Ladies, please join me in taking a power trip! Let's begin by embracing our influential status and never playing it down. Some of us, regardless of what we have achieved are still reluctant to embrace power… let alone let it be known we desire power. Whether its power to change policy or power to make "big bucks," or power to have people listen when we speak… for some power is a dirty word. What is worse, we often don’t support other women in their attempts to gain influence and power. It might be because our culture identifies it as a masculine trait… or at least an unfeminine one. Calling a man “power hungry” often means he is ambitious in a good way. Calling a woman power hungry often means she’s selfish and shows no mercy in her climb to the top. And she almost always gets the "B-word" attached to her.
As a woman of power … I make sure I remind my children, my family and my colleagues that Black Women have always been powerful. Before Xena Warrior Princess, we had Pam Grier and Foxy Brown! Way before the power of Venus and Serena Williams … we had a young girl from the ghetto who served her way to the top of the tennis circuit, Ms. Althea Gibson. Born in
Tennessee, struck with polio at age 4, Wilma Rudolf was known as “The Fastest Woman on Earth” and became the first American woman ever to win triple gold in a single Olympics!!
Black Women Have Always Been Powerful … we've just had to fight harder, fight longer and fight a little better! From the first lady of civil rights, Mama Rosa Parks who was just not giving up her seat that day…. to Shirley Chisolm who became the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress to Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives, to our first self made Black millionaire, Madame CJ Walker!
Black Women Have Always Been Powerful … From Billy Holiday who struggled throughout her career and paid the ultimate price for the ill treatment she received as a woman who just wanted to be taken seriously for her music… to Tina Turner, who turned the tables on an abusive husband and came back to the top of the music charts, a powerful, timeless, R&B goddess!! For years Phil Donahue reined “King Supreme” on the Chicago and national talk show circuit. In 1984 he was hit by a thunderstorm from
Mississippinamed Oprah Winfrey who took her half hour local morning show to the highest rated television talk show in history!!
Black Women Have Always Been Powerful … For many years it was a struggle getting Black music on the radio and an even bigger struggle getting black announcers on the air. Today, is it any wonder, a young woman went from being an overnight announcer, where she and her son sometimes slept on the floor, to not only owning that station, but to become the chairperson of the largest African American owned radio group in the country… Radio One-Superwoman, Cathy Hughes!
Yes, Black Women Have Always Been Powerful! Remember, obstacles are always a part of the picture. If you find a path with no obstacles… then it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. Don’t be afraid to think big. Set your goals high. Imagine the results you want, then go for it! Never wait on the “big opportunity” … that once in a lifetime chance. Prepare, create your own opportunities! And, the next time you see a woman taking control, instead of saying … “Who does she think she is?? Try saying, MORE POWER TO HER!
Johnnie Walker, CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer)