Vision and personal power for black women were the main themes of a speech last night that tied together history and the future.
Christine Taylor, interim assistant to the president for diversity, gave the speech, Women in History
at Lindley Cultural Center Multipurpose Room last night.
Taylor spoke about the roles of black women in history as the backbone in families. She said black women have emerged from a history of pain and spoke about breaking the standards of beauty and the importance of personal power and talent.
We're socialized not to be risk takers Taylor said. But if we had not taken risks where would we be today?
Taylor encouraged her audience to continue challenging themselves and aiming for their goals. Her stories of African women moved the audience to both laughter and stark silence. She spoke of a trip she made to Ghana where she visited slave houses and learned more of the history of her people.
History is still very present (in Ghana)
Taylor said. I think African American women have commanded armies in ways that go way beyond what Condoleezza Rice has done.
Taylor then introduced the inspiring stories of women who have changed the history of human rights including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, opera singer Marian Anderson and the first woman millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker.
Although Women in History was the title, Taylor focused much of her speech on the future. She said she wants to take what it means to be a black woman today and fast forward to the woman she will be in the future.
What kind of vision
in the context of the world for which we live today
do we have? she asked.
When I got my first AARP in the mail I was stupefied! she said. The audience laughed. It was like an instant messenger from God saying
'You lived the better part of your life.' I had to ask
'How can I maximize my future?'
Taylor shared some lessons she learned from AARP that she felt would help black women today. One of these lessons was Let go of being tired.
To wrap up her speech, Taylor said, We can aim to be a phenomenal woman where you can define and create yourself instead of being created by others.
The event was sponsored by the Delta Phi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, founded in 1958 with the aim of supporting the needs and concerns of black women at Ohio University.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Vice President Erin Joyner said she wanted Taylor to speak after hearing she gives you chills when she speaks.
She is inspiring because she pushes and motivates me to 'go get 'em
Alpha Kappa Alpha President Shané Marshall said. It doesn't matter what color or gender we are
but it's about the go -what we strive to be.
Taylor earned her master's degree and Ph.D in communications at OU after completing her bachelor's degree at Middle Tennessee State.
