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“I smiled in the face of bigotry.”
Shaymaa Ismaa’eel
Muslim who stood up to Islamophobia with joy
The Art:
Ink drawing of Shaymaa Ismaa’eel flashing a bright smile and peace sign while wearing an orange hijab. She’s drawn on a map of Washington, DC, where she encountered the anti-Muslim protestors that inspired her smile.
The Story:
It was a warm spring day in Washington, DC and Shaymaa Ismaa’eel was attending a large Islamic conference when she noticed a loud group of protestors outside brandishing Islamaphobic signs and hurling abuses on the attendees. Their presence was upsetting the attendees, but most tried to hide their feelings and not give the protestors attention.
Ismaa’eel’s friend said to her, “It’s Sunday, It’s Easter. Don’t they have something better to do?” to which Ismaa’eel rejoined, “Clearly, they need something from us,” and she decided to respond to them in a non-confrontational way: she asked her friend to take a photo for her.
In the photo, Ismaa’eel is wearing a hijab and squatting on the curb with a huge smile across her face while flashing a peace sign. The angry protestors and their rude signs and insults served as the backdrop.
She shared the photo on Twitter a couple days later, writing “On April 21st I smiled in the face of bigotry and walked away feeling the greatest form of accomplishment” and on Instagram, with a quote from the Prophet Muhammad saying, “Kindness is a mark of faith. Those who are not kind have no faith.” Her posts quickly went viral, racking up 100,000s of mostly positive interactions online.
“I wanted them to see my joy and to combat their hatred with kindness.” she said of the photo. “There’s a saying from our Prophet saying, ‘Smile is charity,’ and that’s just me personally anyway, always smiling. I wanted to show them that we are going to remain kind and unapologetic and continue to spread love in the face of bigotry.”
A behavioral therapist with children on the autism spectrum near DC, Ismaa’eel continues, “I’m all about being unapologetic about who you are—don’t let anyone dim your light.”
Music:
This episode contains music from Geovane Bruno, SoulProdMusic, and ItsWatR.
Sources:
Anadolu Agency. (2019, April 24). Muslim woman’s pic at anti-Muslim protest goes viral. Daily Sabah. https://www.dailysabah.com/islamophobia/2019/04/24/muslim-womans-pic-at-anti-muslim-protest-goes-viral Arlington, VA Weather History | Weather Underground. (n.d.). https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/va/arlington/KDCA/date/2019-4-19 BBC News. (2019, April 25). Muslim woman’s picture with anti-Islam protesters goes viral. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-48048312 Blavity TV. (2019, May 10). Shamyaa Talks About The One Photo That Changed Her Life | Life After Going Viral. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEj6Kr6WJCI Diavolo, L. (2019, April 24). Meet Shaymaa Ismaa’eel, the Muslim Girl Who Posed for Pics in front of Islamophobic Protestors. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/meet-shaymaa-ismaaeel-muslim-girl-posed-islamophobic-protestors Mezzofiore, G. (2019, April 24). This photo went viral when a woman ‘smiled in the face of bigotry.’ CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/24/us/woman-smiling-photo-islamophobic-trnd-scli-intl Muslim Woman Poses with Smile in Front of Islamophobic Protesters: “I Wanted Them to See My Joy.” (2019, April 24). Peoplemag. https://people.com/human-interest/muslim-woman-poses-in-front-of-islamophobic-protesters/ Paul, K. (2019, April 24). “Love in the face of bigotry”: woman takes smiling stand against Islamophobic protesters. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/23/love-in-the-face-of-bigotry-woman-takes-smiling-stand-against-islamophobic-protesters Riley, R. (n.d.). Life After Going Viral: Shaymaa Ismaa’eel Shares How She Stood Up To Islamophobia In The Slickest Way Possible - Blavity. Blavity News & Politics. https://www.blavity.com/life-after-going-viral-shaymaa-ismaaeel-shares-how-she-stood-up-to-islamophobia-in-the-slickest-way-possible?category1=culture @shaymaadarling. (2019, April 23). Twitter. https://twitter.com/ShaymaaDarling/status/1120624558657163264 -
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Anne Frank
Author
The Art:
Ink drawing on a map of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The rooms where Anne Frank and her family and the others spent 25 months hiding from the Nazis are now a museum and it is located to the left of her eyes.
The Story:
Born in 1929 in Germany, Anne Frank and her family moved to the Netherlands when she was four years old to get away from the increasing anti-Semitic persecution under the Nazis. It was not far enough: on May 10, 1940, Hitler’s armies invaded the Netherlands and Belgium on their way to France, bringing their hatred with them.
So, on Monday morning, July 6, 1942, 13-year-old Anne Frank, her parents, and sister secretly moved out of their Amsterdam apartment and into a set of hidden rooms in the annex of her father’s company’s offices. Four other Jews later joined them in this space and a bookcase was placed in front of the door to hide it. With the aid of a few trusted colleagues, the eight of them stayed hidden from the Nazis for 25 months.
Eventually, they were betrayed and on August 4, 1944, the Nazis raided the secret annex. Anne and her companions were all shipped off to concentration camps.
The family’s hiding place was cramped and uncomfortable and the secret residents had to stay very quiet to avoid detection. With little else to do in their attic rooms, Frank passed the time writing in a diary she had received as a birthday gift shortly before they went into hiding. Written as a series of letters to Kitty, an imaginary friend she confided to, Anne documented the events in hiding as well as her thoughts and feelings. It was a therapeutic practice for her, and in one letter to Kitty, Anne wrote, “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”
The diary was more than just a creative outlet for the young Anne. it was a place to let her mind run free—in sharp contrast to her physical realities in hiding.
She would reflect on the beauty of the world, noting to kitty, that “I don't think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains. Think of all the beauty still around you and be happy.” And, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Not one to be held back by her youth, Anne also wrote, “Although I'm only fourteen, I know quite well what I want, I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions, my own ideas and principles, and although it may sound pretty mad from an adolescent, I feel more of a person than a child, I feel quite independent of anyone.”
Background:
Born: June 12, 1929, Frankfurt, Germany
Died: February 1945, Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany
What began as a way to pass the time became a dream of a published book. All told, Frank wrote around 50,000 words longhand in her diary. She didn’t finish the manuscript before her murder. The last letter to Kitty was dated three days before her arrest.
After the Allies liberated Auschwitz, Anne’s father, Otto, returned to Holland to find he was the sole survivor from the eight who had hidden together. He was gifted with Anne’s writings by one of the people who had helped support the family in hiding and had found the papers after the raid.
Otto found Anne’s account deeply moving and decided to fulfill his daughter’s ambition by publishing the diary as a book in 1947. He hoped it would educate readers on the dangers of prejudice and discrimination towards others.
For 25 months, Anne preached love, courage, and hope in the face of evil hatred and oppression. In the decades since, the book has proven her words true that, “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” She’s influenced generations of readers, including South African leader Nelson Mandela, who cited Anne as an inspiration during apartheid imprisonment. Today, her diary has been translated into more than 70 languages and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
The diary’s enduring impact is summed up in these words Anne wrote after living in hiding for more than two years: “It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”
The Nazi’s arrested Anne and her family three weeks later.
Music:
Sources:
Anne Frank. (n.d.). Jewish Women’s Archive. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/frank-anne Blakemore, E. (2022, January 27). Who was Anne Frank? Why her legacy is still fought over today. History. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/who-was-anne-frank Chandler, G. (2019, November 27). Anne Frank facts. National Geographic Kids. https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/history/general-history/anne-frank-facts/ Digital, P. (2016, July 12). Watch: Nelson Mandela on how Anne Frank’s diary inspired him. Brand South Africa. https://brandsouthafrica.com/61222/watch-nelson-mandela-on-how-anne-frank-s-diary-inspired-him/ History.com Editors. (2020, July 1). Anne Frank. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/anne-frank-1 Home. (2022, September 27). Anne Frank Website. https://www.annefrank.org/nl/ Special to People’s World. (2015, March 2). Today in women’s history: Death of Anne Frank, Holocaust martyr. People’s World. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-women-s-history-death-of-anne-frank-holocaust-martyr/ the Web Editors. (2016, June 10). 8 Anne Frank Quotes to Remember a Young Woman Who Wrestled With. Sojourners. https://sojo.net/articles/8-anne-frank-quotes-remember-young-woman-who-wrestled-suffering @UNWomen. (2021, January 27). UN Women. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKihW0KAmBk/?igshid=19p2fkn2v49v3 Wikipedia contributors. (2022, December 26). Anne Frank. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank Wood, S. (2020, December 19). Short Summary of Anne Frank (1929-1945). HistoryColored. https://historycolored.com/articles/4557/anne-frank-1929-1945/ -
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“I contemplated how sorrow, frustration, and anger wove together with courage, resiliency, and hope, and how the art might speak to this gravity.”
Michaela Goade
First Native American illustrator to win the Caldecott Medal
The Artwork:
Ink drawing of Michaela Goade on a map of southeastern Alaska. She is holding an open copy of We Are Water Protectors. Sitka, the ancestral home of her people and where she currently lives, is on the map, directly in her line of sight between her eyes and the open book.
The Story:
It was a Sunday afternoon in 2021 and Michaela Goade was joining a video call with her editor at her publisher, when she saw the Zoom screen filled with many more faces than she was expecting. They were the members of the Caldecott committee and they were sharing the exciting news that Michaela had won the Caldecott Medal that year for her artwork in the book We Are Water Protectors.
The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children. She is the first Native American to win the prestigious award.
The author, Carole Lindstrom, wrote We are Water Protectors in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota:
In early 2016, local Native Americans began protesting construction of the oil pipeline, viewing the pipeline as a significant threat to Standing Rock’s water sources, as well as a danger to important cultural sites. Beginning with a few hundred, the water protectors’ ranks swelled to over 10,000 and included members of tribal nations from across the United States, as well as people from all over the world, including Tibet and Guatemala. The Trump administration eventually bulldozed over the water protectors’ wishes and completed the pipeline. Oil began flowing through the pipeline in May, with a capacity to transport 750,000 barrels a day.
An enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Goade grew up in Juneau on the traditional lands of her people surrounded by what she describes as, “A labyrinth of over one thousand islands, endless waterways, and wild, rugged coastlines…with a kaleidoscope of glaciers and fjords, rivers and waterfalls, lakes.” Living among the water and as a Tlingit (meaning People of the Tides) the water protectors’ cause touched Goade. She leapt at the opportunity to illustrate Carole’s book.
“Water is a way of life here [in Alaska], and it is our life here in so many different ways. So that core theme really resonated. And I remember, like Carole, feeling helpless during the Stand at Standing Rock,” said Michaela.
Goade painted her illustrations for We Are Water Protectors over several months in 2018. Painting her vibrant watercolors in a tiny studio next to the sea, Goade, hoped her art would inspire a new generation of water protectors:
“I contemplated how sorrow, frustration, and anger wove together with courage, resiliency, and hope, and how the art might speak to this gravity. In this book, it was especially crucial that all children, Native and non-Native alike, came away from the experience feeling autonomous and empowered,” she said in her Caldecott acceptance speech.
As for the Dakota Access Pipeline that inspired the book, litigation is ongoing on both sides. The pipeline has leaked at least 5 times as of 2021.
Background:
Trained in graphic design and working as an art director at a marketing agency, Goade got her start illustrating children’s books with 2017’s Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy, a story about respecting the natural world.
“Picture books spoke my language like nothing before had. They became a way to reconnect with my culture, find my artistic voice and give back to the Native community in a unique way,” she says of the career change. “Children’s books are reflections of our society. They often communicate who is visible and important in today’s world. Therefore, representation that reflects the very diverse experiences of Native Americans is much needed.”
Since Salmon Boy, Goade has illustrated several award-winning books, including Berry Song in 2022, her first release as an author.
Music:
Theme music comes from Geovane Bruno. Other music in this episode comes from water protectors inspired by the Standing Rock protests, including Taboo, Aliza Hava, and Dee Snider.
Sources:
ABC News. (2022, July 19). Caldecott Medal winner creates celebration of land she knows well in new book l ABCNL. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp3UdtIq6w0 AP. (2021, January 26). Illustrator Michaela Goade Becomes First Native American To Win Caldecott Medal. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michaela-goade-caldecott-meda_n_60100cdbc5b634dc37384d3d Danielson, J. (n.d.). A Conversation with Michaela Goade. The Horn Book. https://www.hbook.com/story/a-conversation-with-michaela-goade Day, C. (2019, September 1). q&a with michaela goade! Christine Day. https://www.bychristineday.com/blog/2019/9/1/qampa-with-michaela-goade Elbein, S. (2021, May 4). These Are the Defiant “Water Protectors” of Standing Rock. Culture. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/tribes-standing-rock-dakota-access-pipeline-advancement Goade, M. (n.d.-a). 2021 Caldecott Medal Acceptance by Michaela Goade. The Horn Book. https://www.hbook.com/story/2021-caldecott-medal-acceptance-by-michaela-goade Goade, M. (n.d.-b). About the artist. MichaelaGoade.com. https://www.michaelagoade.com/about McKinstry, E. (2021, February 17). Finding activism through art: A Q&A with Tlingit illustrator Michaela Goade. KTOO. https://www.ktoo.org/2021/02/17/finding-activism-through-art-a-qa-with-tlingit-illustrator-michaela-goade/ Michaela Goade. (2022, November 8). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaela_Goade Michaela Goade: Taken by Surprise on Zoom. (n.d.). PublishersWeekly.com. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/85409-michaela-goade-taken-by-surprise-on-zoom.html Miller, C. (2018a, February 14). Michaela Goade-illustrated book wins ‘best picture book of the year.’ Juneau Empire. https://www.juneauempire.com/news/michaela-goade-illustrated-book-wins-best-picture-book-of-the-year/ Miller, C. (2018b, February 14). Michaela Goade-illustrated book wins ‘best picture book of the year.’ Juneau Empire. https://www.juneauempire.com/news/michaela-goade-illustrated-book-wins-best-picture-book-of-the-year/ Native Voices: Author & Illustrator Interview: Carole Lindstrom & Michaela Goade. (2020, May 19). Cynthia Leitich Smith. https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/2020/05/native-voices-author-illustrator-interview-carole-lindstrom-michaela-goade/ Shah, S. (2021, October 13). This Native American Illustrator Is Bringing Indigenous Stories to Life—and Opening the Door for Others. Time. https://time.com/6103213/michaela-goade-next-generation-leaders/ Staff, K. (2021, February 1). Sitka illustrator Michaela Goade wins Caldecott Medal for “We are Water Protectors.” KCAW. https://www.kcaw.org/2021/01/28/sitka-illustrator-michaela-goade-wins-caldecott-medal-for-we-are-water-protectors/ TIME. (2021, October 18). Michaela Goade | Next Generation Leaders. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqaFKvzjMuY Wikipedia contributors. (2022, November 1). Dakota Access Pipeline. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline -
Coming June 27, Fearless Portraits returns for a second season telling stories of women who worked to change the world.
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I’ve been working hard collecting new stories and drawing portraits of amazing women that will be coming to your podcast feed for Season 2 in the new year. But for now, here is an interview I did this week with John and Rachel, hosts of the YaJagoff! show on Pittsburgh’s Q92.9 FM about the Fearless Portraits art project.
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“Redemption! I was grabbing the air, I got so excited I was afraid I might die or something.”
Dr. Katalin Karikó
Biochemist who pioneered mRNA, the technology behind the successful COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
The Artwork:
Ink drawing on a map of Philadelphia, PA. The University of Pennsylvania where she did much of her research is located near her chin.
The Story:
Doubted and then demoted by academic leaders, denied grants, and derided by her peers, Katalin Kariko’s journey from disregarded scholar to world savior was a four-decade struggle. Introduced to the concept of messenger RNA (mRNA) during her undergraduate, she quickly saw the possibilities and pursued a PHD in the field, beginning in 1978. Ultimately, her research served as the basis of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines.
In 1985, Karikó left her native Hungary with her husband, two-year-old daughter, and $1,200 sewn into teddy bear (proceeds from selling the family car on the black market). She continued her research at Temple University before moving to the University of Pennsylvania in 1989. All the while, rejected grant applications piled up on Karikó’s desk. She said her mRNA research was “too novel” to get funded.
By 1995, her bosses at the university were growing impatient with the lack of funding and offered a humiliating choice: leave or be demoted to adjunct from her prestigious tenure-track position. With the demotion came a substantial pay cut. The same week, she was diagnosed with cancer.
“Usually, at that point, people just say ‘goodbye’ and leave because it’s so horrible,” she says. But Karikó wasn’t like usual people. Undeterred by the setbacks, she doggedly continued in her research. One year, she recalled realizing in May that she had worked every day that year, including New Year’s Day, even sleeping in the office sometimes.
A few years later, a chance meeting with Drew Weissman at a photocopier changed the course of her career. A respected immunologist, Weissman was intrigued with Karikó’s research. More important, he had the funding to finance her experiments in his lab. This partnership “gave me optimism and kept me going,” says Karikó. “My salary was lower than the tech who worked next to me, but Drew was supportive and that’s what I concentrated on.”
In 2005, Karikó finally had a breakthrough. On paper, mRNA was simple, in reality injecting synthetic mRNA often led to disastrous immune responses from subjects. Karikó and Weissman figured out how to sneak mRNA into cells without triggering the alarm bells. This paved the way for vaccines and other future therapies with mRNA.
Despite this success, the University of Pennsylvania told Karikó in 2013 she was “not of faculty quality.” She left to become Senior Vice President at BioNTech, a nascent German biotech firm. “When I told them I was leaving, they laughed at me and said, ‘BioNTech doesn’t even have a website.’”
Her career’s research has since served as the basis of the highly effective COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
She screamed, “Redemption!” upon hearing the news the vaccine was effective. “I was grabbing the air, I got so excited I was afraid I might die or something. I never doubted it would work.”
She celebrated by eating a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts. “
Background on mRNA:
The focus of Karikó’s career was mRNA, a single-stranded messenger molecule that delivers instructions from the DNA in the cell’s nucleus to the protein-making centers called ribosomes. Without mRNA, DNA would be useless, leading some to call mRNA the “software of life.”
MRNA offers a way for the body to heal itself and its promise will likely be realized in ways far beyond the current COVID-19 vaccine application. With the COVID-19 vaccine, the mRNA tells cells to create harmless spike proteins to prepare the immune system to fight against coronavirus’ spikes. Other possibilities include other vaccines, treating cancer, and diseases like cystic fibrosis.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, Coma Media, Hot_Music, Oleksandr Savochka, and 24414830.
Sources:
BioNTech scientist Katalin Karikó risked her career to develop mRNA vaccines. Americans will start getting her coronavirus shot on Monday. (2020, December 12). Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/mrna-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-coronavirus-2020-12?international=true&r=US&IR=T Corbley, A. (2021, February 1). She was Demoted, Doubted and Rejected But Now Her Work is the Basis of the Covid-19 Vaccine. Good News Network. https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/katalin-kariko-hungarian-chemist-developed-covid-19-mrna-vaccine/ Cox, D. (2020, December 2). How mRNA went from a scientific backwater to a pandemic crusher. WIRED UK. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/mrna-coronavirus-vaccine-pfizer-biontech Garde, D., & Globe, J. S. —. B. (2021, January 7). The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race. STAT. https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/the-story-of-mrna-how-a-once-dismissed-idea-became-a-leading-technology-in-the-covid-vaccine-race/ Kolata, G. (2021, September 24). Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/health/coronavirus-mrna-kariko.html Kollewe, J. (2020, November 23). Covid vaccine technology pioneer: “I never doubted it would work.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/nov/21/covid-vaccine-technology-pioneer-i-never-doubted-it-would-work Newey, S., & Nuki, P. (2020, December 2). “Redemption”: How a scientist’s unwavering belief in mRNA gave the world a Covid-19 vaccine. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/redemption-one-scientists-unwavering-belief-mrna-gave-world/ Wikipedia contributors. (2022, July 22). Katalin Karikó. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katalin_Karik%C3%B3 -
“I interested Miss Alice Ball… in the chemical problem of obtaining… the active agents in the oil of chaulmoogra. After a great deal of experimental work, Miss Ball solved the problem.”
