March 8, 2021, was International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women all over the world. But the whole month of March is recognized as Women’s History Month so, as the month comes to an end, it is of great importance to highlight what women are celebrating this month.
Women all over the world have been a powerful force behind change, influence and inspiration. Black women have played a leading role; many provided a voice for girls and a powerful role model for them to emulate — names such as Oprah Winfrey, Wanda Sykes and Stacey Abrams.
One thing all of these women have in common — they have shared their journey and celebrated their educational careers within HBCUs.
All month long HBCUs all over the world have dedicated this month to educating, celebrating and uplifting women of color for all they do. St. Augustine’s University has created ways to celebrate Black women within their journey. St. Augustine’s has created a very educational platform –Falcon Facts — to highlight women who are on campus and all that they do.
Falcon Facts has been the main funnel of information being sent out to students and it adds a great interactive feature for students to learn about alumna’s, athletic students, and women who has made a difference on campus.
Brittaney Baker, a specialist in the Office of Human Resources at St. Augustine’s University, shared that a lot of celebrities have graduated from HBCUs. For instance, Gladys Knight attended Shaw University, Baker said.
“I am inspired by knowing that many celebrities chose a similar journey in attending an HBCU like I did,” she said.
This is a very common story of many black women who can relate to figured who had similar beginnings.
HBCUs around the world do great work by implementing different plans to help women of color that attend, Baker said.
“A wonderful way that HBCUs cater to the life of women of color who have children o they can attend class is by setting up an affordable daycare system for their children so they can attend class,” she said.
This month is slowly coming to an end, but we still celebrate and uplift our sisters as we move through the year. HBCUs have been at the forefront of change and will continue to amplify the voices of women.