Leymah Gbowee - Wonderful Woman No. 59

Leymah Gbowee - Born 1972
Liberian Peaceful Political Activist and Author

The stories of some of the women featured in this album move me to tears. I am amazed at what women have endured and overcome, I dare anyone to read this blog and tell me women are the weaker of the sexes.

Leymah Gbowee was among a group of women who, during Liberia's second civil war, which lasted from 1989 to 2003, made a quiet but intensely dangerous protest for peace. Every day, the women would dress in white and sit on a sports field in Liberia's capital, Monrovia praying and fasting for peace. In doing this, they risked being shot by the dictator Charles Taylor's army. They did this because they were exhausted by the years of war, by being systematically raped, by watching their men be murdered and seeing their children taken away to be used as soldiers.

Come rain or shine, there they would sit, this there only way of speaking out, of saying they could endure no more.

Leymah is not just here because she is a wonderful woman but also as a representation of the many who sat in the field, who called for peace with such dignity even in the face of such adversity.

We are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of begging for bulgur wheat. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand, to secure the future of our children.
Leymah Gbowee

In 2003, Leymah lead thousands of women, from various ethnic and religious groups to Monrovia's City Hall, demanding an end to the war and to meet Charles Taylor. Under Leymah's leadership, the women demanded the three warring factions call a ceasefire and begin peaceful negotiations. Their demands were met, negotiations took place and the Accra Peace Accord was signed. An almighty victory for peace.

Leymah continues to work with women in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to promote peace, education and female political involvement.

In 2011, Leymah was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her work has been acknowledged with a number of other awards. She has also published the book Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War.

An incredibly wonderful woman.

We the women of Liberia will no more allow ourselves to be raped, abused, misused, maimed and killed. Our children and grandchildren will not be used as killing machines and sex slaves!
Leymah Gbowee

Dorothy Parker - Wonderful Woman No. 58

Dorothy Parker - 1893–1967
American Poet, Magazine Contributor, Reviewer, Screenwriter and Political Activist

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

A Dream Lies Dead

A dream lies dead here. May you softly go
Before this place, and turn away your eyes,
Nor seek to know the look of that which dies
Importuning Life for life. Walk not in woe,
But, for a little, let your step be slow.
And, of your mercy, be not sweetly wise
With words of hope and Spring and tenderer skies.
A dream lies dead; and this all mourners know:

Whenever one drifted petal leaves the tree-
Though white of bloom as it had been before
And proudly waitful of fecundity-
One little loveliness can be no more;
And so must Beauty bow her imperfect head
Because a dream has joined the wistful dead!


Dorothy Parker

Sometimes, it is hard to know where to begin when writing about these women. Many of them have achieved so many wonderful things, it is a worry that I will miss or underplay some greatness or other. As you may have read in A note about the album (http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20note%20about%20the%20album), it has never been my intention to write biographies, just to try to capture some of what makes them wonderful.

Dorothy Parker had an enviable career as a writer, she wrote for some of the most recognisable publications, such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, she also published short stories and co-wrote lyrics for songs. She was a celebrated poet, known for her wit and use of satire. She also turned her hand to writing plays and reviews. From 1937, she wrote a number of screen plays including, Oscar nominated, A Star Is Born.

Dorothy was politically minded and became an activist for her political leanings. She was arrested for protesting the execution of Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, who had controversially be sentenced to death following an armed robbery, their guilt and the fairness of their trial in the early 1920s remains to this day a matter of dispute. In the 1930s and 40s, Dorothy became a strong voice in favour of civil liberties amendments and was a figure in the civil rights movement of a segregated America. She helped to found the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League in 1936 and served as chair of the Joint Anti-Fascist Rescue Committee.

A woman of true panache and vigour, intelligent, witty and informed. A perfect addition to our album.

I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.
Dorothy Parker

Dorethea Lange - Wonderful Woman No. 57

Dorethea Lange - 1895–1965
American Photographer and Photographic Journalist

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

I love when people add suggestions of women to the album. I also love when I do not know very much about the person suggested, researching what makes these women wonderful, inspirational and aspirational has become a real joy, the research and writing currently my favourite hobby.

Before Gavin suggested her, I had never heard to name Dorethea Lange, though having now looked at her work, I think it is entirely possible that I have seen her photographs without knowing who had taken them.

During the Great Depression in 1930s America, Dorethea ceased working as a portrait photographer and took her camera out to capture what was happening in the world around her. She photographed the poor and the hungry, homeless migrant workers, exploitation and suffering in rural areas. She would often send her photographs to the press free of charge, wanting the world to see the true horror and human suffering in the hope that her documentation might be able to bring about change and an end to their plight.

