By Dr Zibah Nwako, PhD and Dr Afua Twum-Danso Imoh, PhD, University of Bristol — The Conversation, 8 March 2022
Around the world the activism of Black women has been instrumental in shaping social justice agendas and promoting human rights. The four Black women introduced here are inspirational — for the changes they brought about, for their work ethic, and for their passion to improve the everyday lives of marginalised or oppressed groups.
Efua Dorkenoo (1949–2014), a Ghanaian-British women’s rights activist, was a pioneering leader in the global movement to end female genital cutting. In 1983, she co-founded the Foundation for Women’s Health, Research and Development, and she also became the World Health Organization’s first technical expert on female genital cutting.
Marielle Franco (1979–2018), a Brazilian human rights activist, drew on her experiences growing up in a Rio de Janeiro favela to campaign for the rights of favela residents, many of whom are Black, focusing on addressing police violence and military intervention. She was one of the most-voted-for members of Rio city council’s 2016 local elections before being assassinated less than two years later.
Professor Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), a Kenyan environmentalist and human rights activist, was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, focusing on poverty reduction and environmental conservation through tree planting, which has now planted more than 51 million trees in Kenya alone.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian economist and politician, is the first woman and first African to be appointed as director-general of the World Trade Organization. As two-time finance minister of Nigeria, she worked to reduce corruption and has supported young people through programmes such as Growing Girls and Women in Nigeria. This article has been republished under Creative Commons licence.