Dr. Harry Hollmann
Writing about chemist Alice Ball and her groundbreaking cure for leprosy in a scientific journal
The Artwork:
Ball’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Honolulu, HI. The University of Hawaii where she worked is visible on the bridge of her nose. Wearing a graduation cap and gown, the portrait is based on the only known photograph of Ball.
The Story:
An ancient disease, leprosy (also known as Hansen’s Disease) has afflicted humans since biblical times. Viewed as a shameful curse, for most of history, leprosy was “treated” by throwing victims out of their homes and isolating them in leper colonies where they lived in poverty and pain as their disease progressed and complications eventually killed them. That is, until 1916, when a 23-year-old Alice Ball developed the first cure for the skin disease.
Born in 1892 in Seattle, Washington, Ball excelled in science and she earned bachelors’ degrees in chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Washington and went to what is now the University of Hawaii to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry. After graduating as the first black woman to earn a master’s degree at the school, she was invited to teach chemistry, becoming the first woman to teach there.
While teaching college chemistry, she was approached by Harry Hollman, a doctor treating leprosy patients. At his suggestion, she began researching the problem of using chaulmoogra oil as a treatment /
for leprosy. Chaulmoogra oil had been used to treat leprosy for hundreds of years, but it was difficult to administer to patients and not very effective. Ball was able to isolate the relevant compounds in the oil and developed a technique for injecting the oil. The results were very successful.
Sadly, she died a few months later before her findings could be published. A male colleague stole her research and named the discovery after himself. He received accolades from around the world for his stolen leprosy cure and later parlayed his success into the presidency of the university.
Hollman attempted to set the record straight six years later in 1922, writing in a scientific journal, “I interested Miss Alice Ball, M.S., an instructress in chemistry at the College of Hawaii in the chemical problem of obtaining for me the active agents in the oil of chaulmoogra. After a great amount of experimental work, Miss Ball solved the problem for me by making the ethyl esters of the fatty acids found in chaulmoogra oil, employing the technic herewith described,” which he referred to as “Ball’s Method.”
The Ball Method was far more efficacious than the previous topical and oral chaulmoogra oil therapies and thousands of leprosy patients around the world were successfully treated with it. The Ball Method remained the standard for leprosy treatment until the 1940s, when new classes of drugs were developed.
Ball became ill during her research and returned to Seattle for treatment. She died at the age of 24 on December 31, 1916. The cause of death is unknown, although it may have been due to chlorine gas exposure during a lab accident. Whatever the case, she wasn’t around to defend her work and despite Hollman’s 1922 article, Ball remained in obscurity for decades.
It was not until 2000, that the University of Hawaii recognized Ball with a plaque on campus, at the urging of scholars Dr. Kathryn Takara and Stan Ali. Around the corner from the plaque is the stately hall named for Ball’s research thief. Also in 2000, the Governor of Hawaii named February 29 “Alice Ball Day.” Other honors and accolades have since been bestowed on Ball.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, Aleksandr Karabanov, and DayFox.
Sources:
Ball, Alice Augusta. (n.d.). ScholarSpace | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/1837#:%7E:text=On%20February%2029%2C%202000%2C%20the,lone%20chaulmoogra%20tree%20on%20campus. Bennett BH, Parker DL, Robson M. Leprosy: steps along the journey of eradication. Public Health Rep. 2008 Mar-Apr;123(2):198-205. doi: 10.1177/003335490812300212. Brewster, C. D. (2021, May 4). How the Woman Who Found a Leprosy Treatment Was Almost Lost to History. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/alice-ball-leprosy-hansens-disease-hawaii-womens-history-science Hollman, H. T. (1922). The Fatty Acids of Chaulmoogra Oil in the Treatment of Leprosy and Other Diseases. Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology, 5(1), 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1001/archderm.1922.02350260097010 Knutsen, E. (2018, August 25). This phenomenal young woman found a cure for leprosy, but the man she worked with got the credit. Timeline. https://medium.com/s/the-matilda-effect/alice-ball-matilda-effect-6b5fb64c74d6 Parascandola J. Chaulmoogra oil and the treatment of leprosy. Pharm Hist. 2003;45(2):47-57. Retrieved from https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/LHC-publications/PDF/pub2003048.pdf Wikipedia contributors. (2022, July 30). Alice Ball. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Ball -
“It’s definitely an old boys’ club, and so obviously for us coming in as opposite, we definitely were looked at as not just not belonging, but really incapable of being successful.”
Robin McBride
Co-founded McBride Sisters Wine Company with Andréa McBride, the largest Black-owned wine company in the US
The Artwork:
The McBride’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of the two of them on a map of California. Both wearing suits, and clasping wine glasses in their hands, Robin is on the left and Andréa is on the right. Monterey, CA, where Andréa grew up and where some of their wine is from, is located on the right side of Robin.
The Story:
The journey to building one of the largest Black-owned wine companies in the world began in very unlikely circumstances. Andrea McBride was a teenager living in foster care in New Zealand when she got a phone call from her estranged biological father in Alabama. He was calling to deliver the double shot of surprise news that he was dying of cancer and before he died, he wanted to connect her with his other daughter—Robin—whose existence Andrea had never known of.
He died before they could find Robin, but Andrea did get to meet her father’s family and they sent letters to every Robin McBride in the phone book until they finally found the right Robin. She was living across the country in Monterey, CA.
When they finally got to speak to each other for the first time in 1999, one of their ice breaker questions was “what was it like where you grew up?” and they discovered they both grew up in winemaking areas and they were passionate about wine. In an effort to bond, they went to wine tastings and vineyard tours. After a few glasses of wine, they started to dream about having their own wine company together.
That dream became a reality in 2005, when they scraped together the $1,800 to buy an importer’s license and began selling New Zealand sauvignon blanc to high-end restaurants. Their operation continued to grow and in 2016, they took it a leap further and formed the McBride Sister’s Wine Company. In 2020, the company cleared $5.5m in sales.
Selling wines from each of their homelands, New Zealand and California, McBride Sisters Collection wines are available across the US.
The journey from first importing wine to creating a multi-million dollar wine business was not an easy one. They built their company without any investors or advisors in the beginning and faced challenges in a sector that is “notorious for its gatekeeping,” says Robin.
“It’s definitely an old boys’ club,” says Robin of the wine industry. “A large part of the industry is run by a very small group of older white wealthy men. There are a lot of dynasties in wine and family lineages that still run things. And so obviously for us coming in as the opposite—really of everything that, to that point, had been successful in the wine world, which was an older white man—we definitely were looked at as not just not belonging, but really incapable of being successful.”
The traditional way to sell wine was to work with wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, working each step like a ladder until the bottles eventually made it to store shelves. The McBrides found ways to bypass these gatekeepers by creating demand directly with customers.
“A lot of our experiences of us being curious about wine and how we were treated when we were in those tasting rooms and stuff is really a lot of the foundation of what our company is built on today, which is making wine accessible for everybody and helping people on their journey and making it fun,” says Andréa.
This customer-centric philosophy around wine helped propel their business into the largest Black-owned wine company in the US.
Background:
Beyond their own wine business, the McBrides are passionate about elevating women and people of color by raising a more diverse generation of winemakers and consumers.
“Our purpose and our mission,” says Andréa, “Is to change the face of wine for our community and for our industry. When we talk about our community, who we serve, we find that who is attracted to our brands are women and people of color. This is a really big group of people that the wine industry doesn't do that great a job in welcoming. For a long time, we have been one of the only Black-owned brands that has national distribution that is available at national grocery stores. We want to leave the wine industry better than when we started. We don't think that we should be the only ones here.”
In 2019, they launched the SHE CAN line of canned wines, which underwrites the SHE CAN Fund. A concerted effort to help close the gender and race gap in the wine world, the fund has contributed more than $3 million in scholarships, in-kind skills development, technical training, and ad credits to women vintners.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and MusicTown.
Sources:
Brooks, S. (2021, August 30). 20 Minutes With: The McBride Sisters, Founders of the Largest Black-Owned Wine Brand in the U.S. Barron’s. https://www.barrons.com/articles/20-minutes-with-the-mcbride-sisters-founders-of-the-largest-black-owned-wine-brand-in-the-u-s-01630349788 How I Built This. (2020a, October 19). McBride Sisters Wine (Part 1 of 2): Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/15/924227706/mcbride-sisters-wine-part-1-of-2-robin-mcbride-and-andr-a-mcbride-john How I Built This. (2020b, October 23). McBride Sisters Wine (Part 2 of 2): Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/23/927158151/mcbride-sisters-wine-part-2-of-2-robin-mcbride-and-andr-a-mcbride-john Richardson, R. (2022, April 5). McBride Sisters Helm the Country’s Largest Black-Owned Wine Brand. TODAY.Com. https://www.today.com/food/people/mcbride-sisters-largest-black-owned-wine-company-in-us-rcna22036 Worobiec, M. (2020, October 27). Wine’s Dynamo Sister Team. Wine Spectator. https://www.winespectator.com/articles/wines-dynamo-sister-team -
“It is never a waste to try something and fail.”
Masako “Ma-chan” Wakamiya (若宮正子)
Octogenarian app developer
The Artwork:
Ma-chan’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Kanagawa, the prefecture she lives in, just south of Tokyo. She’s seated on the floor next to a traditional Japanese short-legged table with a laptop open on it.
The Story:
Masako “Ma-chan” Wakamiya got her first computer when she retired from a career in a bank in 1997. She found a whole new world available to her through her computer and relished the connection and community the internet offered, saying, “at the age of 60, my world expanded—I got wings!”
Ma-chan’s interest in technology continued from PCs to smartphones. As the resident tech expert in her circle, she spent a lot of time helping her friends and neighbors use their phones and she theorized older people have a hard time with smartphones and such because apps and games mostly catered to young people—either by using small print, requiring fast play, or using difficult swiping motions.