Dorethea's most iconic image of this era was titled The Migrant Mother. It featured a woman huddled in a makeshift tent with her three children, dirty, malnourished and homeless. The photograph is regarded by many as a defining portrait of the depression era, accurately documenting the harshest point in modern America's history.

At the time of the second World War, Doethea reappeared as a photojournalist, capturing the forced evacuation of Japanese people in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The photographs depicted Japanese Americans, including children, being rounded up, detained without charge and sent to prison concentration camps.

Here was a woman who went out of her way to document and expose the most uncomfortable truths to the world, a brave, selfless and extremely wonderful choice to have made.

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.
Dorothea Lange

Georgia O'Keeffe - Wonderful Woman No. 56

Georgia O'Keeffe - 1887-1986
American Artist

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

When writing about Frida Kahlo (Wonderful Woman No. 37 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/frida-kahlo-wonderful-woman-no-37.html), I touched on the subject of lack of recognition for female artists. Georgia O'Keeffe is one female artist who broke the mould. From reasonably early in her career, Georgia was heralded as one of America's most influential artists. She received critical acclaim and impressive payments for her work both during her lifetime and in the years since.

Much of her work is abstract and she uses the style of Native American Indians in many paintings. She has worked in charcoal, pastel, oil and watercolour. Most famously using the landscape of the United States as her inspiration, depicting both the natural and the man-made aspects of her home nation. Georgia focused on still-life paintings and taking a still-life image and making it abstract. Much of her work is quite sensual and many painting are believed to symbolise women and female genitalia - this making her hugely popular with the feminist movement.

She lived in New York City from 1918 with her lover (and later husband), fellow artist, Alfred Stieglitz. The bohemian two worked on individual art projects and Alfred used Georgia as a photographic muse. He pictured her extensively, both erotically and in order to capture her moods, character and beauty, sometimes taking close-up shots of parts of her body, particularly her hands.

Personality was crucial to these photographs; it was this, as much as her body, that Stieglitz was recording.
Roxanna Robinson, Biographer

Much of her work remains with The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, United States of America. Georgia had a great love and respect for her country and wanted her work to remain accessible to it's people... a love and respect that was mutual, Georgia still considered one of the country's most wonderful artists.

And considered here as one of the world's very wonderful women.

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.
Georgia O'Keeffe

Kate Bush - Wonderful Woman No. 55

Kate Bush - Born 1958
British Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Record Label Owner

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

A few months before I was born, a record called Wuthering Heights (based on the novel by Emily Bronté, with whom Kate shares a birthday) was released in the United Kingdom. It is a record I have heard throughout my life and it never ages or sounds outdated. You know, for that record alone, I would be happy to include her as a wonderful woman.

Wuthering Heights is the very first song I can remember hearing as a small child.
Richard, A Wonderful Man

Kate's career began when at sixteen, her demo tape was heard by David Gilmore of Pink Floyd. Though she had already wrote many songs and was signed to a record label, she did not release her debut album The Kick Inside until 1978, by then aged nineteen. She has, so far, released ten studio albums, the last 50 Words for Snow in 2011. She has won a string of awards both as a musician and a songwriter, including an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

I don't believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible.
Tricky, Hip-hop Artist

Kate has always been experimental and eclectic in her musical style. If you were to categorise all her records, you would find the genres pop, rock, folk and electronica, plus a bunch of sub-genres and uncategorisable ones too. I think of her as an intelligent lyricist, referencing historical events and pieces of literature, she creates a character and tells a story through her song.

Her songs read like scenes from short stories, or the stories themselves (odd ones). It's hard to think of a novelist, let alone another singer-songwriter, who takes on such diverse narrative viewpoints with Bush's aplomb.
David Mitchell, Author

As well as telling stories through her lyrics, Kate creates stories through modern dance and visual art. Her image changed to reflect the story of the song. Like previous Wonderful Women, Grace Jones (Wonderful Woman No. 50 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/grace-jones-wonderful-woman-no-50.html) and Bjórk (Wonderful Woman No. 31 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/bjork-wonderful-woman-no-31.html), Kate has been able to use herself as a piece of living art.

Kate now has her own record label, Fish People, with which she has released two albums. This has given her more over-all control of what she creates and allows her to produce music from her home-studio.

Wonderful for her individuality, her creativity, her intelligence and mostly, for what can only be described as raw talent.

