A quick history lesson with regards to Women’s Day…
Internationally, the world celebrates Women’s Day on the 8th March each year. It is a global day celebrating social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
In South Africa, we celebrate Women’s Day on the 9th August. It commemorates the 1956 national march of 20 000 South African women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to deliver a petition against local legislation that required African people to carry what was known as the “pass”.
I find it remarkable that such a large group of women came together in support of such an important cause, and in support of one another. Imagine how much more we could achieve today if we followed such an example!
Today, as a woman, especially in the corporate world (but even in my daughter’s school) we seem fixated on competing with one another as opposed to championing for one another.
This women’s day let’s really celebrate the women in our lives, not just our daughters and mothers, but also our colleagues, suppliers, customers. We can learn so much from one another, we all have different strengths that make us successful – can you fathom how strong your network could be if you pulled on all these different strengths.
I leave you with these two quotes:
“You can tell who the strong women are. They are the ones building one another up instead of tearing each other down.” Unknown.
“Call me crazy, but I love to see people happy and succeeding. Life is a journey, not a competition.” Unknown.
Happy Women’s Day!