Sensing an opportunity, she thought a possible solution to help older people be more comfortable with their devices would be an app designed for them. So, at the age of 82, she set about creating an app for her peers. She settled on a game based on Japan’s annual doll festival (called Hinamatsuri).
“I wanted to make games that would allow us seniors to defeat even young people on the basis of our knowledge―games that are different from the competitive ones that require quick reflexes,” she says. “As we age, our eyesight gets worse, and we can't move our fingers the way we'd like to. This game is designed so that even people with these problems can enjoy it.”
She reached out to the president of an app development company she had met through volunteer work previously and presented her idea. He countered with a suggestion that she create the app herself and he would teach her over Skype.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Ma-chan dove into app development, persevering through a difficult six months to build the app.
“It was especially very difficult to organize the whole structure of the app,” she says of the challenge of learning to code. Plus most of the resources she found online to learn from were in English, adding a further level of difficulty to the project.
“It is never a waste to try something and fail,” Ma-chan said of the fits and starts she experienced while learning to code. “You will not die or get injured even if things don't pan out well. It's best to enjoy your failures. If you fail, you fail. What's wrong with that?”
The game, called Hinadan, was completed just in time for the doll festival in 2017.
In the app, players move dolls in a puzzle into their appropriate positions based on the dolls’ roles (emperor, empress, and so on). The app has now been released in five languages.
Given her status as perhaps the oldest app developer in the world, news of the app went viral.
Apple CEO Tim Cook invited her to Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference where Ma-chan got to meet him and the two discussed the app together. “It was as if we were chatting in a programming class,” she said of the experience.
Background:
Born in 1935 in Tokyo, the app is just the latest chapter in Ma-chan’s self-proclaimed role of “IT evangelist” where she encourages seniors to use digital technology to enrich their lives. She spreads her message through the lecture circuit in Japan and abroad, including a TEDx Talk in Tokyo and an address before a UN conference in New York. She’s also written several books, primarily around educating seniors with technology.
Another way she has taught tech skills is something she calls “Excel art.” Which is using Excel spreadsheets to create patterns. “Excel looks difficult for seniors. But I came up with an idea of drawing designs using its functions. Then, I got so excited as I was able to produce one new pattern after another,” she says.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, OB-LIX, FreeGroove, and Solbox.
Sources:
AFP TV. (2017, August 7). Never too old to code: Meet Japan’s 82-year-old app-maker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXnjNCX6Ai4 CNA Insider. (2018, February 25). 81 And Excelling | Super Octogenarians | CNA Insider. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7uN4-NiG0s JapanGov. (2018). Game App Developer in Her 80s Opens ICT World for Fellow Seniors /. The Government of Japan - JapanGov -. https://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2018/spring-summer2018/game_app_developer.html Kambayashi, T. (2022, March 9). At 82, she coded an app. She just wanted a game she could win. The Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2022/0309/At-82-she-coded-an-app.-She-just-wanted-a-game-she-could-win Kashima, Y., & Armitage, S. (2017, June 13). Meet The 82-Year-Old App Developer Who Says Life Gets Better With Age. BuzzFeed News. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/yuikashima/this-82-year-old-grandmother-is-an-apple-developer Nikkei. (2019, November 23). Meet the 84-year-old Japanese app developer who inspired Tim Cook. Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Meet-the-84-year-old-Japanese-app-developer-who-inspired-Tim-Cook2 Self Taught Japanese. (2017, June 6). 82 year old Japanese woman’s “hinadan” mobile app: sometimes it takes new technology to uncover ancient traditions. https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2017/06/06/82-year-old-japanese-womans-hinadan-mobile-app-sometimes-it-takes-new-technology-to-uncover-ancient-traditions/ TED. (n.d.). TEDxTokyoSalon | TED. TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/15791Wakamiya, M. (n.d.). Masako Wakamiya. Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Masako-Wakamiya/e/B004LR7TIO%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Wakamiya, M. (2014, May 31). Now is the time to get your own wings | Masako Wakamiya | TEDxTokyo. TEDx Tokyo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUjXiYtOC7Y&t=644s Wakamiya, M. (2017, February 23). hinadan. App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hinadan/id1199778491 -
“I do not like that the front pockets of girls jeans are fake.”
Kamryn Gardner
First grader who asked Old Navy to make jeans with pockets
The Artwork:
Gardner’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing of her holding her new pocketed jeans on a map of northern Arkansas. Bentonville, where she lives is located just over her head and the left.
The Story:
Seven-year-old Kamryn Garder of Bentonville, AR had a small problem: Her pants had no pockets. She desperately wanted pockets to put her hands in and stash items. Her brother’s pants had pockets but on hers, the “pockets” were strictly ornamental.
After learning about persuasive writing in school, the first grader put the lesson into action. On the advice of her mother, she wrote a letter to retailer Old Navy. With neat penciled letters on large-ruled paper, she took the company to task for shortchanging girls out of their pockets
Dear Old Navy,
I do not like that the front pockets of the girls jeans are fake. I want front pockets because I want to put my hands in them. I also would like to put things in them. Would you consider making girls jeans with front pockets that are not fake. Thank you for reading my request.
Sincerely,
Kamyrn Gardner, age 7
Gardner’s brother, Landon, 9, found her argument persuasive, saying, “I’ve never had this problem [of no pockets]. But I’ve heard my sister talk about not having pockets all the time.”
The logic worked on Old Navy also and the company responded with a note about her “great feedback for us as we develop new product,” and a package of four pairs of jeans in her size. With pockets of course.
Less successful was Gardner’s efforts at writing persuasive letters to her parents to get her a camera.
Background on pockets in women's and girl's clothes
Gardner isn’t the first to rail against the lack of functional pockets in women’s clothing. Women lost their pockets two centuries ago, when closer-fitting dress styles came in vogue in the 1790s. Before then, women’s pockets were essentially bags hanging from a strap around the waist and tucked under a skirt. With fluffy skirts and petticoats, the pockets were invisible. When styles changed, pockets were left behind to avoid bulges. Meanwhile, men have always enjoyed pockets.
Beginning in the 20th century, pockets for women have repeatedly come back, only to leave again, depending who’s winning the tug-of-war between practicality and fashion, (or if you prefer, empowerment and misogyny). as Christian Dior put it, “Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.”
Gardner’s complaint is about more than having a place for her hands. As writer Gail Cornwall noted in The Washington Post:
“Not having pockets limits girls’ ability to experience. Not only do pockets free a child’s hands to investigate and accomplish, they also broadcast the need and right to do so to both wearer and viewer alike. Or, more accurately, it’s the contrast of the presence and absence of pockets in different kids’ clothing that sends a two-part message: Only men need functionality, and girls should learn to be women as early as possible.”
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, Coma Media, and Music Unlimited.
Sources:
Bentonville Schools [@ BentonvilleSchools]. (2021, April 1). Oh, the power of persuasion especially when you’re adorable! Earlier this year, first graders at Evening Star Elementary practiced writing [Facebook post]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BentonvilleSchools/posts/10157778570856366 Burman, B. (2002). Pocketing the Difference: Gender and Pockets in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Gender History, 14(3), 447–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.00277 Cornwall, G. (2020, January 15). Why girls need pockets. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/15/why-girls-need-pockets/ Free, C. (2021, April 9). First-grader wrote Old Navy asking for girls’ jeans to have real pockets. The letter went viral. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/04/09/old-navy-girls-jeans-pockets/ Pelletiere, N. (2021, April 8). Old Navy responds to 1st grader’s request for girls’ jeans with real pockets. Good Morning America. https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/family/story/navy-responds-1st-graders-request-girls-jeans-real-76923645 Ushe, N. (2021, April 8). Old Navy Tells First-Grader They Plan to Develop Pockets in Girls’ Jeans After She Writes Them a Letter. PEOPLE.Com. https://people.com/human-interest/old-navy-tells-first-grader-they-plan-develop-pockets-girls-jeans-after-letter/ -
“There is only one thing worse than coming from the lab to a sink full of dirty dishes and that is not going to the lab at all.”
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu (吳健雄)
Experimental physicist, known as the “First Lady of Physics”
The Artwork:
Wu’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Manhattan, New York City. Columbia University, where she worked, is located in the collar of her lab coat on the left side.
The Story:
The laws of physics are immutable. Constants in an ever-changing universe. Since 1925, physicists had accepted the parity principle—which dictates that nature is symmetrical and two mirror-image systems will behave in identical fashion to each other—as scientific fact.
That is, until 30 years later, when Dr. Wu did the impossible and proved the Law of Conservation of Parity wrong.
A world-renowned physicist at Columbia University, Wu was approached by colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang in 1956 with the idea of testing a theory on the parity principle’s limitations. Famously dedicated to her work, Wu canceled her planned trip to Europe and Asia to test the theory she herself gave a one-in-a-million chance of being correct.
Her experiment found electrons behaving asymmetrically, shattering what had been a fundamental concept in nuclear physics. Her findings shocked the scientific community and won the Nobel Prize in Physics the following year. In what was widely panned as one of the greatest mistakes by the Nobel committee, the award went to Wu’s collaborators, Yang and Lee, while Wu herself was not honored for her monumental achievement until 1978 when she was given the inaugural Wolf Prize.
Background on Wu
The Nobel snub was far from the first time Wu encountered sexism.
Born on May 31, 1912, in the village of Liuhe in Jiangsu province, China, near Shanghai. There was no school for girls in the village, so her father founded one. She excelled in her studies, going on to college and graduating at the top of her class with a degree in physics in 1934.
She came to the US to continue her studies at the University of Michigan, but was shocked at the sexism she encountered. Upon learning female students were not even allowed to use the front entrance at UMich, she enrolled at UC Berkeley where she earned her Ph.D.
Shortly after, in 1942, she took a job at Princeton University, where she became the first woman hired as a faculty member of the physics department. Two years later, she joined Manhattan Project’s laboratories at Columbia University. She stayed at Columbia until her retirement in 1981.
Wu traveled and lectured widely, encouraging young women to follow in her footsteps and build careers in STEM. A fierce critic of gender barriers and discrimination—particularly in science—she said, “I sincerely doubt that any open-minded person really believes in the notion that women have no intellectual capacity for science and technology.”
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Hot_Music.
Sources:
Atomic Heritage Foundation. (n.d.). Chien-Shiung Wu. https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/chien-shiung-wu A-Z Quotes. (n.d.). Chien-Shiung Wu Quote. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/763081 Jones, M. (2014, March 30). Chien-Shiung Wu: The First Lady of Physics. Futurism. https://futurism.com/chien-shiung-wu-the-first-lady-of-physics Leah Melle, [@leahmelle]. (2021, April 21). Verified Notable women in science youve probably never heard about by @leahmelle 🙌👆 [Instagram post]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CN5Y5sylSqW/?igshid=8ga7184ilojy National Park Service. (n.d.). Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu, The First Lady of Physics (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/people/dr-chien-shiung-wu-the-first-lady-of-physics.htm New York Historical Society. (2021, June 24). Life Story: Chien-Shiung Wu, 1912–1997. Women & the American Story. https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/world-war-ii/chien-shiung-wu/ NIST. (2016, September 26). The Reversal of Parity Law in Nuclear Physics. https://www.nist.gov/pml/fall-parity/reversal-parity-law-nuclear-physics UKRI. (2018, February 18). Chien-Shiung Wu. UKRI.Org. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20211223122104/https://stfc.ukri.org/news-events-and-publications/features/chien-shiung-wu/ Wikipedia contributors. (2022a, April 17). Wu experiment. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_experiment Wikipedia contributors. (2022b, June 8). Chien-Shiung Wu. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu -
“Economics should be about caring for real people.”
Janet Yellen
First female Secretary of the Treasury
First female Chair of the Federal Reserve
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors
First person to hold all three roles
The Artwork:
Yellen’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink and colored pencil drawing on a map of San Francisco. She’s wearing a purple blazer with her trademarked popped collar. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco she presided over from 2004 – 2010 is on the right side of the map, just over her shoulder.
The Story:
Janet Yellen’s philosophy on how economics should be about caring for real people had its roots in her childhood. Growing up in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood, she watched a stream of factory workers and dock hands visit her father’s medical practice, paying $2 cash to be seen, or not paying if they couldn’t. “I came to understand the effect that unemployment could have on people in human terms,” she says.
This philosophy was solidified in college during a macroeconomics lecture: “I remember sitting in class and learning about how there were policy decisions that could have been taken during the Great Depression to alleviate all that human suffering—that was a real ‘aha’ moment for me. I realized that public policy can, and should, address these problems.”
Fast forward 50 years and Yellen—in her role as president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank—would be among the first to raise concerns about the impending subprime mortgage bubble. Later, as vice chair of the Fed and then chair of the Fed, she oversaw a controversial plan to buy trillions of dollars in assets to prevent the economy from further collapse. Called quantitative easing, the plan may well have been the difference between keeping a job or losing it for millions of workers in the US economy.
Yellen’s human-centric economics mindset was a marked shift in thinking for the Federal Reserve and later to the Department of the Treasury. As she put it, the job of central bankers as she sees it, “isn’t just about fighting inflation or monitoring the financial system. It’s about trying to help ordinary households get back on their feet and about creating a labor market where people can feel secure and work and get ahead.”
In her long and distinguished career, Yellen served as one of President Clinton’s top aides, chairing the Council of Economic Advisors. Then, she led the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and became the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve system in 2014. Five days into Joe Biden’s presidency, Yellen was confirmed by the Senate as the first female Secretary of the Treasury. She is the first person in history to hold all three of the US’s top economic positions.
Background on Yellen:
Yellen’s household is a true economics powerhouse. She’s married to Nobel laureate and UC Berkeley professor George Akerlof and their son, Robert, is also an economics professor.
Aside from collaborating on raising their son together, (Yellen notes that if all hours on parenting and housework were added up, Akerlof did “more than 50%”) the economics super couple also co-wrote a famous paper together. Drawing on their experience hiring a babysitter for their son, the paper illuminates why lower wages don’t always lead to higher employment.
“Firms are not always willing to cut wages, even if there are people lined up outside the gates to work. So, why don’t they?” asks Yellen. Their conclusion was that some companies choose to pay higher wages to attract better talent and motivate their employees to do good work.
As Yellen notes, “When you hire a nanny, the question you ask yourself is, ‘what’s best for my precious child?’ And do you really want someone who feels that your motive in life is to minimize the amount you spend on your child?”
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Praz Khanal.
Sources:
Akerlof, G. A., & Yellen, J. L. (1988). Fairness and Unemployment. The American Economic Review, 78(2), 44–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1818095Akerlof, G. A., & Yellen, J. L. (1990). The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 105(2), 255. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937787 Amadeo, K. (2021, March 4). Who Was the Only Female Federal Reserve Chair? The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/janet-yellen-3305503 Appelbaum, B., & Couturier, K. (n.d.). Yellen’s Path to the Pinnacle. Timeline - NYTimes.Com. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/yellen-timeline.html#/#time276_7992 Bell, S. (2018, January 24). The Tragedy of Janet Yellen. POLITICO Magazine. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/24/janet-yellen-fed-chair-donald-trump-216509/ Chozick, A. (2017, December 11). Janet Yellen Didn’t Set Out to Be a Feminist Hero. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/business/janet-yellen-didnt-set-out-to-be-a-feminist-hero.html Counts, L. (2021, January 12). Prof. Janet Yellen, trailblazing former Fed chair, is Biden’s Treasury pick. Haas News | Berkeley Haas. https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/janet-yellen-former-fed-chair-bidens-expected-treasury-pick/ Foroohar, R. (2014, January 20). Janet Yellen: The Sixteen Trillion Dollar Woman. TIME.Com. http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2162267,00.html Gibbs, N. (2014, January 9). The Most Unprecedented Thing About Janet Yellen. Time. https://time.com/275/nancy-gibbs-janet-yellen/ Graveline, D. (2017, September 22). Famous Speech Friday: Janet Yellen on holding women back. Denise Graveline. https://denisegraveline.org/2017/09/famous-speech-friday-janet-yellen-on.html Lane, S. (2020, November 30). Biden names Janet Yellen as his Treasury nominee. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/finance/526996-biden-picks-janet-yellen-for-treasury-secretary?rl=1 Mejia, Z. (2018, December 12). Janet Yellen survived the “horrifying” financial crisis thanks to this one simple habit. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/12/how-did-janet-yellen-survive-the-horrifying-financial-crisis-sleep-.html The Economic Times. (2013, October 12). Janet Yellen moves out of her Nobel-laureate husband George Akerlof’s shadow. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-editorial/janet-yellen-moves-out-of-her-nobel-laureate-husband-george-akerlofs-shadow/articleshow/23993099.cms?from=mdr Wolverson, R. (2021, January 27). Janet Yellen’s past mistakes will haunt her as treasury secretary. Quartz. https://qz.com/1962724/janet-yellens-greatest-mistakes-will-haunt-her-toughest-job-yet/ -
“If you are independent, you will never be afraid to be alone or to leave a job.”
Brenda Landau
Businesswoman
The Art:
Brenda’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her, on a map of Guatemala. Her hometown of Salama, Baja Verapaz, is visible on her neck.
The Story:
The day after New Year’s, 2021, Brenda Landau went out for a long run.
It’s just her. Feet pounding the pavement. The miles ticking by with buzzes on her running watch. It’s the day after New Year’s Day, 2021. Running a half marathon wasn’t some kind of New Year’s resolution. It was just what Brenda Landau did to relax. This was at least the fourth half marathon she’d run alone during the COVID-19 lockdowns since the previous March.
While her feet moved in a steady rhythm, she reflected on where she was in her life so far: happily married with two daughters, enjoying professional success as a finance executive and a head full of fun dreams for the future.
Born into a large family in the mountainous heart of Guatemala, she was the fifth of nine children. Her mother had a second-grade education and did not encourage education among her children. Not liking the future she saw for herself in her small hometown, she changed her story.
“As a middle child, I was always independent and never afraid to try new things,” says Brenda. “From climbing trees as a child and jumping off to taking a job as a teen managing a magazine in my hometown and turning around its struggling sales.”
She moved to the United States, learned English, put herself through college by working 60 hours a week and graduated with top academic honors. The first in her family to earn a college degree, she ultimately earned an MBA as well.
Professionally, she thrived as well, building a successful career in accounting and finance and enjoys mentoring other women. “I always say, ‘do something that makes you independent—in your thinking, in your finances, in every way. If you’re independent, you’ll never be afraid to be alone or to leave a job,’” she says.
In 2020, NJBIZ named her to their “Best 50 Women in Business” list.
When not running a company’s finances or playing with her children, Brenda is passionate about fitness, and ran the New York City Marathon in 2017.
She lives in central New Jersey with the host of this show and their two children.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, and Brenda's brothers playing marimba in Salama.
Sources:
Brenda Landau, interviews by author, New Jersey, February 20 & December 11, 2021.NJ BIZ Staff, N. (2020, September 24). Introducing: The 2020 NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business. NJBIZ. https://njbiz.com/introducing-2020-njbiz-best-women-business-awards/ -
“Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”
Maggie Kuhn
Elder rights activist & founder of the Gray Panthers
The Artwork:
Maggie Kuhn’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her Ink drawing on a map of Philadelphia, PA, where she lived and worked.
The Story:
In 1970, Maggie Kuhn was working a job she loved at the Presbyterian Church when she was forced to retire due to the mandatory retirement age of 65. Despite 20 years of work for the church, her supervisors refused to let her stay on.
“I felt dazed. I was hurt and then, as time passed, outraged. Something clicked in my mind and I saw that my problem was not mine alone. Instead of sinking into despair, I did what came most naturally to me: I telephoned some friends and called a meeting,” she later wrote in her autobiography, No Stone Unturned, The Life and Times of Maggie Kuhn.
Each of the meeting attendees was also being forced into retirement. “We discovered we had new freedom as a result of retiring,” wrote Kuhn. “We had no responsibility to a corporation or organization. We could take risks, speak out. We said, ‘With this new freedom we have, let’s see what we can do to change the world.’”