I think really the biggest inspiration is people, I think, people are just so inspiring, they're fascinating and wonderful and, I think, you know, that nearly every idea that a person has had has probably at some point, come from another person.
Kate Bush

Nina Simone - Wonderful Woman No. 54

Nina Simone - 1933-2003
American Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Political Activist

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

Nina Simone should definitely be in there (the album).
Gavin

In the last blog entry, I wrote about Dusty Springfield (Wonderful Woman No. 53 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/dusty-springfield-wonderful-woman-no-53.html) and how the voice of some people can take you on a journey of cathartic experience, moving you to the very core. Well, Nina Simone is another one of those voices, so full of emotion, experience and soul.

From the moment she came into the world, Nina was musical. She was learning piano by the age of three, her first concert at the age of twelve and after some time singing in clubs, cut her first record at twenty-five. Between 1958 and 1993, Nina released more than forty albums and a string of compilations of her music still continue to make huge sales. She was an incredble, fierce performer, nicknamed The High Priestess of Soul, nobody could imitate her style. She had a voice that could move you to tears with songs like Wild is the Wind, scare you silly with Put A Spell On You and completely empower with Feeling Good.

Strong. Sweet. Sharp as ice. As gentle as falling snowflakes. Sometimes frightening. Always nourishing. That, for me, was/is/will always be, the music of Nina Simone.
Kellylee Evans, Jazz Times

Sometimes, being wonderful is not just about what that person did themselves but about how they inspired others. On Nina's Wikipedia page there is a list of performers who have cited Nina as a major inspiration to them, such as; Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blig and John Lennon. Just recently, on accepting her Brit's Critic's Choice Award, singer Emeli Sande stated that Nina remains her "biggest inspiration".

Nina Simone inspires me, since I was nine years old and she still does. So she is my biggest inspiration.
Emeli Sande

At her first concert at the age of twelve, Nina's parents were asked to move from their front row seats to the back of the theatre, because they were black. Nina refused to play until they were able to return to their original seats. This was the beginning of Nina's involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement. In her adult life, she became a spokes person for the movement and advocated the direct approach and militant views of Malcolm X. She recorded a number of civil rights records including Young, Gifted & Black and Mississippi Goddamn. Her belief was strong and she is remembered as a key figure in the process of bringing change to the U.S.A.

Wonderful for her music and voice, a wonderful inspiration to others and wonderful for living by what she believed in.

I would like you to know, I am a doctor of music.
Nina Simone

Dusty Springfield - Wonderful Woman No. 53

Dusty Springfield - 1939-1999
British Singer and Songwriter

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Gavin

For over a year now, I have presented a specialist soul music show on local radio. I play and listen to a lot of female soul artists, not just on the radio but constantly in my every day life. I would not want to imagine the world without music. I would not want to imagine my life without the music I love. And I absolutely cannot imagine a world without ever hearing the voice of Dusty Springfield.

To be carried on that journey for the length of a song, to experience the emotion through the sound of another person's voice and to get completely lost in what you hear, is an integral part of being a human being as far as I am concerned. Dusty's voice is so full of heart and soul, that those cathartic experiences through music come in leaps and bounds. I defy anyone not to be moved by her words.

And that is what makes her really wonderful... everything that you read from here on in is just back-up evidence.

In 1958, Dusty (nicknamed because she was a tomboy, always playing football in dusty streets) joined an established UK music group, The Lana Sisters. After a few years learning her craft playing at live shows and on television and a stint in a band with her brother, Dusty took the decision to follow a solo career. Her first solo single, I Only Wanna Be With You was released in 1963 and was an international hit. Since then, Dusty has released a plethora of hit singles, including the classics; I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me and Son Of A Preacher Man. In the 1980s, Dusty recorded a number of tracks with The Pet Shop Boys and has also released duets alongside the likes of Cilla Black, Daryl Hall and Spencer Davis. She released more than twenty albums between 1964 and 1995, with the addition of a multitude of compilation releases, Dusty continues to be a huge selling artist the world over.

I think she is the greatest white singer that there ever has been.
Elton John

Dusty's talent is widely recognised and she has been an inspiration to a generation of soul singers. She is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is listed by many music magazines as one of the greatest female recording artists of all time.

There is a hole in music where Dusty Springfield used to be.
Carole King, Another Wonderful Woman

Dusty, known to have had relationships with both men and women, spoke candidly about her sexuality at a time when gay and lesbian relationships were still very much in the closet, with prejudice and stigma attached. In doing so, she became a gay icon, idolised not just for her voice but for being a joyful representation of gay, lesbian and bisexual people. Her iconic image is also often mimicked by drag queens, imitation - the highest form of flattery.

A lot of people say I'm bent, and I've heard it so many times that I've almost learned to accept it....I know I'm perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don't see why I shouldn't.
Dusty Springfield

A woman who made the world a more wonderful place through music.

