarchal patterns in the existing urban society of India, and generally across South Asia.
One reason for this form of exertion is the need to gain whatever amount of authority is available in a patriarchal household. The other reason is the fear of societal repercussions for going against the community standards because making choices as an independent woman is not a feature that patriarchy recognizes or respects.
Six years to that episode, and my battle with women who enable patriarchy continues.
I have asked uncomfortable questions to women in my family, and have been called a bra-burning feminist for it. What I have also received in return are messages of solidarity from girls in my family. Cousins have thanked me for standing up to mistreatment. Raising my voice has evoked strength in others to be heard too and irrevocably encouraged me to continue fighting this battle.
And that is the hope that feminism carries forward. To enable women to find their voices and develop the courage to fight injustice.
When women support women, sisterhood is nurtured within families and societies. Abusive patterns are recognized and redressed. Otherwise, the cycle of patriarchy and misogyny continues.
The #MeToo movement is a spark that lights that fire of sisterhood harmony. It should not be blown out by a few misinformed women.
Nominations for The Tempest’s 40 Women to Watch 2019 List are now open! Please note: all submissions must be in by November 15th, 2018 to qualify.
Every year, we honor women who are making an impact on the world at large, their industries and communities. Founders, activists, writers, foodies, filmmakers, fashionistas—they’re all here. It’s an impressive club. The Tempest is built on the belief that women from every corner of the world should be able to tell their own stories and own their impact and legacies. This December, we’ll welcome to this dynamic group 40 new trailblazers from different spaces, countries, and lives for our third annual list.
Property of The Tempest, Inc.
Think you or someone you know should be honored on this list? Please fill out this nomination form for our 2019 Global List.
Here’s some helpful information about the process.
Which countries and regions are covered?
Incredible women from all over the globe are eligible to be nominated. Citizenship does not matter, instead please apply to the region where the nominees (and their business) are most prominent.
Can nonbinary or genderfluid people be nominated?
Absolutely. We acknowledge that people who experience or have experienced the world as women come in many gender expressions and we are open to nominations of nonbinary and genderfluid individuals.
How do we create the list?
It’s a multi-step process. Through open nominations, recommendations by past List-makers, organizations, and influencers, and reporting by The Tempest editorial team, we assemble thousands of candidates. Next, The Tempest team will narrow down the list, looking carefully for women who are rising stars, tackling new challenges and making a difference in the world and their communities. Finally, our founder and co-founder, Laila Alawa and Mashal Waqar, review the list and green-light it for publication.
What are the categories?
Art & Style
Finance
Food & Drink
Gaming
Healthcare
Hollywood & Entertainment
Law & Policy
Media & Literature
Music
Science
Social Justice
Social Entrepreneurs
Sports
Tech
What if a company or organization has more than one founder?
Yes, two women co-founders of one organization can be nominated together. When nominating, be sure to include all names of your co-founders or partners. If you don’t, we may not consider them. Note: if they aren’t women, they aren’t eligible, but you still are.
Who owns the nominations?
Once you hit submit, the nomination becomes the property of The Tempest. We may choose to use the contents of your nomination for the purpose of advertising, marketing, promotion, and publicizing the 40 Women to Watch List.
More questions? Please email womentowatch@thetempest.co.
It takes a highly empowered leader to be able to make a career out of empowering other women. Roya Sabeti is exactly the woman for the job. Founding Stilobox in March 2018, Roya made it her life purpose to help shape women who aspire to become bold leaders by offering opportunities for personal and professional growth.
She believes that personal experiences are the best source of inspiration. Through her own online channels, Roya often publishes articles that aim to motivate readers. On Stilobox, she features testimonials from other badass leaders.
Stiloboxis more than a blog. It is a digital resource platform for budding leaders based in the Bay Area where speaking opportunities and leadership workshops can be found. Even if the site is only months old, it already boasts of a fine roster of female leaders, which includes Laila Alawa, The Tempest‘s very own Founder and CEO.
The Tempest had the chance to chat with Roya about how and why she founded Stilobox, and what fuels her inspiration to pursue this field.
[Image description: A photo from Roya Sabeti’s talk on women’s empowerment.] via Stilobox.comThe Tempest: What inspired you to create Stilobox?
Roya Sabeti: I am very passionate about empowering women and providing resources to help them grow as leaders. I created Stilobox as a resource for women aspiring to lead. We share speaking opportunities, stories of inspirational female leaders, and events or workshops focused on empowering women and leadership.
