Women all over the world are starting to stand up, and we’re standing up because strong black women have stood up before us and we have strong communities of support. International Women’s Day was on March 8^th, and, once again, we celebrated the achievements of women all over the world. We celebrated the relationships and strong bonds that have helped us to make a difference and fight for equality.

Within the black community, each day we celebrate our mothers, our grandmothers, our sisters, our aunties, our teachers, and our friends. We celebrate the impact they have had on us and how they have shaped us to be the people that we are. And you don’t have to be a woman to celebrate the achievements of strong black women either. As we look towards Black Women’s History Month in April, it’s hard not to recognize some of the strong black women who are having an impact in the 21^st century. Women like Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement, Gabrielle Union, who has used her celebrity platform to fight for racial and gender equality in Hollywood, Ava DuVernay, who makes representation in her films a priority, and Misty Copeland, who advocates for equality in the world of dance as a role model for so many young black girls.