honoring International Women's Day

March 8 is International Women's Day...so I realize I am a bit behind on posting. I will have to ask for some grace as I have recently started a new job, and as a result spend hours a week commuting...the combination of the two has left me little unscheduled time. Add to that a nasty case of allergies and I have been rather useless at the end of the day and am certain my writing would be incoherent. So, now that my head is starting to come out of the clouds I wanted to share with you a bit about an event I was a part of recently in honor of International Women's Day...

On an evening in March a small group of women got together. They convene often, I was an invited guest. I had been asked to speak on women's empowerment from a global perspective. This was not a group of academics, though they were intelligent. It was not a group of socialites, though there may have been some with means and all were generous with what they had. No. This was a group of women from the local baptist church. To be honest, I wasn't sure how to approach the topic of women's empowerment to such a gathering. Here is a summary of my message:

There is systemic oppression of women in many countries around the globe, especially outside the Western world.

In some places women are not viewed as human, but instead as property.

In some instances, access to money for materials or resources is restricted for women.

There are even times when the profits of her labor are not hers to control.

The earth is full of systemic oppression of women. Since women are most often the primary caregiver of the family, it has an effect on her children too.

The results of such systems are; rampant domestic violence, epidemic rape, a lack of educational attainment or opportunities, generational poverty, untapped potential and a loss of productivity for society.

In my approach to women empowerment, women are the primary recipients, yes, absolutely. However, men are not the enemy. Rather, they are important allies. As the power brokers, they are needed as party to change if change is going to be long-term. Also, men play an important role of protector as daddy, brother, neighbor and husband. Men need to be included as change agents.

I shared a popular video called The Girl Effect.

Since I don't like to do a talk without including a tangible action step, I encouraged them to "think globally, but act locally." I asked them to give to the Women and Girls fund at the Community Foundation where I had been volunteering. They gave and I delivered the funds to my new friends.

So, in honor of International Women's Day - invest in making the world a better place.

just Sheri, an honored spokesperson for the cause