Written by Catelyn Devlin, LMSW – Director of Grants & Contracts
March 8th, 2021 is the International Women’s Day – a holiday nestled into the U.S. Women’s History Month, always in March. In reflection of this month, it strikes me how much inspiration I draw from the women who went before me: women who have been advocates for the wellbeing of vulnerable people – advocates for social change, always before the world felt ready to meet their demands. These women have shown us the cataclysmic power of raising a voice and have drawn portraits for us on what a better world could look like. They have modeled and paved a way for the advocacy we provide Tarrant County children in foster care daily.
My advocacy at CASA was made possible and largely given form by the women advocates who went before me.
Queen Esther, who stopped a genocide by speaking up to a powerful ruler (who was recently celebrated by some of our CASA staff and volunteers during the Jewish holiday Purim)
Lozen, Chiricahua Apache (born ~1840), a warrior whose skills allowed her to steer her people away from danger and whose bravery equipped her to battle on their behalf. Her brother Victorio described her as a “shield to her people”
Ida B. Wells (born 1862) , who gathered important facts through her journalism and activism which shed light on the Southern Horrors of post-Civil War lynchings of Black men and lynch laws in the American South. When asked to march at the back of the 1913 Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., Wells creatively resisted and marched with the White Illinois delegation
Irena Sendler (born 1910), a Polish social worker who smuggled 2,500 Jewish children across illegal borders to save their lives during the Holocaust
Marsha P. Johnson (born 1945), whose brickwork activism led to increased equal rights for millions of LGBTQ+ Americans (including over 30% of foster youth who are LGBTQ+)
The women farmers of India, who are currently leading the world’s largest protests – and possibly the largest protest in all human history – over an inhumane court ruling that would exploit vulnerable and essential farm workers
These women have demanded more, have demanded better, from those around them. It’s often made others uncomfortable, has led to name calling at best or assassination at worst. Thankfully we don’t face the same threats these women did, but as advocates, we demand more for Tarrant County children. When we demand better for the kids we serve, we’re having difficult conversations with others and might be seen as “problematic” at best, much like these women advocates experienced. However, their bravery to speak up on behalf of the vulnerable and to build better, more equitable world leaves a model to inspire us all. Let’s pick up the torch and continue in their legacy as we advocate for Tarrant County children in foster care.
How are you honoring and celebrating Women’s History this month? We’d love to hear from you!