On March 8^th, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. In many countries, the month of March is dedicated to a celebration of Women’s History. This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #ChoosetoChallenge. Within the Black community, Black women have lived this from day one. Black women are strong. Black women are educated. Black women are incredible caregivers. Black women are community leaders. Black women are challenging the status quo. Every. Single. Day.

From athletes to doctors, to artists, to content creators, and everything in between. We think we should celebrate the incredible achievements of Black women throughout the year because one month is not enough time to recognize all of the incredible achievements throughout history.

Here are a few achievements from incredible Black women throughout history that you may not have known:

• Sister Rosetta Tharpe was also known as “The Godmother of Rock and Roll” and hailed as one of the most influential artists of the 20^th century. Her skill, passion, and showmanship helped shape rock and roll as we know it.
• Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. A Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist, Maathai was also the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree.  
• Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School and became the nation's first Black woman judge in 1939 where she challenged segregationist policies that encouraged systemic racism within the judiciary system.
• Viola Davis Desmond is forever printed on the Canadian ten dollar bill, but most don’t know that in 1946, almost a decade before Rosa Parks refused her seat on the bus, Desmond was jailed and fined for sitting in an area reserved exclusively for white people. She refused to leave.
• Mary Seacole was refused when she tried to join the British army as a nurse during the Crimean War. The British-Jamaican woman found her way to the front lines on her own and set up the “British Hotel” to care for wounded British soldiers. Her work was not recognized until much later in 1991 when she was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.  
• Miriam Makeba, also known as “Mama Afrika,” was a South African singer and civil rights activist. Makeba spoke out against apartheid, writing a number of songs that were also critical of apartheid. Makeba also helped introduce Xhosa and Zulu songs to Western audiences.