Women’s News Round-Up May 6: 5 Important Stories About Women
This has been an exciting spring in women’s news, with announcements like Harriet Tubman being on the next US $20.00 bill. Here are five more international news updates on amazing and legendary women:
- Virginia Bakery Provides Culinary Jobs and Training to Women After Prison
In Alexandria, Virginia a bakery called Together We Bake offers job experience, training, and personal development opportunities for women who have served time and/or are on probation. They produce granola, kale chips, and cookies that are sold locally. Stephanie Wright and Tricia Sabatini founded the bakery in 2012. Wright says:
“We realized there weren’t a lot of services for women [in need].”
2. 82-year-old Panagiota Vasileiadou Houses Refuges in Greece
Panagiota Vasileiadou was herself a refugee in WWII, and now opens her home in the border village of Idomeni to refugees, inviting families to stay and supporting them with her pension and money from her children as best she can. They call her Mama and she shares that:
“I talk, we laugh. Even though we can’t understand each other.”
3. Women’s Marathon Winner Atsede Baysa Gives Trophy to Bobbi Gibb
Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon 50 years ago in 1966, when many felt that women were unable to accomplish this feat. Gibb replied that she would accept the trophy temporarily but would later visit winner Atsede Baysa in Ethiopia to return it, saying:
“I can’t possibly keep this…[t]his woman has a beautiful soul. What a big heart she has.”
4. Women’s Community Perseveres in Chernobyl
Around 100 women returned to Chernobyl after the 1986 nuclear disaster, despite the risks to their health and the illegality. With a mixture of passionate self-determination and attachment to their ancestral homes, this women’s community called “The Babushkas of Chernobyl” by Holly Morris, has created their own lifestyle alongside the scientists and soldiers who work in Chernobyl.
5. Women’s Zohra Orchestra Defies Bias Against Female Musicians in Afghanistan
Under the Taliban rule, female musicians were outlawed, and many conservative in Afghanistan are still against them. The Zohra Orchestra of 35 women at the Afghanistan National Institute for Music plays Western and Afghan instruments and is led by 19-year-old Negin Ikhpolwak. Ikhpolwak lives in an orphanage in Kabul, and she and the orchestra members often face threats and intimidation. Ikhpolwak faced them from her family on a trip home. Reuters shares this quote from Ikhpolwak:
“I will never accept defeat…I will continue to play music. I do not feel safe, but when people see me and say, ‘That is Negin Ikhpolwak’, that gives me energy.”
*Extra News Flash*
Please enjoy this photo series of dancers in the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, which was founded by ballet legend Alicia Alonso in 1948, by photographer Omar Z. Robles.
Julia Travers is a writer and artist. Her writing portfolio is here and she runs the artist interview site Ask Artists.
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Legendary Women, Inc. doesn’t own or profit from the images above and has credited them and quotes. They are used here for information purposes and are covered under fair use.
