The assignment was straight forward – write a research paper about an influential American.

I was attending classes at Wharton County Junior College in Richmond about 15 years ago, and decided to write my paper about Barbara Bush.

The former First Lady was someone who used her political position to shine a light on important issues – education and reading. As an avid reader, I was happy someone in power could perhaps convince young people to pick up a book or newspaper.

After we turned our papers in, I was standing in the hall talking with three young classmates. The conversation turned to strong female leaders, and it was clear they weren’t familiar with strong women on the national level.

I asked them to name an influential woman from the last 50 years. They thought and then one girl blurted out an answer.

“Betsy Ross,” she said confidently.

“That was over 100 years ago and doesn’t count,” her friend replied.

They laughed, but I groaned inside.

These three had no clue who’d paved the path for them so they could go to college and pursue the career of their choice.

With the death of two influential women this past week, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and former Fulshear mayor Viola Randle, I started thinking about the women who made it possible for other women to go after their dreams.

Over the years, I’ve had opportunities to interview leaders in our community, and I sought out women who’d led the way.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Randle at her home. She was unpretentious, funny and sharp as a tack.

She helped run a business and a city as an African-American woman, and she opened the door for many young women in this county.

Other women stepped up back in the 1990s in this area. Lupe Uresti served on the Rosenberg City Council and was mayor of Rosenberg in 1992. Dorothy Ryan also served on the council and was mayor in the 1990s.

I also had the good fortune to interview and develop a friendship with the late Kathleen Lindsey. She was one of the few women in her law class at the University of Texas, was instrumental in starting the Fort Bend County Library system and an elementary school was named after her.

Most of us have strong women in our family histories, women who overcome great odds, often as part of their every-day life.

Our family is no exception.

My great-great grandmother came to America because she knew there was no future for her family in Lebanon. She saw poverty and wars and believed she could make a better life for her and her sons in the United States.

Her husband refused to leave his home country, so she left without him. She came to America, sold apples and did whatever she needed to do to keep her sons fed and clothed.

So many women walk this path every single day, most without thanks or others knowing about their quiet strength and positive influence in their families’ lives.

We should tell our nieces, granddaughters and daughters about the strong women in our families. As mothers and aunts and fathers and uncles, it’s our responsibility to make sure our girls believe they can be a vocal part of society and be the change makers the pioneers in our families and community showed us was possible.

If we want our daughters to realize how powerful they are, they need to know they have a solid foundation on which to build. They need to realize the dreams they have can come true if they are strong and refuse to give their seat up to someone else because of the color of their skin, their gender, their religion or their beliefs.

It’s time for our girls to realize the strength they have inside themselves.

Help them find that grit.

Tell those stories.

 

This article was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.