So, Kuhn and her friends created a movement. Initially given the ungainly name of Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change, the group was dubbed the Gray Panthers by a talk show host who quipped they were as militant as the Black Panthers. The moniker stuck and the Gray Panthers quickly carved out an advocacy niche. One hundred people attended its first public meeting.
The Gray Panthers worked to fight the idea of “disengagement theory,” a popular idea in the 70s that argued old age involved a necessary separation from work, families, communities, and general society as a prelude to death.
Kuhn believed this was nonsense, saying, “The first myth is that old age is a disease, a terrible disease that you never admit you've got, so you lie about your age. Well, it's not a disease—it's a triumph. Because you've survived. Failure, disappointment, sickness, loss—you're still here.”
As a living refutation of the disengagement theory, Kuhn became a national celebrity, appearing on TV frequently and giving talks all over the US in her role as National Convener of the Panthers. She logged 100,000 miles annually, traveling from one event to another. Her grueling schedule was partly fueled through her motto of “do at least one outrageous thing a day.”
In a full circle moment for Kuhn, the Gray Panthers were ultimately successful in getting Congress to ban mandatory retirement for most jobs in 1986. President Ronald Reagan—then the oldest ever President of the United States, signed the law.
Still extant today, the Gray Panthers’ membership has declined as it faces stiff competition from AARP.
Background on Kuhn:
Although she founded the Gray Panthers in response to mandatory retirement in 1970, Kuhn began advocating for elder rights in 1961 as an extension of her lifelong interest in human rights.
Kuhn attributed her activism to her sociology classes in college, saying, “Sociology, for me, related the community to the individual, and showed us a way to act responsibly in groups.”
After attending the 1961 White House Conference on Aging in her professional capacity with the Presbyterian Church, she began visiting Presbyterian retirement homes and was dismayed with how she saw residents treated. As editor of the Presbyterian journal “Social Progress,” she encouraged church members to get involved with elder issues among a wide swath of social problems such as nuclear proliferation, gender equality and more.
After living a life of advocacy, her advice to activists interested in creating social change was to “Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind—even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants.”
Kuhn was born on August 3, 1095 in Buffalo, New York to a conservative middle class family. She died at her home in Philadelphia on April 22, 1995, at the age of 89.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno, Oleksii Kaplunskyi, Musictown, and Sergei Chetnertnykh.
Sources:
Douglas, S. J. (2020, September 9). Opinion | The Forgotten History of the Radical ‘Elders of the Tribe.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/opinion/sunday/gray-panthers-maggie-kuhn.html Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Maggie Kuhn | American activist. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maggie-Kuhn Folkart, B. A. (2019, March 5). Maggie Kuhn, 89; Iconoclastic Founder of Gray Panthers. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-23-mn-58042-story.html Gray Panthers. (n.d.). Maggie Kuhn. Gray Panthers NYC. https://www.graypanthersnyc.org/maggie-kuhn Kuhn, M. (1991). No Stone Unturned: The Life and Times of Maggie Kuhn (1st ed.). Ballantine Books.Levy, C. (1995, April 23). Gray Panthers Co-Founder Maggie Kuhn Dies At 89. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/04/23/gray-panthers-co-founder-maggie-kuhn-dies-at-89/a7c55189-b388-4e95-aafe-0d7d9a9163a1/ Roberts, S. V. (1986, October 18). HOUSE VOTES TO END MANDATORY RETIREMENT RULES. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/18/us/house-votes-to-end-mandatory-retirement-rules.html The National Women’s Hall of Fame. (2015, October 17). Kuhn, Maggie. National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/maggie-kuhn/ Wikipedia contributors. (2021, December 7). Gray Panthers. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Panthers Wikipedia contributors. (2022, February 1). Maggie Kuhn. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Kuhn Your Dictionary. (n.d.). Maggie Kuhn. YourDictionary.Com. https://biography.yourdictionary.com/maggie-kuhn -
“I classify my research as where equity meets science. The people who are really going to need [smart sutures] will not be able to afford them. So, I decided to make something cost-effective.”
Dasia Taylor
Inventor
The artwork
Dasia Taylor’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait Project consists of an ink drawing on a map of Iowa. Her hometown of Iowa City is located on the right side, where her neck meets her shoulder.
The story:
When 17-year-old Dasia Taylor heard about smart sutures—which use electrical currents and smart phone connections to monitor wound infections—she was intrigued, but she also saw a problem: the people who would need these the most would have the lowest access to them.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 2-4% of sutured wounds become infected in the US. That number rises to 10-20% in some developing countries, where digital access also drops.
Taylor saw an opportunity to bring equity to this situation and set to work developing a low-tech solution to improving health outcomes. And she wasn’t going to let something like not having participated in a science fair since first grade hold her back. She began researching the problem of wound infection with her chemistry teacher at Iowa City West High School in the fall of 2019.
While healthy human skin has an acidic pH of about 5, infected skin reaches pH 9. After juicing dozens of beets, Taylor discovered beet juice changes color from red to purple at the same pH level as infected skin.
After experimenting with different threads, Taylor found a cotton/polyester blend worked the best. When treated with the beet dye, the thread would change color in five minutes when in the presence of an infection.
The goal of this color-changing thread is for patients to self-monitor themselves and know when to seek medical attention.
She began entering her work into science fairs and quickly began racking up prizes, even becoming a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. The annual talent search is one of the most prestigious science contests for high school students.
Taylor says she’s patenting her invention and looking to set up lab space to continue her research before starting college, where she plans to study political science and become a lawyer.
“I have to continue my research. These stitches literally will revolutionize wound treatment in developing countries,” she says. “I'm definitely not stopping until my stitches get to those who need them.”
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Anton Vlasov.
Sources:
Firozi, P. (2021, April 1). A high-schooler wanted infection-detecting sutures to be more accessible. She used beets. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/01/high-schooler-wanted-infection-detecting-sutures-be-more-accessible-she-used-beets/ Inside Edition. (2021, April 1). An Iowa High School Student Invented a Cost-Effective Way to Detect Infections in Surgical Patients. https://www.insideedition.com/an-iowa-high-school-student-invented-a-cost-effective-way-to-detect-infections-in-surgical-patients Kantor, W. G. (2021, May 14). Iowa Teen Inspired by Grey’s Anatomy Invents Stitches That Change Color When Wound Is Infected. PEOPLE.Com. https://people.com/human-interest/iowa-teen-inspired-by-greys-anatomy-invents-stitches-that-change-color-when-infected/ Krupa, A. C. H. A. M. (2021, April 17). A student harnessed the power of beets to make healing from surgery safer -- and more equitable. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/17/us/student-beets-color-changing-sutures-wellness-trnd/index.html Local 4 News WHBF. (2021, February 18). In Our Community | Dasia Taylor. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ercvAKNrSVk Machemer, T. (2021, March 25). This High Schooler Invented Color-Changing Sutures to Detect Infection. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/high-schooler-invented-color-changing-sutures-detect-infection-180977345/ Muzdakis, M. (2021, April 6). High School Senior Creates Color Changing Surgical Sutures That Alert Infection. My Modern Met. https://mymodernmet.com/dasia-taylor-beet-surgical-sutures/ Schilke, R. (2021, February 1). West High senior Dasia Taylor recognized as Regeneron Science Talent Search Finalist. The Daily Iowan. https://dailyiowan.com/2021/01/31/west-high-senior-dasia-taylor-recognized-as-regeneron-science-talent-search-finalist/ Spencer, C. (2021, March 30). Black Teen, Dasia Taylor, is the inventor of a method to detect surgical infections. Black Enterprise. https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-teen-dasia-taylor-is-the-inventor-of-a-method-to-detect-surgical-infections/ The Ellen Degeneres Show. (2021, April 26). Astounding Teen Inventor Is Changing the Medical Field. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZILJSMFd3s -
“My office hours are any and all hours of the day and night.”
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte
First Native American to earn a medical degree
The Artwork:
Picotte’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an Ink drawing of her n an 1886 map of Nebraska; the Omaha Reservation is marked on top right side of her head. The portrait is based on one of the few photographs that exist of Picotte.
The Story:
The winter of 1891 was bitterly cold on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska, with temps diving to 20 degrees below zero. The cold wasn’t going to stop Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte from making a house call for a young girl taken gravely ill from the influenza outbreak wreaking havoc in the area.
For the next two weeks, Picotte would visit her patient constantly, spend nights at the girl’s bedside and even cook meals for the family. When the girl eventually died, Picotte was by her side. Such was her dedication to her patients. The sole doctor on the 1,350 square mile reservation, Picotte was responsible for all 1,300 residents.
As a young girl herself, Picotte watched an elderly Omaha woman die because a white doctor refused to come and help. Four times he was summoned; four times he said he’d be there soon. He never came and the woman died just after sunrise. Picotte said later, “It was only an Indian and it did not matter. The doctor preferred hunting for prairie chickens rather than visiting poor, suffering humanity.”
The incident haunted Picotte for the rest of her life and spurred her to do what she could to make sure that never happened again.
It was uncommon for women in the US at that time to go to medical school. Undeterred, Picotte enrolled at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania—one of the few schools that accepted women. After a three-year course of study, Picotte graduated as valedictorian in 1889, becoming the first female Native American to earn a medical degree in the US.
After graduation, she returned home to the Omaha Reservation and took the position of physician at the government boarding school there run by the Office of Indian Affairs. While technically responsible only for the students’ health, as the only doctor around, her people relied heavily on her for medical care, as well counsel around legal, finance, and political issues. She often worked 20-hour days, seeing patients at her clinic and making house calls. As she described it, “my office hours are any and all hours of the day and night.”
She toiled for years this way, on a $500 government salary and a $250 medical missionary stipend (equal to nearly $22,000 in 2020).
Background on La Fleshe Picotte
Picotte’s father, Joseph La Flesche, also known as Iron Eyes, was the last recognized chief of the Omaha. He sought to help his people by advocating a level of assimilation. He encouraged his children to pursue education. Born on June 17, 1865 during the buffalo hunt in a remote area of the Omaha reservation, Picotte served as a bridge between her traditional society and the encroaching White American culture.
In 1894, she married Henry Picotte and they had two sons. Going against Victorian-era expectations for married women, she continued practicing medicine.