Meryl Streep - Wonderful Woman No. 52

Meryl Streep - Born 1949
American Actress

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Lowri

Stunning...
Lowri

I have talked earlier in the blog about being inspired by actresses, especially in my earlier years as a performing arts student and jobbing actress. There are some women in the profession who just stand out, who can ignite intense emotion by the slightest move, the flicker of an eye or making a subtle shift in voice tone. Meryl Streep is one of those actresses. She understands that sometimes it is the littlest thing that makes all the difference.

Meryl has performed on stage and on television but is most recognised for her work in film. She has appeared in over forty motion pictures since 1977, including some of the most recognisable film titles of the last four decades, such as; The Deer Hunter, Kramer v. Kramer, The Devil Wears Prada and Mama Mia! Her work has given her more nominations for Academy Awards than anyone else, including a pending nomination for the next Oscars for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the biopic The Iron Lady. Thus far, she has twice won, for her roles in Kramer v. Kramer and Sophie's Choice, she also won Best Supporting Actress in The Deer Hunter. She has won countless other awards including Golden Globes and BAFTAs.

Meryl is seemingly immune to the plague of actresses who suffer from lack of challenging roles as they grow older. Now in her sixties, Meryl still graces our screens in regular blockbuster films, not as the grandma of the leading lady but in gritty, interesting characters... she is still the star of the show.

In every scene, she's actually doing at least two jobs. First, her own character, who is always so complete, so natural, you forget that somewhere in there is Meryl Streep. Then the second is, stabilizing the other actor who is having a nervous breakdown because they're in a scene with Meryl Streep.
Emily Blunt, Actress

Meryl is trained in Stanislavski's System, which is a technique for using the performer's own experience and emotion to portray a character. She is regarded as an expert in her ability to imitate accents and dialects, indeed, for her role in Sophie's Choice, Meryl took a Polish language course in order to have an understanding of her character's first language and how it would affect spoken English.

I would like to think that Meryl would appreciate the Wonderful Women album as much as it's contributors appreciate her. She is a fellow believer in the celebration of amazing ladies, as spokesperson for the National Women's History Museum in the United States, for which she has hosted many events and donated substantial amounts of money to, including her fee for The Iron Lady.

I didn't have any confidence in my beauty when I was young. I felt like a character actress, and I still do.
Meryl Streep

A clip from The Devil Wears Prada >>>

Ada Lovelace - Wonderful Woman No. 51

Ada Lovelace - 1815-1852
British Mathematician, Writer and Engineer

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Lukas

Geeky, but worth inclusion.
Lukas

Definitely worth inclusion, Ada Lovelace was a true visionary, widely revered as the world's first computer programmer.

With the inventor, Charles Babbage, Ada is credited with designing the first mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine was the idea of a machine which could analytically process information and calculate. Ada wrote much about the envisaged steam driven piece of machinery, including the first algorithm, a step-by-step procedure for calculations.

A skilled mathematician, Babbage called her the Enchantress of Numbers. She wrote many papers on number analysis and processing. In her notes she describes an algorithm for the analytical engine to compute Bernoulli numbers. Ada's notes are believed to be the original descriptions of software and computers.

Forget this world and all its troubles and if
possible its multitudinous Charlatans – every thing
in short but the Enchantress of Numbers
Charles Babbage

In the United States, Ada is the name of the computer language used by the military and in the United Kingdom, an award in her name is given by the British Computer Society to outstanding female science and engineering students. Indeed, since 2009 Ada Lovelace Day has been created to celebrate women in the field.

Would I be tapping the keys on my laptop were it not for Ada Lovelace? Possibly not.

Intelligence is most wonderful, as is vision and creativity... for those reasons, Ada is a most welcome addition, geeky or not.

I never am really satisfied that I understand anything; because, understand it well as I may, my comprehension can only be an infinitesimal fraction of all I want to understand about the many connections and relations which occur to me, how the matter in question was first thought of or arrived at.
Ada Lovelace

Grace Jones - Wonderful Woman No. 50

Grace Jones - Born 1948
Jamaican-American Singer, Actress and Model

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Louise

There are a few things that I personally think are great about Grace Jones; her association with the New York disco scene, specifically Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage; Her appearance in the James Bond film A View to a Kill (I am a huge Bond fan); and her general appearance and attitude... she is one kick-ass lady with a reputation for speaking her mind.

Grace started her career as a model, working closely with Andy Warhol, who called her his muse and photographed her extensively. Her look is unique, the severe hair crop and snarl her trademarks. Often in masculine clothing, she creates a striking image and an unmistakable style. The imagery she has created has been an inspiration to a great many others including Annie Lennox and Lady Gaga. She has become a living artwork.

