ThinkHer

Clara Belle Williams was the first African-American graduate of New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. To understand the significance of this, we need to look more closely at what it was like to be a black woman in the early 1900s. It was a time when the very idea of education was a privilege withheld by both race and gender. It was also a world where information technology was still in its infancy, so there was no Google, YouTube or online classes. Knowledge was confined behind classroom or library doors, allowing entry to only those deemed worthy of access. To learn meant persistence: walking miles to schools that lacked resources, relying on scraps of secondhand books, and enduring open hostility from institutions that insisted you didn’t belong. In that climate, the act of studying was not just about curiosity; it was an act of defiance.  Clara Belle Drisdale Williams,  From the exhibition:  New Mexico’s African American Legacy: Visible, Vital,...

In today's society, teaching is often a preferred profession for women as it is perceived to have a work-life balance. Additionally, it also doesn't threaten the traditional gender roles of nurturing and caregiving. But in 1848, when Savitribai Phule, India's first female teacher, took up teaching, she was stepping into something dangerous. She was threatened and attacked not just for teaching but for daring to teach those who weren't supposed to learn. Savitribai Phule was born on  3rd January 1831 in Naigaon, Maharashtra. These were the times when access to learning was restricted by gender and caste. Patriarchal customs, incorrect religious interpretations, and colonialism ensured that access to education rested in the hands of a few men. Savitribai, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, challenged every institution-family, patriarchy,  religion, custom, and state that denied education for all. At the age of 9, Savitribai married 13-year-old Jyotirao Phule and moved...