Always dedicated to the health of the Omahas, she dreamed of building a hospital on the reservation. By 1913, raised the funds to open Walthill Hospital in 1913. As a single, widowed woman, building and staffing a modern hospital without any government assistance was an unheard-of achievement. After her death in 1915, the facility was renamed in her honor.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and the Library of Congress’ Omaha Music Collection.
Sources:
Changing the Face of Medicine. (n.d.). Changing the Face of Medicine | Susan La Flesche Picotte. NIH. https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_253.html Friedman, M. (n.d.). Inflation Calculator. Westegg. https://westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi?money=750&first=1890&final=2020 Kettler, S. (2020, October 30). 5 Powerful and Influential Native American Women. Biography. https://www.biography.com/.amp/news/famous-native-american-women-native-american-heritage-month Nebraska Studies. (n.d.). Susan La Flesche Picotte First N.A. Female Physician. http://www.nebraskastudies.org/en/1875-1899/susan-la-flesche-picotte-first-na-female-physician/ Nusbaum, J. (2019, June 5). AMPLIFY: Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte. HerStry. https://herstryblg.com/amplify/2018/8/23/amplify-dr-susan-la-flesche-picotte Quote Catalog. (n.d.). Best Susan La Flesche Picotte Quotes | Quote Catalog. https://quotecatalog.com/communicator/susan-la-flesche-picotte Tague, T. (2020, October 5). Against the Current: The Legacy of Susan LaFleshe Picotte. Nations Media. https://nationsmedia.org/susan-lafleshe-picotte/ Vaughan, C. (2017, March 1). The Incredible Legacy of Susan La Flesche, the First Native American to Earn a Medical Degree. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/incredible-legacy-susan-la-flesche-first-native-american-earn-medical-degree-180962332/ Wikipedia contributors. (2022, March 29). Susan La Flesche Picotte. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_La_Flesche_Picotte Wilcox-Lee, N. (2016, November 6). Susan La Flesche Picotte. Sheroes of History. https://sheroesofhistory.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/susan-la-flesche-picotte/ -
“When you have a diverse team, you get different perspectives that help you succeed. It’s about having a team that has lots of ideas and grabbing the best one—that’s what diversity brings you.”
Admiral Michelle Howard
Highest ranking female officer in US Navy history
The artwork:
Howard’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Washington, D.C. The Pentagon, where she served for part of her career, is on her lapel. On her chest is a bright medley of colors, representing the many awards she earned for her distinguished service.
The story:
In April 2009, Rear Admiral Michelle Howard was aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer commanding an anti-piracy task force when the call came in:
Somali pirates had hijacked the American cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama 300 miles off the coast of Somalia and taken its captain—Richard Philips—hostage. The pirates removed Phillips from the ship and were speeding him to the shore in a life raft.
“It was obvious that if they got to shore with Captain Phillips, we were probably not going to get him back,” says Howard. So she and her team devised a tactical plan to rescue him.
It was a unique situation for Howard. Pirates hadn’t seized an American-flagged vessel since 1821 and Howard herself was just three days into her job leading Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151)—a multinational task force countering piracy around Somalia’s “Pirate Alley.” Immediately prior to her assignment to the Gulf of Aden to command CTF-151, she was serving in Washington, D.C. as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the Navy.
“We were all trying to figure out how best to handle the mission,” she says. “We had an American citizen trapped on a life raft with pirates. In that circumstance you cannot even sleep. How could I possibly sleep when that poor man is out there, not knowing if he is going to live or die?”
Howard needed to get the pirates to stop moving without getting Phillips killed. Long an advocate for the power of diverse groups to generate innovative ideas, she gathered a team onboard her flagship to strategize Phillips’ rescue. “We needed to have folks outside the immediate problem give us different perspectives,” she said. The team she assembled included the ship’s meteorologist, a Somali interpreter who advised on culture, a former FBI agent, some marines, and enlisted sailors. She insisted on the sailors being present, “because they’re the people who make things happen on deck.”
The result was a creative solution that employed the destroyer USS Bainbridge to make waves, pushing the raft away from the coast and giving Navy SEAL snipers an opportunity to kill the pirates.
The successful rescue later inspired the 2013 movie “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks.
In 2014, Howard became the first woman promoted to the rank of four-star admiral in the US Navy. Concurrently, she was named vice-chief of naval operations (VCNO), the second-highest ranking officer in the navy.
Background on Howard:
Howard was born into a military family on April 30, 1960 at March Air Reserve Base in California. The drive that propelled Howard to the highest echelons of the navy came in part from her mother. When Howard was 12 years old, she knew she wanted to attend a service academy, but they didn’t accept women. Her mother encouraged her not to give up on her dream, saying, “if you still want to go when you’re old enough to apply and if they’re still closed to women, we’ll sue the government.”
In the end, the Naval Academy opened to women in 1976, two years before Howard completed high school. Howard graduated from USNA in 1982 with her bachelor’s degree.
Becoming the first woman to earn the rank of “full admiral” was just one of many firsts Howard achieved throughout her career in the navy.
She assumed command of USS Rushmore in 1999, becoming the first black woman to command a ship in the navy. She was the first female graduate of the US Naval Academy to reach flag rank, becoming a rear admiral (lower half) in 2007, and then the first woman to reach rear admiral (2010) and vice admiral (2012). Following her service as VCNO, she went on to command the US Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa, becoming the first female four-star admiral to command operational forces.
Howard retired in 2017, after nearly 36 years of service in the US Navy.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Zakhar Valaha.
Sources:
Billups, A. (2014, July 3). Admiral Michelle Howard Becomes Highest-Ranking Female Officer in U.S. Navy History. PEOPLE.com. https://people.com/celebrity/admiral-michelle-howard-becomes-highest-ranking-female-officer-in-u-s-navy-history/ Chappell, B. (2014, July 2). Navy Promotes Its First Female 4-Star Admiral. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/02/327655651/navy-promotes-its-first-female-four-star-admiral Fenn, D. (2015, May 25). 5 tough leadership lessons from the Navy’s top female commander. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2015/05/25/5-tough-leadership-lessons-from-the-navys-top-female-commander/amp/ Graves, L. & National Journal. (2015, May 15). For Michelle Howard, Saving Captain Phillips Is Her Least Impressive Accomplishment. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/for-michelle-howard-saving-captain-phillips-is-her-least-impressive-accomplishment/439578/ Morning Edition. (2014, October 10). A Phone Call Helped Navy’s First Four-Star Woman Embrace Her Path. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2014/10/10/353565847/a-phone-call-helped-navys-first-four-star-woman-embrace-her-path Rafferty, J. P. (2022, March 16). Michelle Howard | Biography & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Howard Sony Pictures Entertainment. (2013, May 14). CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Official International Trailer. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEyM01dAxp8 The Flagship. (2013, May 13). 20 Years | 20 Questions: Vice Adm. Michelle J. Howard. MilitaryNews.com. https://www.militarynews.com/norfolk-navy-flagship/special_sections/20th_anniversary/20-years-20-questions-vice-adm-michelle-j-howard/article_f26ef056-f948-5ef0-9d86-f3ccbe496e85.html Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.-a). Captain Phillips (film). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Phillips_(film) Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.-b). Michelle Howard. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Howard -
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom
Member of the Dutch resistance, evangelist, and author
Artwork:
Ten Boom’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her on a map of the Dutch city of Haarlem. There is a red dot near her nose to mark the location of The Hiding Place, that is the home where she and her family hid Jews from the Nazis.
The story:
At the outset of WWII, Corrie ten Boom was a watchmaker, living with her sister Betsie and her father Casper above their watch store in Haarlem, Netherlands. Known in the city for helping anyone in need, a Jewish stranger knocked on their door seeking shelter. Casper welcomed the woman into their home, saying “In this household, God’s people are always welcome.”
The ten Booms soon joined the Dutch underground and for the next two years around 800 Jews passed through their home on their way out of Nazi-occupied territory. The Gestapo raided the house in 1944 and Corrie and Betsy were sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Despite horrific and nightmarish conditions, Corrie and Betsy spent their time sharing the gospel with their fellow prisoners until Betsy died in December 1944 and Corrie was released a few days later.
After the war, a former Ravensbruck guard asked for her forgiveness. She described the moment in her book The Hiding Place, writing:
“It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. And I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
“‘Jesus, help me!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’ And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’”
Background on ten Boom:
Ten Boom was born on April 15, 1892.
Before her death in the squalor of Ravensbruck, Betsy told Corrie about three visions she received from God about what they were to do after they got out of there. Her first vision was of a house for former prisoners, the second was to use a former concentration camp in Germany for the broken people in the country. The third was that they would be released before the new year of 1945. All three came true.
Betsy died on December 16, 1944 and Corrie was released a few days later due to a clerical error (although she had to spend a few weeks in the camp’s hospital before she was allowed to leave). One week after Corrie was released, all the women her age in the camp were gassed.
Immediately upon release Corrie opened a home in Bloemendaal for victims of the Nazis. Once this was established, she turned her attention to spreading the gospel and teaching the importance of forgiveness. This included a tour through Germany, where she opened a camp for German refugees in a former concentration camp in Darmstadt. The camp operated from 1946 through 1960.
Corrie traveled the world to speak about her faith, visiting over 60 countries in 30 years. She also wrote dozens of books.
She was honored by the State of Israel as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1967. Casper and Betsy were likewise honored in 2007.
She died on her birthday in 1983 at the age of 91 in Placentia, California, US
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Oleksii Kaplunskyi.
