women-s-rights-activists

"Our laws then will be uncompulsory rules, Our prisons converted to national schools."

"Oppression and war will be heard of no more, Nor the blood of a slave leave his print on our shore, Conventions will then be a useless expense, For we'll all go free-suffrage a hundred years hence."

"One hundred years hence, what a change will be made, In politics, morals, religion and trade, In statesmen who wrangle or ride on the fence, These things will be altered a hundred years hence."

"if you want to talk about “empowering” any group of people, it is because you believe or know that something is taking power away from that group...For me, then, the first question is, what are the factors that stop young people in Guyana today from developing or using their power."

"For us, here, a key aspect of anti-austerity organizing we would need to take back up is the search for an alternative economic vision with people and nature at its center; and by putting people at the center I mean at the center of decision-making about economic development."

"My strongest memory of both Ratoon and New World is the excitement of being part of a world of ideas, because, after all, my other world is one that has increasingly moved far away from the ferment and enthusiasm of the fifties to something that behaves as if there's no way out."

"in Andaiye’s departure we mourn Guyana’s conscience...Part of what Andaiye has done over the years is to point these political giants to a human and humane mode of conflict resolution, which has always been in their power and even at this stage lies in their power...In the tributes paid to Andaiye in the Guyana media were many regrets that she had not been suitably, or at all, recognised or honoured by governments. What has hurt the country is not the failure of governments serially to accord some spectacular honour to this wiry gift of the ancestors to our age. It is their failure as one commentator expressed it to attempt, to adopt her praxis. She not only stood forever with those of all races threatened with marginalisation. She set examples of a healthy and sincere respect for the Other of the spirit that can achieve the necessary reconciliation and of respect for difference and of cooperation across differences. She achieved the status of a global mentor of her time. May perpetual recognition attend her memory."

"Her death was the loss of a dedicated anti-racist, a valued sister, and a friend we loved...Andaiye's anthology, published posthumously, is a great and unique gift to the movement."

"I hated a lot of things about the Guyana in which I grew up, so I am not romanticising when I say that in spite of all that was wrong with it, it was as a child in that Guyana that I learned you could change your place. And one important reason was, that I grew up when men and women whom you came to know only as belonging to this party or that party, or this race or that race, joined together when they themselves were still young people in their twenties, to show that “ordinary” people could transform their world. That we didn’t have to be a colony. That people, poor and some not poor, women and men, from the races that were despised, could organise together and refuse to stay in their place."

"Andaiye was the most important Caribbean woman intellectual-activist of the generation of Walter Rodney. Her subtle, loving and angry intelligence is rescued here, and with it the memory of the political struggles of the 1970s and 80s in which a critical feminism emerged from the ruins of the Black Power moment"

"I'm always being accused of not feeling strongly enough about the location of the Black person. I don't know why you can't feel more than one thing at the same time, or why you can't see out of both your eyes. I perfectly well feel the location of the Black person. That doesn't stop me from seeing other people's location."

"One of the things that strikes me about now is that if you talk to Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese they can tell you the same story as two stories; and it's now crystallized even into what (television] stations we look at. Afro-Guyanese get their news from some stations, and Indo-Guyanese get their news from others. That first started for me in the 1960s: these two different stories from these two people living in the same place."

"...this volume will occupy a vaunted place alongside the writings of C. L. R. James, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Sylvia Wynter, Édouard Glissant, George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite, Stuart Hall, and Walter Rodney"

"Sometime soon, some of you have to try walk across the divisions between you and join yourselves together to become the power you can be. Only then, whichever party or other group you belong to, can you work out your demands (not your requests) as young people, work out how you will make them happen, and make them happen."

"I had no brother. My father was anxious to have a son… Thus my training convinced me that woman suffrage was a great need."

"Women, by their extraordinary talent, their subjugating beauty, their decided courage, and their virile spirit, have often caused changes in the social scene."

"I shall try to perform my duties in a way that shall please everyone."

"Long before 1905, I had started preaching the gospel of the feminists: ‘What a man can do a woman can do just as well."

"We must raise children who will love and work for peace, not ones who are desensitized to violence and will continue to perpetuate this vicious cycle. Our children’s future is at stake."

"The Philippine Army engineering battalions say nahihirapan ‘yung backhoe at ‘yung mga gamit nila para sa mga bombang kasinglaki ng tao. Pero you know, we remind [them] na kasingbilis ‘nyo binomba ‘yung location ng Marawi, the Islamic capital of the country of the Philippines, ang tagal ba naman alisin. So it was easy to decide bombing but you cannot de-bomb the area?” asked Gutoc. (The Philippine Army engineering battalions say they find it difficult to use their backhoes and other equipment to remove bombs as big as humans. But you know, we remind them that the speed by which they decided to bomb the location of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the Philippines, is contrary to their slow pace in removing these bombs. So it was easy to decide bombing but you cannot de-bomb the area?)"

"Hindi po ito pagtatraydor sa prinsipyo na ni-lay out naman ng iniina ko sa pulitika na--aminado po ako... na maraming nagtatampo sa akin ngayon, talagang hindi po ako magkakaroon ngayon ng, how do you call it, future po sa political awareness ng tao kung wala po si (Vice President) Leni (Robredo).” (This is not a betrayal of the principles laid out by the one whom I consider as my mother in politics—I admit... that many seem to be bearing grudges against me now. I acknowledge that I wouldn’t have a political awareness in the minds of people if not for VP Leni Robredo.)"

