Lady Legends
Post college graduation, the two birds realized they didn't know the names of women that got all of us to where we are today. So they figured they had to bring it back to the basics – the alphabet. They came up with a complete list of killer women that deserve endless recognition.
☞ Alexandria Ocasio - Cortez was the youngest US congresswoman elected at age 29.
☞ Billie Jean King is a pioneer for gender equality in sports and helped pass Title IX.
☞ Coco Chanel liberated women from the constraints of the corseted silhouette in the post-World War I era.
☞ Dolly Parton is a musician, businesswoman and charitable philanthropist that donates most of her fortune to noble causes like COVID-19 research and literacy for children.
☞ Ella Fitzgerald, better known as the Queen of Jazz, was the first African American woman to win a Grammy Award in 1958.
☞ Frida Kahlo is one of the world’s most well known painters. She explored questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.
☞ Greta Thunberg is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action against climate change by leading climate strikes and inspiring others to do the same.
☞ Audrey Hepburn became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 1988, making more than 50 trips in Asia, Africa and Central and South America to provide aid and famine relief.
☞ Ida B Wells is an American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. She led an anti-lynching crusade in the US in the 1890s and founded the NAACP in 1909.
☞Jane Fonda has participated in some of the biggest activist movements of the last half-century of American history, including the fights for civil, women’s and environmental rights.
☞ Kimberlé Crenshaw is a legal scholar, developed the theory of intersectionality, and has spent more than 30 years studying civil rights, race and racism.
☞ Laverne Cox has paved the way for trans Americans to have further visibility in the media, following her iconic 2014 Time magazine cover. She uses her platform to advocate for trans women of color and other members of the LGBTQIA community.
☞ Marsha P. Johnson is known for her insistent calls for social and economic justice on behalf of homeless youth and later on behalf of AIDS patients. The self-identified drag queen, survivor and activist is finally getting recognition for her efforts nearly 51 years after the Stonewall Uprising.
☞ Natalie Portman is known for advocating for truth and justice in Hollywood and the world at large by supporting #TimesUp, Black Lives Matter, and gender equality in the film industry.
☞ Michelle Obama is an American attorney, author, and during her time as the first lady she focused on social issues such as poverty, healthy living and education.
☞ Patsy Mink became the first Hawaiian woman elected to Congress, the first woman of color elected to the House, the youngest member from the youngest state, as well as the first Japanese-American woman member in Congress. For over four decades, she championed the rights of immigrants, minorities, women, children, the environment and is recognized as the major mover of Title IX.
☞ Queen Soraya Tarzi is a progressive Afghan lady and queen known for being one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East in the 1920s. She campaigned against polygamy and the veil and pushed for women’s rights and education by opening the country’s first school for girls.
☞ Ruth Bader Ginsberg became the second woman ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court and is known for a leading voice for gender equality, women's interests, and civil rights and liberties. She served on the federal bench for twenty-five years.
☞ Sacheen Littlefeather is most known for making an acceptance speech in traditional Apache regala on behalf of Marlon Brando to call attention to the poor treatment of Natives in the film industry and to the unfair treatment of American Indian Movement (AIM) activists in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Sacheen’s brave act was credited with ending the media blackout of the Wounded Knee Occupation.
☞Tiny Fey is an outspoken advocate for gender equity in comedy and entertainment, she was the first woman to be named head writer of SNL and is the youngest person to receive the Mark Twain Prize. She supports charities like GLAAD, Children’s Health Fund, Worldwide Orphans Fund and the Red Cross.
☞ Uma Thurman is a starting co-founder of Room to Grow, and also supports The Children’s Defense Fund and USAID - which all aid children and families in poverty.
☞ Dorothy Vaughan paved the way for women of color in STEM in her role as NASA's first African-American manager. Her significant contributions to NASA as a mathematician and human computer resulted in the first man on the moon.
☞ Oprah Winfrey has become one of the most influential women in the world after her wildly successful talk show. Oprah's Angel Network has donated over $80 million to charitable causes like storm relief, human rights, education, and founded a school for girls in South Africa.
☞ Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education. She survived a gunshot to the head for defying the Taliban and demanding girls receive an education. She went on to become the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy in 2014.
☞ Helen Zia played a crucial role in igniting an Asian American response to the racially motivated killing of Chinese-American, Vincent Chin, through her journalism and advocacy work. She has also been outspoken on issues ranging from civil rights and peace to women's rights and countering hate violence and homophobia.