I became sick of seeing so many conferences and events with such a lack of diversity, or panels with all male speakers. I knew that speaking and growth opportunities for women existed, and if I could find and deliver them to awesome women, then maybe we could change those numbers.
I know so many amazing women who deserve to share their story, expertise, and companies with the world.
I’ll give an example. When the movie Wonder Woman came out last year, my boyfriend and I went to see it in theatres. I was super excited that finally, a superhero movie with a female lead appeared. I knew I would react in unexpected ways, but I what I didn’t expect to feel was angry. Yes, angry. About halfway through the movie, I realized that this is what little boys grow up watching with each and every single superhero movie. They leave the theatre feeling like they can save the world. I had never experienced that feeling leaving a theatre. I cannot remember a single time in my life I’ve watched a movie with a female lead in which the men completely step aside as she beats up the bad guys and handles it all. I left feeling that I could take over the world. If she can do it, I can do it too. This is the feeling every single little girl needs to experience — the feeling that she can do it too.
By having more women stand up and share their stories on stage, we’ll see a viral effect where more women realize: “Hey, if she did it then I can do it too!” Because she can.
In your experience, how can speaking opportunities help women become better leaders?
I’ve noticed a pattern in women that I don’t see as often in men. That is that women tend to think they’re “not ready” while men will volunteer for every opportunity to share their company or idea, be the expert, even if they’re not the best person to do so. Speaking about and sharing your company, idea, or story helps you grow as a person, and it also opens doors which might never have existed otherwise.
What are some specific experiences that led you to decide to do this work in the tech industry?
The tech industry is definitely dominated by men, however, in the last couple years, a shift has begun to happen. More women are speaking up and sharing their experiences, both positive and negative, and it’s starting conversations and leading the way for change. I am beyond excited for this shift — the next generation of women to own it, in particular — and who continue to pursue being founders, executives, and leaders in tech.
Are there any women that you particularly admire who you’ve landed gigs for?
One particular woman — and now a friend — who I greatly admire is Ritika Puri, co-founder of Storyhackers. Though the newsletter is only a couple month old, Ritika has been in two panels though opportunities she came across via Stilobox. Unfortunately, I don’t always get to hear the success stories or see what happens once the newsletter is sent out. Sometimes it gets forwarded along and my hope is maybe it lands in someone’s inbox who applies for an opportunity and it changes the entire trajectory of her company. It’s like planting seeds along the road. Sometimes you don’t get to enjoy or even see the flowers that bloom, but you know that someone is benefiting from their beauty. In this case, the opportunities shared with them.
What were some challenges that you had to face in the process of creating Stilobox? What are some that you still deal with?
I still feel impostor syndrome and worry that the newsletter isn’t “good enough” or “ready.” When I first created Stilobox, I agonized over sending out that very first newsletter. I tend to be a perfectionist, and I’ve had to learn to set that tendency aside and become okay with knowing that I’d done my best to curate the best content and opportunities when I hit “Send.” Once I did send it out I received an overwhelmingly positive response! I’ve come to realize perfection doesn’t exist, and by trying to be perfect you’re losing authenticity along the way. This is because nothing, and no one, is truly perfect.
Who are some leaders who inspired you to pursue this field? In what ways did they influence you?
I am inspired by the women who are a part of the Stilobox community. I review each submission and am blown away by the things these women are doing. In each newsletter, I include the story of a female leader I had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly enjoy learning more about each one. For example, how she deals with impostor syndrome, what made her quit her job and become a founder, or even how she practices self-care when feeling overwhelmed. I am so inspired by what they have done and continue to do, to create impact in their industries and communities.
You can find Roya on Instagram, and join Stilobox here.
History tells an augmented truth. We all know that the history told in history books is not the whole truth, as historians either highlight or subdue different aspects of history that fit better with a more comfortable narrative. We know, as the skeptics that we are, that there is more to the story than that.
These women are the warriors and rulers that fought great wars and ruled powerful nations. Some may say that history is written by the winner, but these women were definitely winners.
Around 4,500 years ago Queen Hatshepsut took the throne as the pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut was the longest running female pharaoh of Egypt, securing the role after her husband Thutmose II died. Her reign, which began in 1478 BCE, marks one of the longest periods of prosperity during a pharaoh’s rule, which left a legacy as one of the most successful pharaohs. She carried out great construction projects in Lower and Upper Egypt.