Sources:
Christie, V. (2016, November 22). Giving Thanks in All Circumstances – Corrie ten Boom. VanceChristie.Com. http://vancechristie.com/2016/11/22/giving-thanks-circumstances-corrie-ten-boom/Holocaust Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Corrie ten Boom. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/corrie-ten-boomLife:Beautiful Magazine. (2020, February 6). Corrie Ten Boom: The Power of Forgiveness. https://lifebeautifulmagazine.com/profiles/corrie-ten-boom-the-power-of-forgivenessMcDaniel, D. (2015, May 21). 40 Powerful Quotes from Corrie Ten Boom. Crosswalk.Com. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/inspiring-quotes/40-powerful-quotes-from-corrie-ten-boom.htmlPBS. (n.d.). The Question of God . Other Voices . Corrie ten Boom | PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voices/boom.htmlten Boom, C., Sherrill, J., & Sherrill, E. (1971). The Hiding Place. Bantam.ten Boom Museum. (2018, April 18). About the Ten Booms. https://tenboom.org/about-the-ten-booms/Wikipedia contributors. (2021, November 20). Corrie ten Boom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrie_ten_BoomYad Vashem. (n.d.). The Righteous Among the Nations Database: Boom ten Cornelia. https://righteous.yadvashem.org/?searchType=righteous_only&language=en&itemId=4014036&ind=NaN -
“If you’re so proud of America’s history, look at the downsides too. Own it just like you own how we won the Revolutionary War.”
Iris Haq-Lukolyo
Fifth grade student
The artwork:
Iris Haq-Lukolyo’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her holding a copy of the magazine with her article in it, while wearing a T-shirt that with Kamala Harris’ “I’m Speaking” quote on it. I’ve drawn her on a contemporary map of her hometown of Pearland, TX. While Haq-Lukolyo herself fits within the edges of the town on the map, the magazine she is holding straddles the boundaries of the map and extends far into the margins of the paper, just as her voice did through the article.
The Story:
A warm day in September 2020, ten-year-old Iris Haq-Lukolyo logged into her virtual classroom from the small desk in a bedroom of her Pearland, TX home. Her teacher said they would be learning about the Founding Fathers that day and how they built America.
Something seemed missing from the lesson though, so the only Black student in the class spoke up:
"I went off of mute, and I said, 'But didn't slaves build America?' And my teacher was like, 'oh, no, we don't talk about that in this classroom.'"
The teacher didn’t address the topic of slavery that day, or include it in any of lessons for the rest of the year, despite the fact that many of the Founding Fathers collectively enslaved thousands of Black people. Slavery also wasn’t something limited only to the cotton plantations in the South—at the time of the American Revolution, New York City was second only behind Charleston, SC in slave population. Even the White House and Capitol were built with slave labor.
Devastated by the teacher’s harsh reaction, Haq-Lukolyo turned off her camera and cried. Her tears soon turned to action though. “As soon as I got on lunch break, I just took the whole break and started writing,” she says. An avid writer, Haq-Lukolyo quickly filled two notebook pages with her thoughts on the incident:
"In Social Studies class, we were learning about who built ‘the greatest country in the world, America.’ The teacher started listing names like George Washington and other overrated white historic figures. And I was like, ummm, did you forget something about who actually built America? If you are so proud of America’s history, look at the downsides too. Own it just like you own how we won the Revolutionary War."
After detailing the incident and how black history is treated in schools, Haq-Lukolyo closed the essay with a plea:
"I’m a fifth grader in Texas and I’m asking teachers two things: First, don’t shut down or mute conversations about slavery. It took courage for me to come off mute and make that contribution only to be shut down by the teacher. That hurts. Second, please teach American history in a way that shows the complex and, yes, racist history of our country. Students deserve to learn the ugly sides of our history so we won’t repeat the same mistakes, and also learn about amazing black historical figures beyond Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harriet Tubman. These changes will make me feel seen and comfortable as a Black child in a classroom in America."
Her mother showed the essay to some friends and one recommended submitting to Skipping Stones, a national youth literary magazine. Skipping Stones published the article in December 2020 to widespread acclaim.
“One person—which was my teacher—wasn’t hearing or listening to me, but thousands of other people were,” says Haq-Lukolyo.
Her mother, Dr. Heather Haq, elaborated saying, “We heard from people all over the country, saying what a strong and powerful voice she had, how much clarity she had in her writing and how brave she was to not only stand up in the first place in her class, but then to also use her voice again to write this article. And we had people share that, ‘Oh, something like this happened to me when I was a student. But I never spoke up about it and I'm so glad you did.’”
After the incident, Haq-Lukolyo and her mother requested a meeting with the teacher to share how the classroom incident had affected her. The teacher made an attempt at an apology that fell flat. “She invited me to a Zoom meeting to apologize,” says Haq-Lukolyo. “ And her apology was that her dad was raised by black women, and that she likes black people, but there was no sincere apology. And I felt personally offended for a second time by her because if that was an apology to her, it's just kind of sad, because it had nothing to do with me and [she was saying that] just because I was black.”
Originally born in Wisconsin, Haq-Lukolyo has lived all around the world, including Texas, Uganda, and then back to Texas to her present home in Pearland, a Houston suburb. For now, Haq-Lukolyo is focusing on developing her writing abilities and spending time on other interests like drawing and music. She is also part of a competitive dance team.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno.
Sources:
Ambrose, S. E. (2002, November). Founding Fathers and Slaveholders. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/founding-fathers-and-slaveholders-72262393/ Anthony, C. (2017, November 26). How slave labor built and financed major U.S. cities. Salon. https://www.salon.com/2017/11/26/how-slave-labor-built-and-financed-major-u-s-cities/ Constitutional Rights Foundation. (2017). How Should We Judge Our Nation’s Founders? CRF-USA. https://crf-usa.org/images/t2t/pdf/HowShouldWeJudgeOurNation.pdf Haq, H. [@heather_haq]. (2021, January 4). Speaking up takes courage. Imagine being 10 yrs old & bravely making a contribution to your 5th grade history class [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/heather_haq/status/1346207913040371714 Haq-Lukolyo, I. (2020, December). Muted: Fifth Grade Conversations About Slavery. Skipping Stones. https://www.skippingstones.org/wp/2020/12/21/muted-fifth-grade-conversations-about-slaveryIris Haq-Lukolyo and Dr. Heather Haq, interview by author via Zoom, December 9, 2021. Lane, A. (2009, January 19). The legend of slaves building Capitol is correct. Politifact. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2009/jan/19/nancy-pelosi/legend-slaves-building-capitol-correct/ McShane, J. (2021, February 23). She’s the only Black kid in her fifth-grade class. She spoke up when slavery wasn’t included in a lesson plan. The Lily. https://www.thelily.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2fshes-the-only-black-kid-in-her-fifth-grade-class-she-spoke-up-when-slavery-wasnt-included-in-a-lesson-plan%2f%3fWhite House Historical Association. (n.d.). Did enslaved people build the White House? WHHA. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/questions/did-slaves-build-the-white-house -
“I longed to arrest all beauty that came before me.”
Julia Margaret Cameron
Photographer
The artwork:
Ink drawing on a map of the Island of Wight, UK, based on a self portrait by Julia Cameron. Her home in Freshwater is located on the left side, above her head.
The story:
Julia Cameron began career as a photographer relatively late at the age of 48, when she was given her first camera. A present from her daughter, the camera was meant to be a source of entertainment for Cameron at her UK home on the Isle of Wight while her husband tended to his coffee plantations in Sri Lanka. “It may amuse you, Mother, to try to photograph during your solitude,” said her daughter.
Cameron took to photography with gusto, learning her craft and focusing on making portraits in her studio converted from a chicken coop.
“Many and many a week in the year 1864, I worked fruitlessly, but not hopelessly… I began with no knowledge of the art. I did not know where to place my dark box, how to focus my sitter, and my first picture I effaced to my consternation by rubbing my hand over the filmy side of the glass,” she said of her photographic beginnings.
However, she did not stay “fruitless” for long and she quickly came to see her camera as, “A living thing, with voice, memory, and a creative vigor.”
Within a year, she was a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland. She developed a unique style, characterized by close-cropped intimate portraits that were often deliberately slightly out of focus or blurred by her subjects moving during long exposures.
Highly unconventional for her day, her style was heavily criticized by the photography establishment during her lifetime for her supposedly poor technique. She is now recognized as one of Britain’s greatest portrait photographers of the 19th century and credited with creating the first close-up portraits in the history of the medium. Cameron dismissed the carping by her peers of her soft focus work, saying, “What is focus and who has the right to say what focus is the legitimate focus?”
Cameron’s photography career was short but productive. She made around 900 photographs over a 12-year period, registering each of them with the copyright office. Her subjects included luminaries from the London cultural scene, including Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Charles Darwin.
While her photos of eminent Victorian men featured strong contrasts in light and shadow (chiaroscuro) resulting in powerful images, her portraits of women are noted for their particularly sensitive and often delicate renderings of female beauty.
Describing her photography career, Cameron said, “I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied. Its difficulty enhanced the value of the pursuit.”
Background on Cameron:
The daughter of an East India Company official, Cameron was born in India on June 11, 1815. She was educated with relatives in France and then she returned to India after completing her schooling. She met her husband, Charles Hay Cameron, while both of them were convalescing, likely from malaria. They married in Kolkata, two years after meeting.
Her photography was actively supported by her husband and she eagerly showed him every photograph she made:
“My husband from first to last has watched every picture with delight, and it is my daily habit to run to him with every glass upon which a fresh glory is newly stamped, and to listen to his enthusiastic applause. This habit of running into the dining-room with my wet pictures has stained such an immense quantity of table linen with nitrate of silver, indelible stains, that I should have been banished from any less indulgent household,” she said.
By all accounts, the Camerons were a happy couple, devoted to each other. They raised 11 children together, six of their own and five orphans they adopted. They moved to London in the 1840s and were an active part of the social and cultural scene. After visiting Tennyson’s home on the Isle of Wight, Cameron was taken with the location and they bought their own home on the island, calling it Dimbola Lodge.
She died on January 26, 1879 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka, where her husband held coffee plantations.
Music:
This episode contains music by Geovane Bruno and Michael Kobrin.
Sources:
Cameron, J. M. (2016, February 15). 11 Quotes By Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. John Paul Caponigro. https://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/16476/11-quotes-by-photographer-julia-margaret-cameron/ Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Julia Margaret Cameron | British photographer. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julia-Margaret-Cameron Photogpedia. (2021, March 21). 25 Timeless Julia Margaret Cameron Quotes to Bookmark. https://photogpedia.com/julia-margaret-cameron-quotes/Wikipedia contributors. (2021, November 7). Julia Margaret Cameron. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Margaret_Cameron - もっと表示する
