We've Got Resources for Women's History Month

Though we want women’s contributions recognized every day of the year, by celebrating Women’s History Month, we choose to challenge the status quo by incorporating the strides made by women- historically and contemporarily. Historically women have been silenced simply because their voice was not valued in society. As we are all well aware, that was a backward way of thinking. But remnants of this thought process are still alive and well today and manifest in the systems that keep women and other historically disparaged groups at a disadvantage. 

As we celebrate women, our celebration must be intersectional. Intersectionality is a term created by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw over 30 years ago to describe how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with one another and overlap to reveal how people experience inequities and oppression present in our society.  Women’s history has always been about intersections of gender, class, and race. 

I wanted to take a quick moment to highlight a figure in women’s history whose story is both compelling and inspiring–and is still breaking barriers today. New Mexico’s Representative Deb Haaland is one of the first two Native American women to be elected to the U.S. Congress. As she is also President Biden’s pick for Secretary of the Interior, once confirmed she will be the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. What resonated with me was the fact that Congresswoman Haaland made all these strides, from her obtaining her education to becoming a politician, all while raising her daughter. Some of the finer details of her story are detailed on the “About” page of her state representative website linked here, and I encourage you to check it out: https://haaland.house.gov/about 
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I challenge every family to take the time to read about women game-changers like Representative Haaland. Below is a shortlist of books I find consequential to Women’s History Month

Booklists!

Elementary & Middle School

• A is for Awesome! 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World, by Eva Chen
• Storytime: A is for Awesome!, presented by Ms. Morgan of the Tennessee State Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8xRI3uICpM 
• Cece Loves Science, written by Shelli R. Johannes & Kimberly Derting, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
• BCL Explorers: Cece Loves Science: Push and Pull, presented by Ms. Kim  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O4Du6Tf2fI 
• Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison 
  • Dream Big, Little Leader, by Vashti Harrison (this is the board book version of “Little Dreamers” for tiny readers)
• The Most Magnificent Thing, written and illustrated by Ashley Spires 
• Rosie Revere, Engineer, written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
  • Storytime with Women in the Arts: Rosie Revere, Engineer, presented by Emma Filar,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn0es4NZ8AI 
• She Persisted in Sports: American Olympians Who Changed the Game, written by Chelsea Clinton 
• Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women, written by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo 
• Becoming Billie Holiday, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper 
  • ****The United States vs Billie Holiday (2021), HULU, ****R (This movie is NOT for children; however, I believe parents should check this one out considering the significance of Andra Day’s Golden Globe win and Billie Holiday as a pioneering historical woman artist.)

Bonus Challenge:

​Encourage your children to research an unsung heroine or hidden figure in women’s history. Help them create a picture, book, or piece of spoken word about them. Upload a picture or video of their work to Twitter, TikTok, or Facebook with the hashtag #ChoosetoChallenge.

​Make sure to tag @MomofAllCapes  and #LetsK12Better when you do!

Middle & High School 

• Internment, by Samira Ahmed
  • Why Not YA? Episode 5: Samirah Ahmed, Internment, presented by Epic Reads, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcl_HrNY_ms 
• My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor 
  • My Beloved World, C-SPAN, https://www.c-span.org/video/?310616-1/my-beloved-world 
• On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas 
  • Angie Thomas RAPS (and talks about On the Come Up), Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-z-Kzl6QuU 
• Parachutes, by Kelly Yang (trigger warning: sexual assault) 
  • Everything You Need to Know about PARACHUTES with Kelly Yang, presented by Epic Reads, YouTube, https://www.kellyyang.com/?p=572 
• Bought and Sold, by Megan Stephens (trigger warning: abuse, sexual abuse, human trafficking) 
  • Bought and Sold: Trafficking in America, Kaylen Runyan, TEDxACU, YouTube,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMLlCvDf1J0

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Many stories written by pioneering women authors are available online (both as PDF’s and as audiobooks) for free. These classics* are in audiobook format: 

• Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Woslstoncraft Shelley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZfXP2YZqEk 
  
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by Herself, by Harriet Jacobs (under the pseudonym Linda Brent) 
  
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (FULL AUDIOBOOK), YouTube,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHUA8uvR8bs
  
• Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 
  
• Pride and Prejudice, presented by Bob Jones University, YouTube,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wysw3RYUac 
  
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - FULL Audiobook, presented by Greatest Audiobooks, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVHu5-n69qQ 

*Although these are truly outstanding works, please be mindful that some of the content and ideas may be outdated. Also note that the voices of many marginalized communities of women were, at that time, left unheard. 

More books by and about women and their contributions to society:

• Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
  
• Unsung Hero
  
• Deb Haaland

This post was written by Alexandria Coleman, an English major at Florida A&M University.