Hello Meltingpot Readers,
Here it is the day after International Women’s Day 2020, and I keep reading more and more think pieces about why America isn’t ready for a female president and why Elizabeth Warren’s vagina prevents her from being taken seriously as a presidential candidate. It is maddening. It is pathetic. It is ridiculous. Women leaders can’t succeed because the patriarchy is so real in these here United States.
I don’t think it’s necessary to point out how many countries are successfully run by women leaders in order to prove that women can handle the job. Of course women can handle the job. And even if they couldn’t handle the job – like the current orange menace currently residing in the White House – they should still be given the opportunity to try.
While I am still fuming about the failed campaigns of Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris in particular, I am still holding out hope that we might have the chance of having a female vice president. Warren, Harris, and Stacey Abrams are all viable options in my book.
The Vice President of Costa Rica is A Black Woman
Now, some people might say that the United States isn’t even ready for a female vice president, much less a female with melanin poppin,’ but I still want to believe. Can I have the audacity to hope, please? After all, International Women’s Day was just yesterday and the examples I saw all over the Internet of women claiming their power were inspiring to say the least. What’s more, right here in our own multicultural nation, we’ve seen a real increase of women – white women and women of color – running for and winning elected positions at all levels of government. Not to mention, we’re seeing women being chosen to lead private industries and public institutions that have historically been only led by men. The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania just announced that their new dean is going to be Erika James, the first woman and the first African American in that position. Another Philadelphia story of female achievement; The city just appointed their first female police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, who also happens to be Black.
And speaking of Black women leaders. Did you know that the vice president of Costa Rica is a Black woman? Epsy Campbell Barr assumed the role of Vice President of Costa Rica in May 2018. She was the first Black woman vice president of Costa Rica and the second in all of the Americas. Wouldn’t it be great if the United States elected the third?
Embrace the Power of She
Black or white, Brown or Asian, I think the United States needs to join the rest of the world and elect more women leaders. The voting public needs to let go of their irrational fears of powerful women and embrace the power of she.
Peace!