When 43 C.E. came around, the Chinese Han dynasty took control over Vietnam. For centuries, the Vietnamese people had tried again and again to fight against the Chinese people, who wanted to “civilize” these “savages.” She successfully defended her people against the Eastern Wu state in the third century. She’s been called the Vietnamese Joan of Arc, but let’s be real—Joan of Arc is the French Triệu.
In the early days of what is now modern-day Angola, the biggest threat to the Ndongo and Matamba peoples was Portugal. During the 1500s, the Portuguese people began to take slaves from Angola, and in the 1600s, Nzingha rose to power after her father. Her legacy remains as having fought off the Portuguese for 40 years, and eventually defeated them. A great warrior, field commander, and decisive ruler, Nzingha was the first ruler of the Mbundu people and an important ruler to remember.
Although Empress Dowager Cíxǐ’s time of rule is considered to be one of upheaval and distress, her reign explicated an incredible level of strength. She ruled the Qing dynasty during the time of the Boxer Uprising and multiple other uprisings around the country. She was considered ruthless to some but maintained the strength of the country through the Self-Strengthening Movement and the Hundred Days’ Reforms.
4. Buffalo Calf Road
The 1800s in the United States were a dark and disturbing time, and Buffalo Calf Road was a key woman in the fight against the colonization, oppression, and murder of the indigenous peoples of America. As a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, she fought in the Battle of the Rosebud and saved her brother, which led to their victory. She also fought tirelessly and bravely during the Battle of Little Big Horn. When her camp was viciously raided and attacked by soldiers, she guided the Cheyenne people to safety without blankets, food or water. While other Cheyennes surrendered, this powerful woman refused to do so. Although she died before she could see her people make their way to southeastern Montana, her legacy lives on.
Queen Manduhai showed everyone in 15th century Mongolia how tough a woman could be. When she was 19 she married Dayan Khan, she was much more experienced than her husband, holding great influence and clout over the country and cabinet. With the court and military on her side, she reunited Mongolia from the eastern region of the empire. During her time as ruler, she defended her country not only in as a great Khatan (the female version of “Khan”) but as a warrior, personally fighting against adversaries.
Queen Lili’uokalani is known as the only and last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, as she witnessed her country’s sovereignty disappear in the late 1890s when her reign was overthrown by Americans and Europeans. While this was ultimately a loss to her, Queen Lili’uokalani fought for her people legislatively before that. She drafted a constitution that would restore voting rights to Native Hawaiians and Asians that had been barred from voting. While this new Constitution angered Western powers, Lili’uokalani stood by it.
7. Sayyida al Hurra
In the dangerous 16th century, pirates were everywhere. While we’d like to think that pirates were primarily male, Sayyid al-Hurra was a great pirate queen during her day. As the last person in Islamic history to receive the title of Queen (al-Hurra), she had all of the western Mediterranean Sea under her control. A great negotiator, a fierce pirate, and renowned woman, everyone accepted Sayyida al-Hurra as the ruler of the seas, and she is certainly a woman to remember.
Yaa Asantewaa’s role in the fight against British colonialism was so renowned the rebellion was named after her: the Yaa Asantewaa war. Also known as the War of the Golden Stool, Yaa Asantewaa, as queen mother, fought endlessly to fight the British invasion of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire. The rebellion began when the British governor of the Golden Coast demanded the symbol of the Asante nation, the Golden Stool. Yaa Asantewaa refused, leading the rebellion and her people, defending their pride and their land.
When Zenobia became Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in the 3rd century, her empire was competing with many others. Ten years after she took the throne, her husband and sons were assassinated, and she remained queen alone, conquering new territories and honoring the legacy of her husband and sons. She fought many battles in her conquests, most notably against Egypt and Anatolia. Her most renowned act was revolting against the Roman Empire.
The Martha empire of India lasted from 1674 to 1818. When its rule began in the late 17th century, Tarabai Bhonsle was the queen of the son of Shivaji, the found of the empire. During this time, the powerful Mughal empire was conquering a vast majority of the lands in South Asia and eventually came to the doorstep of Martha. However, Tarabai is most well known for her successful resistance for her nation. After her husband died, Tarabai was left to reign and defend when the Mughals came. She is most well known for her successful resistance against them, and the Martha Empire became known as one of the key factors that lead to the demise of the Mughal rule.
As we’ve seen, there are amazing women in history, they’re just not mentioned very often. These women fought great wars, defended great nations, and were all around badasses.
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