What can you say about a woman who left a successful catering business in New York City to volunteer for the Peace Corps in the hopes of empowering African women and children and in the process cut off the head of a poisonous snake –  in her kitchen, with a machete! Well, you could say that Bonnie Lee Black has swagger. And you’d be right!

Bonnie had her own catering business in New York, serving the rich and famous. After ten years in the business, she was tired of New York and tired of waiting on rich people. A breast cancer scare prompted her to look at her life and ponder how she would like to live. Bonnie wanted to do something new with her life, something gratifying and purposeful.

So she decided to join the Peace Corps and was sent to Gabon, in Central  Africa to work with women and children on improving their nutrition and health. Ten hours away from the Peace Corps office, in Gabon’s capital Libreville, Bonnie worked independently, using all her creativity to engage the women and children in the small town where she was posted. She made puppets to entertain and teach the kids and taught nutritious cooking to the women.“It was like a play for me. I felt so creative. I had a purpose and felt useful,” Bonnie said.

Read more…

What is it like for girls and women living in Kenya?

I became interested in the lives of girls and women in Kenya, when I connected with Mary on Facebook.  When I asked her what life is like there, she said:

“Honestly it’s not a walk in the park. In the north, due to poverty women fully depend on men – leading to men having power over them.  Girls are forced to drop out of school to be circumcised then married off at 14 yrs or even below that. What can their mothers do?  Nothing, for fear of being divorced or worse than that.  It becomes a never ending cycle.  Down south its different yes, women and girls are educated but few of them hold high positions in the society or leadership.” Mary Chege

Her response broke my heart.  Girls and women lack control over their own bodies and circumstances in so many parts of the world. Increased access to education is one way girls and women are able to earn higher incomes and become more independent.

Institutions such as Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology prepare women to enter the workforce with special skills. In Kenya, only 12% of the students in math and science are women. In mixed gender settings, women may feel intimidated, but in all female setting, women are able to gain confidence, more freely express themselves, and excel in their fields.  The university also offers management training and preparation for working in environments where the women graduates may face discrimination. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Kenyan-Womens-University-Prepares-Students-to-Compete-in-a-Male-Dominated-World-117467493.html

There are several organizations working to better conditions in Kenya, including One Home Many Hopes and Womankindkenya.

According to One Home Many Hopes: Here are the problems Read more…

Guest columnist Julie Loar

Webster defines confidence as “a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or reliance on one’s circumstances.”  This month three women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, activist Leymah Gbowee, also of Liberia, and human rights activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. I could not have imagined this when I was a child in the fifties.  These women come from areas that have been torn by strife, violence and unspeakable human rights crimes.  And yet, they did not remain frozen in fear or stand on the sidelines.  Rather, they displayed inspiring courage and vision.  As I pondered the quality of confidence I wondered if they felt confident at any point in their heroic journeys.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee in Oslo, Norway, said of these women,  “They were chosen for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.  We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

Their award is a beacon to struggling women everywhere.  This recognition can inspire us to stand up for the values that are dear to us and be willing to takes risks for what is right.  What seems most significant to me is that these women worked for justice without striking back.  Read more…

Do you believe that our next generations of leaders will be women?  For a world in turmoil, I believe that leadership by women is imperative to our survival as a planet. Our current system of domination attempts, war, and exploitation is killing many women and children and damaging the environment.

We need a new ethic not based on the idea that man has dominion over the planet and resources. A new paradigm that respects the limited resources of our planet and supports equal rights for all people is needed. Women are generally more oriented toward collaborative problem-solving and leveling the playing field for all people – rather than trying to win and dominate.

How will our future leaders get the support and training they need? Organizations like Inspired Girls International are providing opportunities for leadership for girls and are reaching out through media resources to convey empowering messages.  The Girl’s Guide to Swagger is proud to welcome our newest partner – Inspired Girls International.

Inspired Girls International creates programming and content for girls and the organizations that support them. Through our signature programs and workshops, girls evolve into feminine leaders and well-adjusted young women.

Visit www.inspiredgirlsonline.com to learn more.

What do you think of when you hear Cleopatra? Do you image a dark haired beauty, queen of sin, an enchantress?  Cleopatra was born in 69 BC and what we know of her was written by several historians – mostly Roman and some with a grudge against her.  From the few accounts that exist, movies and books have been born, adding speculation and fiction to the picture.

Did you know that Cleopatra was not Egyptian, but rather Greek? That she was not the first queen to be named Cleopatra?  In fact she was Cleopatra VII. That she may not have been beautiful in the way we imagine her?  There are few images of her to be found – mostly of coins with her portrait.  Take a look at the coin above – does she meet your definition of beauty?  Is she as beautiful as Angelina Jolie who will play Cleopatra in an upcoming movie?

