243: The Self-Empowered Woman: Cassie De Pecol

Dear Followers, Today I’d like to introduce you to a young woman who has really captured my attention. Cassie De Pecol recently became the fastest person—and first documented female—to travel to every single one of the world’s 196 sovereign nations. She completed her voyage in February of this year, after 18 months and 26 days of travel. Cassie’s big adventure was nicknamed “Expedition 196.” Sadly, I am no longer able to hop on a plane and … [Read more...]

242: The Self-Empowered Woman: Ona Judge

Dear Followers, Hard as it is to believe today, the sad truth is that most of our Founding Fathers were slaveholders.  Today I’d like to introduce you to an amazing woman who gained her freedom by escaping from her owner—Mrs. George Washington. Ona Judge (she was also known as Oney) was born in 1773, and known as a “dower slave.”  Her mother was a seamstress and her father was a white English tailor who was an indentured servant at Mount … [Read more...]

240: The Self-Empowered Woman: Clare Hollingworth

Dear Followers, Last Wednesday, the first female war correspondent died in Hong Kong at the age of 105. Today, journalism is—for the most part—a relatively gender-free career, but it wasn’t always that way. Hollingworth, the most fearless of British women war writers, was born on October 10 th , 1911 in central England. Historians believe that the seeds of her future career were planted when—as a young girl she was able to visit historical … [Read more...]

229: The Self-Empowered Woman: Sandi Toksvig and WE

Dear Followers, Years ago, I was an Associate Editor at a glossy magazine for people with all sorts of varying disabilities called “WE.” I loved the publication because it was so inclusive, and strove to help readers regardless of their physical challenge. Today, the moniker WE (at least here in the U.S.) stands for a female-centric TV station. But in Britain, WE stands for the Women’s Equality Party, which is hoping to defeat both the … [Read more...]