How did she look by day?.. Quite surreal. Like she doesn't really belong. She definitely belongs to the night.
Grace's Former Make-up Artist

In 1977, Grace secured her first record deal. She has since released ten studio albums and worked alongside some of the music industry's great names including Nile Rogers, Simon Le Bon and Tricky. She has toured and performed at many festivals, being widely acclaimed for her stage presence and performance style.

One of my favourite live performers.
Lindsey, A Wonderful Woman

As an actress, Grace has appeared in nineteen feature films and a number of television shows.

Now in her sixties, Grace is still looking great, still performing, still full of panache and still drawing the attention she did in her twenties. All great reasons to be included as a wonderful woman. There are probably a great many more, she's had such a long career, her life varied and interesting, it seems an impossible task to capture all there is to say about her in the few paragraphs of a blog.

Models are there to look like mannequins, not like real people. Art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy.
Grace Jones

The Dagenham Four - Wonderful Women No. 49 Collectively

The Dagenham Four - Eileen Pullen, Gwen Davis, Sheila Douglass and Vera Sime
British Equal Pay Campaigners

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Louise

In 1968, the four women pictured and other workers at the Ford motor company's plant in the Essex town, Dagenham, began the process of gaining equality between men and women in the workplace. They were not the only women involved in this struggle and so, serve here not just as wonderful women themselves but also as representations of the many other women who have contributed to this cause.

1960s Britain was a very unequal place. My father has told me that when he met my mother towards the end of the sixties, they were both in full-time employment with skilled jobs. My mother earned somewhere in the region of £10 per week, while he earned around £100 a week. This is not an unusual story, men earned more than women... it's just the way it was.

The women of the Ford plant were skilled machinists, making car seat covers. They discovered that men working for the company, with equivalent skills (such as spray painters), were earning on average 15% more than them. They argued that this was unfair and when their calls for a fairer deal were not met, the women went on strike. Their strike was widely reported in the press to the detriment of Ford's reputation and halted car production.

We weren't actually over the moon about going on strike, but we were determined to fight for our rights because we wanted to be recognised as skilled workers and to get the same grade and the same rates as the men.
Gwen Davis

After three weeks of protest by downing tools, the Home Secretary intervened and a more equal pay grade was agreed with the company.

It is the campaign of these women that ultimately resulted in the Equal Pay Act of 1970, giving women across the country an equal standing of their income to men.

These women, of working class families and ordinary surroundings did so much for the women of the United Kingdom. By making a stand for what was fair and what was right, they made a huge leap towards creating a more equal society and securing women's financial independence. The struggle is far from over, there are still inequalities and stories of employment tribunals involving women's grievances over unequal pay still make the news but things are better than they were, much better. And for those reasons, we should all be truly grateful for these outstandingly wonderful women.

A clip from the film Made in Dagenham, based one the story of The Dagenham Four >>>

Mary Seacole - Wonderful Woman No. 48

Mary Seacole - 1805-1881
Jamaican-British Nurse

Added to the album by a wonderful man called Owain

The truly amazing Mary Seacole... who deserved as much recognition as (Florence) Nightingale [Wonderful Woman No. 46 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/florence-nightingale-wonderful-woman-no.html], if not a whole lot more, but because she was Black, she was mostly wiped from cultural memory and the history books.
Owain

What has been most wonderful about creating this album is suggestions of women I knew nothing of before it's existence. Mary Seacole is one of those women and one I feel really pleased to have been able to learn about since Owain introduced her.

Mary was trained in basic nursing, herbal remedies and tropical medicines by her mother in her native Jamaica, where she presided over a guest house for disabled and infirm service men.

Like Florence Nightingale, on reading about the poor medical provisions for those wounded in the Crimean War, Mary felt that her skills and experience would be of benefit to the British forces. Mary travelled to London and applied to be part of the group of nurses who travelled with Florence to the war zone. Mary's application was unsuccessful, most likely because of racial prejudice, which was common place at the time.

Unperturbed, Mary travelled to the Crimea on her own funds. Once there, she approached Florence to offer her help for a second time but once again was refused. Determined that she could make a difference to the ailing soldiers, Mary stayed in the area, nursed the wounded independently and is believed to have gone into the battlefield itself in order to save the men she referred to as 'my sons'. She built a make-shift hotel on one of the main passageways for British troops. Within the hotel, Mary set up shop selling anything the average soldier might want to purchase and offered credit due to the circumstances of the patrons. Mary's establishment also offered hot, home-cooked meals and she treated any medical complaints of her guests.