"[A] hui where wāhine Māori were able to discuss issues including the cessation of land sales, prohibition, and women's right to vote."

"If we are to discuss the importance of wāhine, we are also discussing the importance of whenua."

"Perhaps the Queen may listen to the petitions if they are presented by her Māori sisters, since she is a woman as well."

"I move this motion before the principle member and all honourable members so that a law may emerge from this parliament allowing women to vote and women to be accepted as members of the parliament."

"There are many intelligent women in New Zealand who marry men who do not know how to run their land."

"I'll just go about and just give you a brief background of my guest today:"

"Hello welcome to One-on-One. My name is Cyril Stobber. My guest today, is educated at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and the University of Leeds at the United Kingdom. She holds a Barchelors Degree in Business Administration and Masters Degree in Development Studies. Her career actually started at the private sector, but over the years, she has stints in the public sector.."

"We also encourage for citizen engagement. There is particular category of assessment deliverables; is about having citizens engagement, be it a town-hall, a meeting, civil society engagement, it could be a twitter space engagement virtually. But that citizen engagement is important because the president is keen for citizens to be aware of what his ministries are doing"

"For me, even if we don't have a lot of women in the panels, what we are sure of and what we can take over is that we have more women traders who actually trade although we need more representation of female voices on the table but then they can tell their stories, they can speak up there perspectives as women on how their policies and the regulations and complains affect the women from their own perspectives. So I say this is what we are clamoring for. In Nigeria we started developing the shift rate, women in trainings initiatives to support more women, to support our inclusiveness. These are some of the things that we should be looking at to adopt in these kind of conferences. We have to make that effort to reach out to more women. We have them coming with the spirit."

"Oh yes, yes. Anything in terms of global policies we start with baby steps. So, there is phase implementation for everything. There's a strong advocacing for women inclusion because actually, women are important. They represent the.. I won't say they are the same, but they are under-represented. And so, there is a strong push for women inclusivity and we will see that happen."

"I am grateful to have been one out of the many that were nominated but also the overall winner of such an international award. It means that people beyond borders see what we do and it’s an encouragement to push to greater heights ."

"I am super excited not just to be speaking on such a platform but to also listen, learn and build a diverse network of the elites. This is a great opportunity for me and Rwanda in general."

"I have felt like having a debt of telling youth that the path of life is not straight and that they should never give up until they get to their dreams ."

"Community work brings together people from diverse backgrounds, working towards a common goal. The youth have the power and potential to promote unity through community work. Start involving your neighbours and take responsibility ."

"Dear young ones, especially those in the limelight, as you are out here fending for yourself, please be vigilant about whoever presents an opportunity to you. Not all that glitters is gold. There are crooks out here with cognitive empathy without compassion. Always seek advice ."

"During my reign, I have had a big experience. I have executed a number of activities related to the youth, women and particularly, tried to represent my country at an international level during last year’s Miss World. This is why I think other girls should consider being part of this competition ."

"It was a good experience meeting and sharing ideas as beauty queens who advocate for social causes. I’m positive that combining our efforts and partnership would have a big impact on our countries ."

"It was a great honour and pleasure for a young lady like me representing most of my country's generation to partner with such a large institution as UNESCO. I presented to them my projects and they were very interested and ready to work with me ."

"I want to assure Rwandans that I will set a good example as Miss Rwanda, and I know that this position is a platform that will let me achieve my goals ."

"beyond promoting Rwandan culture, the beauty contest gives girls a platform to realise their potential and builds their self-esteem."

"I am very passionate about service, about giving back to the community. I was convinced that this is a platform that I would like to tap into and then see if I can also do something diligent for society. So came 2016, I tried my luck and 16 has always been my lucky number."

"I like being a people’s person, I don’t fear people apart from instances where the media criticises you, which was hard at first but I learned how to handle that. It didn’t give me a hard time because I didn’t change. I have always been like this."

"I believe I can."

"There are many people who write to me telling me that I inspire them, but I am sure that I didn’t have an easy path, and which doesn’t define a person. There are a lot of things said about me which aren’t true. Sometimes they say that I am an arrogant person, which gives a different perception of who I am ."

"I was advised not to go for it because every information about the company and people behind it was a screaming scam. That’s how I was saved from the unknown intentions of the crooks"

"There are a lot of things I feel I can do for the country, I can’t say I have a set plan yet but what’s key is I have the ability to be an ambassador and a voice for my country. I want to assure Rwandans that I won’t let them down ."

"I am happy on a personal level but also grateful that it’s Rwanda that took the award out of so many other people from different countries."

"This is a prime opportunity to lift up my country’s flag worldwide. Though it’s a stiff competition, I’m prepared to try my best and do whatever it takes at the apex of my ability. Hope for the best because a competition remains a competition ."

"Even though much has been done to equalize gender imbalances, Unfortunately the glass ceiling is still present and it is not easy for a woman 2 hit the level where they hve enough influence to hve any impact. Beauty pageants is a way for a young woman to do that #MIssEastAfrica2021."