Last fall, a new biography of Cleopatra was released written by Stacy Schiff.  The book is a fascinating reconstruction of what we know about Cleopatra using the original sources of the day and those written after Cleopatra’s death.  What makes this account different is that Schiff doesn’t take the sources at face value.  She digs deeper.  Typically if Cicero or Plutarch is quoted by biographers or college professors – there is a tone of reverence and absolute acceptance.  Schiff dares question these sources.  She quotes Cicero as “hating” the queen.  Schiff notes that Cicero, a Roman contemporary of Cleopatra’s, had taken a dislike to her – perhaps because she had promised him a book from her famous library in Alexandria and forgot to bring it to him, on one of her trips to Rome.  How might have the story of Cleopatra been different had she written the account and not a Roman who disliked her?

In Schiff’s book Cleopatra, we see a portrait of Cleopatra VII as a powerful queen, a master strategist, a cool pragmatist, a towering intellect, mother of four children, loyal lover of two famous Romans, woman of enormous confidence and daring,a commander of armies. Schiff describes the dichotomy of West and East – the Roman culture – male, war-like, judgemental, and based on fear and the Egyptian society – often ruled by women, rich, sensuous, imbued with the learning and history of the world as collected in the greatest library of its time in Alexandria.  Schiff says  “We still fight the battle of East and West, still lurch as uneasily as did Cicero between indulgence and restraint.  Sex and power continue to combust in spectacular ways.  Female ambition, achievement, authority, trouble us as they did the Romans, for whom Cleopatra was more a monster than a marvel, but undeniably a little of both. Read more…

Did you watch the Royal Wedding?  I didn’t, but confess I did on occasion read features on the internet regarding royal crowns, dresses, traditions and other thing that aren’t really important for me to know.  Quite by accident I watched the British comedy with Hugh Grant Four Weddings and a Funeral this week. More than 1.6 million people watched the wedding on the internet this morning, the biggest real time internet audience ever, surpassing the World Cup and the inauguration of President Obama.

Kate Middleton is now the Duchess of Cambridge, Her Royal Highness and oddly Princess William of Wales.  It has been 350 years since a royal, in line for the throne, married a commoner.

Why do we have an interest in the Royal Wedding?  You might recall that the US won its independence from Britain in 1776 – rejecting royalty in favor of democracy.  I abhor waste, formality, and spending lavish sums of money on such things when children are starving.

Why do we care?  I believe that deep within us all is the desire for romance and magic, coupled with the desire to live happily ever after – never having to worry about money or cleaning the house or anything really.

For women, this desire is particularly encouraged in our culture by fairy tales and Disney stories, in which the girl is rescued from a wicked whatever – fill in the blank – stepmother, overbearing father, witch – by the prince who whisks her away on his white horse. No more problems – all is well forever. Read more…

Are you working with a small organization helping women and girls?  Here is one opportunity passed on by a friend of Swagger.  The Open Meadows Foundation helps fund projects that create jobs for women, support art, music, and film-making by women and help give voice to underrepresented groups in India, Africa, and the US.

Open Meadows Foundation
Grants to Support Organizations That are Led by and Benefit Women and Girls
Eligibility: Organizations serving women and girls with budgets not exceeding $150,000
Amount: Up to $2,000 each
Purpose of Grant: To support projects that are led by and benefit women and girls
Contact: http://www.openmeadows.org
Deadline: August 15, 2011 Read more…

What is the role of rights for women in preventing overpopulation?  A new movie Mother: Caring our Way Out of the Population Dilemma addresses this question. It will be shown Tuesday, April 19 at 5 pm - University of Colorado – Boulder Campus (Hale 270).  The filmmakers say “Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem – a “domination system” that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman.  To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women.”

Watch the trailer  http://www.motherthefilm.com/.

I just finished reading How to Cook a Crocodile; a memoir with recipes by Bonnie Lee Black. I loved this book for the clear writing and the wonderful story telling.

What impressed me most was the creativity and fierce commitment that Bonnie brought to her Peace Corps service in Gabon, Africa. Not only did she teach cooking, health, and nutrition to the women in the small town of Lastoursville, but she also made puppets as a teaching tool for children, and reached out to the ambitious young men of the town who wanted to learn English and further their educations. In all aspects of her life, she sought to cultivate health and balance and find what was truly important to her – this in the middle of a humid, bug and reptile filled world.

Though not looking, she found love in a real and unusual relationship that encompassed her love of cooking and her desire for authentic connection, not encumbered by usual social expectations. 

She consciously considered where she could bring her talents to make a difference.  Bonnie decided it was more important for her to help women and children in an underdeveloped country than to make fancy dinner parties in New York a success.  I am inspired by Bonnie’s story and the courage it took to leave her comfortable life of caterer and food writer in New York and venture out into a new world and a new life.

It’s amazing how interconnected we are across the world – people from many countries are joining the Swagger Movement. We have had visitors to the website from the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Guadalupe, Guam, Rwanda, Denmark, and Argentina – in addition to the US and Canada! Who do you know who might be interested in gaining more confidence and fun in her life? Where would you like to see swagger spread?  Pass this on: Swagger means high feminine confidence. In the Swagger movement, we believe that swagger is important because women have many talents to contribute to the world, but the world has become out of balance, dominated by male energy.  We believe that we need both male and female energy in the world and when those energies are in balance, there are more equitable and satisfying life opportunities for all people. By gaining confidence, especially at an early age, women are more able to make their contributions and help bring balance to the world.

photo by Joe Jatcko