The war ended abruptly and left Mary in financial ruin, with no fare to leave the area. She had many supporters in Britain, who organised fund raising events to come to her aid. These supporters included soldiers she had come into contact with, members of the Royal Family and, surprisingly given previous rejection and documented criticism of Mary's practises, Florence Nightingale anonymously donated a substantial some of money to assist in Mary's return from the Crimea.

I have witnessed her devotion and her courage ... and I trust that England will never forget one who has nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead.
William Howard Russell, War Correspondent with The Times newspaper

In Salman Rushdie's seminal novel The Satanic Verses, Mary is mentioned as being part of the hidden figures in the history of black people. It is now widely acknowledged that, but for the colour of her skin, Mary would have been as well-known as Florence Nightingale. In recent times, her services to the British troops have been recognised, a number of institutes, schools and other organisations use her name in honourable memory.

A great addition to the album - Mary Seacole, a very wonderful woman.

The grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time.
Mary Seacole

Dian Fossey - Wonderful Woman No. 47

Dian Fossey - 1932-1985
American Primatologist, Conservationist and Writer

Like many people, my first introduction to the life of Dian Fossey came from watching Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of her in the 1988 film biopic Gorillas in the Mist. I was so moved by the film that Dian's name has stayed with me ever since, she really was a truly remarkable woman, who lived and died by her principles.

Dian first arrived in Africa in 1963. She spent time travelling around the continent, taking in the wildlife and archaeology before eventually finding herself in Uganda. It was here, in Uganda, that she first encountered wild mountain gorillas. On returning to the United States, she published a number of articles about her time in Africa.

Dian returned to Africa and began an 18 year long study of gorillas and made important discoveries about the lives of the rare primates, including details of their social hierarchy and behaviour, vocalised communication (which she imitated and used), diet and a number of other previously unknown facts. She ingratiated herself with the gorillas and was able to form relationships with the animals. In 1970, Dian was pictured on the front cover of National Geographical Magazine, this brought her international celebrity and brought gorillas as gentle, intelligent creatures into the minds of the general public.

The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.
Dian Fossey

Whilst carrying out her study, Dian did a lot in the campaign to conserve the habitat of the mountain gorillas, she also opposed tourism in the area, as gorillas are able to contract illness from humans. A large part of Dian's lifework was defending the gorillas against illegal poachers who hunted and killed the animals as their meat is considered a delicacy and their feet and hands were turned into macabre souvenirs, their infants taken and sold. Dian organised patrols of the reserve and was pivotal in the arrest of many poachers.

In 1978, Dian's favourite gorilla, Digit was killed and mutilated. Subsequently, Dian founded an appeal in his name to raise funds for anti-poaching patrols. As deaths of gorillas Dian had formed bonds and relationships with continued, Dian's work became more focussed on the prevention of poaching than it was on scientific research. She was militant in finding and stopping poachers, employing fierce tactics such as arson, intimidation, capture and humiliation of those involved. Dian repeatedly clashed with local officials, who she felt did not take the necessary measures to protect the animals.

In 1985, in her bedroom, Dian was murdered and mutilated in a sustained attack. The murder weapon was a machete which she had previously confiscated from a poacher. She was buried alongside Digit and close to other gorillas killed by poachers.

She believed in her cause right until the end. She was passionate and determined. And she gave her life in the fight for what was right. And for that, she was really quite wonderful and someone I will have a huge respect for always.

Florence Nightingale - Wonderful Woman No. 46

Florence Nightingale - 1820-1910
British Nurse, Teacher, Writer and Statistician

I cannot claim to have known the ins and outs of Florence Nightingale's career when I posted her picture in the album, I wanted to place her there as a representation of the nursing profession, of women who dedicate their lives to helping others. I was quite surprised when her inclusion resulted in some opposition:

Her knowledge & methods have long since been called into question and she she never really got her hands dirty...she was hundreds of miles from the battlefield.
Owain, A Wonderful Man

Having done some research following Owain's comment, it is apparent that there are some critics of Florence and how much of what I have always believed she did and how much she actually did is unclear.

What is clear about Florence, is that she was a very determined woman, who felt nursing was her calling and entered into the profession despite opposition from her parents, who felt ladies in the upper classes she not go out to work. She not only trained to be a nurse but became a teacher of junior nurses, passing on techniques and philosophies she had learned in other parts of Europe.

In 1854, the Crimean War erupted, British, French and Turkish troops in conflict with the Russians. A British newspaper printed a story reporting on how wounded British soldiers were receiving inadequate treatment and how many were dying as a result:

Are there no women willing to help the suffering soldiers in the hospitals of Scutari? Are no daughters of England ready for such a work of mercy?

