Menah’s Meditation: March for the Women of Today and Tomorrow

Happy March, Hokies!

As we spring into a new month—hopefully warmer and dryer than the last one!—I find myself thinking about women: the many ways of being a woman, the intersections of womanhood and race, disability, sexuality, and socioeconomics that make a singular experience impossible to distill. The diversity of our experiences as women not only narrates our histories but provides a foundation for infinite possible futures.

National Women’s History Month began as Women’s History Week in March 1982. Following a petition by the National Women’s History Project five years later, Congress designated March 1987 the first Women’s History Month. Presidents have issued the proclamation of Women’s History Month since 1995 – not even 30 years ago.

As we celebrate the achievements of women in the United States throughout March, women across the country and world observe several religious holy days – Ramadan (Islam), Naw-Ruz (Baháʼí), Purim (Judaism), and Easter (Christianity), to name a few. March also concludes with Transgender Day of Visibility (Mar. 31), which celebrates and raises awareness for the contributions of transgender people, including trans women. These observances provide but a few glimpses into how women live, find and build community, seek divinity, and express themselves to the world.

I am proud to be a Black woman in academia; this has also been an even more difficult than usual year for those of us living at these intersections. From losses like Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey at Lincoln University to the forced resignation of Claudine Gay at Harvard University, the pressure that has always been there seems to be intensifying. How do we continue to steward the stories of women of color if our sisters aren’t allowed to hold the pen themselves?

Thankfully, we have healing hours and check-ins, and I am hopeful this year’s Faculty Women of Color in the Academy (FWCA) conference will allow us to come together and build essential networks. I founded FWCA in 2012 to make space for those of us who, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, only represent 12% of full-time faculty in higher education (2021). I am excited for the in-person and virtual conference this year on April 11-14, 2024. 

Together is the only way forward—may we all find and create connection, empowerment, and inspiration through community and collective influence.