Celebrate Women’s History Month With These Amazing Unsung Heroes
It’s Women’s History Month, and what is a better way to celebrate women’s history than talking about the accomplishments of unsung heroes.
One hero some don’t know about, who has been impactful on the visual representation of black women in the entertainment field, is Deun Ivory. Ivory is a photographer, writer, and illustrator that centers her work on black women.
A work of hers that mostly everyone is familiar with is the cover for Summer Walker’s album, Still Over It. Ivory was also a former art director for a mediation platform called Black Girl in Om and a co-founder for an affirmation lifestyle brand for women of color called, Lifestyle with Ivory + Ash. She recently created a short film, Black Women are Worthy, where she talks about the importance and love of a Black woman. The funds from the short film is used towards her nonprofit organization, the body: a home for love.
When talking about her process when it comes to her projects, Ivory mentions in an interview with Bazaar, “[When you approach each project, what is the process like?]… What am I communicating? How is what I’m communicating resonating with the people I want it to resonate with? And from the writing standpoint…That was such a spiritual experience because I prayed, and I was like, “God, I don’t know what to say. I do consider myself to be a vessel. I want to be an instrument and, like, you know what? I don’t know. Give me the word.”
Ivory stated, “I just thought about the experiences of Black women. Thinking of people like Serena Williams, who spoke about being pregnant and not being listened to by her doctor. Thinking of other Black women who have told their horrific stories of constantly being neglected. Thinking of our needs not being met. How can I prioritize our needs? How do I create this new reality where our needs are constantly being met? Where we’re being seen? Where we’re feeling loved? Where we’re being celebrated?”
To progress: create your path, do your work and bring that to your manager. If they don’t respond well with that, LEAVE. Find another job. 🙌🏽 Erica Joy Baker #LWTSUMMIT pic.twitter.com/ujSsbl9fm8
— Queersilver (@QueerSilver) March 2, 2018
Another unsung hero is Erica Joy Baker who is most known for her advocacy of equal pay. Baker is currently a Chief Technology Officer at DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee), and she has previously been employed at Google. A few years back, Baker made headlines when she published spreadsheets divulging salaries at Google. Employees listed their wages and used it to advocate for increased compensation at google. Baker continues to advocate for equal pay across the industry at various tech companies.
Breaking barriers panel with Pam Grier and Erica Joy Baker at #SVCC2017
— Wonder_Jean (@Jean_of_Asgard) April 23, 2017
Very interesting, enjoyable and entertaining. pic.twitter.com/2eyS6pU4Xs
She now spends her time outside making sure companies value their diverse employees. Baker is also a board member for Girls Develop It, a nonprofit organization that encourages women to learn software development skills, and a co-founder for Project Include, a nonprofit organization to encourage companies to promote diversity and inclusion.
Superb day with our @TMALowerSchool class, funded by @verizon! Our 3rd and 4th graders finished their brick craft trailer and our kindergarteners worked on their @ozobots, learning about color codes. Our STEM icon was Erica Joy Baker! #STEM #CSForSocialJustice #stemkidsnyc pic.twitter.com/Ufz5XM641f
— STEM Kids New Jersey (@stemkidsnj) March 9, 2022
Deun Ivory and Erica Joy Baker have made significant strides towards women’s empowerment in their respective fields. While we are still learning more about Ivory and Baker, there are still many unsung heroes that need recognition for their work. While there are more unsung heroes we should be learning about.