Florence travelled to the Ottoman Empire with 38 female volunteers under her supervision, to provide medical treatment to wounded troops. Whether Florence herself "got her hands dirty" seems to be a matter of opinion but she was there and after the groups arrival, mortality levels decreased and it is recorded that sanitation in the hospitals was improved.

Florence founded the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in London and she herself spent much of her career tutoring nurses. Florence mentored Linda Richards, who is considered the U.S.A's first trained nurse, establishing formal nurses training in America. She wrote a number of books and papers on nursing, hospital standards and sanitation, hospital planning and military care for the wounded, I am led to believe that the basis of these teachings are still referenced for trainee nurses to this day. As well as writing, Florence was a gifted Mathematician and pioneered the use of statistical graphs in the nursing profession, she charted conditions and mortality in the Crimean War, used graphs to improve sanitation in British hospitals and in later life made a comprehensive statistical study of sanitation in Indian rural life.

While there are grey areas surrounding what Florence did and did not do, I feel she does deserve to be here for what she did do, for what she might have done and, mostly, for what she represents.

The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.
Florence Nightingale

Erykah Badu - Wonderful Woman No. 45

Erykah Badu - Born 1971
American Singer, Songwriter, Music Producer and Actress

Not enough room here for me to say how much I love this woman.
Owain, A Wonderful Man

I could not agree more with Owain's comment. Here is a woman with such talent and strength of character, it is hard to feel somewhat in ore of Erykah Badu.

If you are a regular reader of the Wonderful Women blog, you will know that music is of huge importance to me. As I have said in a previous blog, I have found it hard not to just feature recording artist after recording artist who have had an affect on me at some point in my life. Leaving Erykah out would have been impossible for me, her music has been an important part of my life for such a long time. Her lyrics are emotive and impassioned, she captures what it is to feel fierce, vulnerable, loved, heartbroken, angry, elated and so many other powerful emotions.

I was about 16 or 17 when I saw the Mama's Gun tour, when Erykah was promoting her second album... I can remember thinking what an amazing showwoman she was. She had fine timing and this great sense of drama... I feel privileged that I had the opportunity to see her live.
Amy Winehouse, Another Wonderful Woman

Known as The Queen of Neo Soul, Erykah has produced six solo albums. Her musical style is the epitome of Neo Soul, encompassing jazz, hip hop, R&B, while keeping firmly with the roots of soul. Erykah also takes inspiration from her African heritage, of which she is very proud - her name changed from Erica Wright to reflect her roots, in the belief that her given name was her slave name. She has won a plethora of awards, including four Grammys and three Soul Train Awards. Her work is widely revered and many artists have cited her as a major inspiration.

In addition to her solo career, Erykah has collaborated with some of the music industry's biggest names including Common, Jill Scott, Flying Lotus and is due to appear on the "supergroup," Rocketjuice and the Moon's debut album, to be released next month. She was also a member of the Soulquarians, along with the likes of J Dilla, Q Tip and Mos Def.

Erykah has appeared in a number of feature films, including her role as the Voodoo Queen in Blues Brothers 2000.

Aside from music, Erykah works as a Doula, offering non-medical support to expectant mothers both before and during childbirth. She plans to become a midwife. Her Twitter account often telling us how she has rushed off into the night to help bring a baby into the world.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than being the welcoming committee for a mother's new joy.
Erykah Badu

In 2003, Erykah founded the charity Beautiful Love Incorporated Non Profit Development (BLIND) which works as an outreach programme in deprived areas offering development in the performing arts for under-privileged youths. Erykah not only gives her own money and time to the project but also encourages other successful people in the music industry to volunteer their time and talent.

She is a pretty special individual. Her music has been important to me personally but other than that, I think she herself is someone who strives to see the world a better place... if that isn't wonderful, I don't know what is.

Dorothy Stowe - Wonderful Woman No. 44

Dorothy Stowe - 1920-2010
American-Canadian Political and Environmental Activist

I would hazard a guess that Dorothy Stowe is one of the names of women in this album that not everyone will know off the top of their head? It seems a shame that a woman who dedicated her life to making the world a better place for others is not better known.

Dorothy was a a Psychiatric Social Worker with strong political leanings from an early age. With her civil rights lawyer husband, Irving, in the 1950s, Dorothy began campaigning against the development of nuclear weapons. They were pacifists, who left the United States as they did not want to support the Vietnam War by paying taxes to the government.

In 1968, in Canada, their new home, Dorothy, Irving and a group of friends formed a peace core with a focus on ecology, named the Don't Make a Wave Committee, after hearing that the U.S.A. planned a series of nuclear tests in Alaska. Sat around a kitchen table, the group decided to charter a fishing boat to where the tests where taking place. They changed the name of the boat to Greenpeace and set sail to protest against the nuclear testing. Greenpeace never made it's destination, the voyage was challenged by the coastguard and the group arrested. Even so, media coverage caused a public uprising and eventually forced the government to abandon the tests.

The group changed it's name to Greenpeace and ever since have been challenging governments and industry to work towards a greener, more ecological environment. They group has been pivotal in bringing the green debate to the forefront of public conciousness in modern society and now has offices in over forty country, including India, China and some African nations. Even into her 70s and 80s, Dorothy continued to be an active member of the organisation.

She was so sweet, she kind of had the feel of everybody’s grandmother. And yet she was so hardcore... She was just a lifelong activist for social justice, the environment and peace.
Rex Weyler, Fellow Greenpeace Campaigner

Dorothy was a woman full of tenacity, drive and the will to rectify all that was wrong in the world. I strongly believe that the world is a better place because of Greenpeace and, for that, I am thankful for the wonderfulness of Dorothy Stowe.

It is amazing, what a few people sitting around their kitchen table can achieve.
Dorothy Stowe

In 2005, at a concert in Canada, U2 singer Bono dedicated this song to Dorothy, he felt she was a woman of great inspiration >

Camila Batmanghelidjh - Wonderful Woman No. 43

Camila Batmanghelidjh - Born 1963
British-Iranian Political Activist, Charity Founder and Author

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Jules

Perhaps it is simply that her story is fresh in my mind but while putting today's blog about Camila Batmanghelidjh together, I find myself making a number of comparisons with yesterday's Wonderful Woman, Marie Curie (Wonderful Woman No. 42 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/marie-curie-wonderful-woman-no-42.html), who was also suggested by Jules. In yesterday's blog, I wrote the Marie Curie was responsible for saving the lives of a great many people and the same can be said about Camila, it would be impossible to calculate the number of children who would not still be living were it not for Camila. I also wrote yesterday about the struggles Marie Curie had overcome before achieving her greatness, I feel the same is true of today's subject.

Camila was born into great wealth in Persian, Tehran and was sent to boarding school in England at the age of 11. While she and her siblings studied in England, the Shah in her homeland was overthrown in the midst of the Iranian revolution. Her father was imprisoned and for a while, the children believed he had be executed, a belief that caused the suicide of Camila's sister. With the help of her school, Camila was able to gain access to her father's bank account and to obtain political asylum and British citizenship. Camila overcame the obstacles of dyslexia in order to obtain a first degree and Theatre and Dramatic Arts at Warwick University and later trained to be a Psychotherapist. She went into a career in the Family Service Unit, providing therapy for children on the At-Risk Register.

I became determined to take the service to where the children are, and to structure the service from the child's perspective only.
Camila Batmanghelidjh

Camila went on to found two charities The Place2B and Kids Company, which have provided services for children in disfortunate circumstances, including those who have suffered abuse and neglect, young offenders and children living in poverty. Her schemes provide support, counselling, medical care, education, hot dinners and a wealth of other services to the most vulnerable of society, and has existed largely without government funding, Camila herself often financially scaffolding the organisation, on two occasions re-mortgaging her personal property to keep them afloat.

Camila is often at loggerheads with the care system in the United Kingdom, her charity, Kids Company, having taken a number of local authorities to court over access to the Child Protection Register and demands for care orders. She believes that the whole care system is in need of overhaul and speaks passionately about prominent cases (such as the Baby P case that caused such uproar in the UK) and the failings of the system. She has campaigned for systemic reform and is often seen as a talking head on the news on stories about child protection.

I felt her incredible strength. I have met few truly extraordinary people in my life, but Camila is definitely one of them.
Helen Mirren, Another Wonderful Woman

Camila has produced many pieces of literature about child protection, including the book Shattered Lives: Children living with Courage and Dignity which tells a number of children's stories and the effects of their earlier traumatic experiences and is critical of structures in the social care system and the bureaucracy involved.

This is one of the most difficult books I have ever had to read but inspiring in its energy and vision.
James Woodward, Theologist and Book Reviewer

In 2009 the Women in Public Life Awards named her Businesswoman of the Year and she has received praise and recognition for her work, dedication and belief. She is a fabulous human being and a much deserved addition to the Wonderful Women in this album.

I was nine years old when I announced to my parents that I wanted to work with vulnerable children. For me, it's a calling.
Camila Batmanghelidjh