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African women have been at the forefront in their chosen fields for years. While some have received recognition both in their home countries and abroad, others still remain as silent warriors. Below are five black women who have broken the glass ceiling and set the pace for black women around the world.
Obiageli Ezekwesli
She was the driving force behind the #BringBackOurGirls Campaign which garnered global attention even from former First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama. Forbes Woman awarded her the Social Influencer award in 2019 for this campaign.
Obiagelli Ezekwesli was one of the founding members of Transparency International. It is no wonder that through her work in transparency in the extractive sector she was nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
She has also served as the Vice-President of the World Bank for the Africa Region. Her work as an economic advisor saw her advice Presidents Paul Kagame and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on reform.
This year, she ran for president of Nigeria but stepped down due to difference in values and visions in her political party.
Wangari Maathai
The late Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
She is the founder of the Green Belt Movement which advocates for women’s rights, environmental conservation and is the largest tree-planting campaign in Africa. Wangari saw tree planting as a way of not only conserving the environment but also as a way of creating employment.
An ecologist, environmentalist, author and politician, Wangari Maathai was the first East African woman to receive a PhD. Her doctorate is in veterinary anatomy from the University of Nairobi.
She chaired the Veterinary Anatomy department and was named associate professor, the first woman to hold such positions at the university. In this position she campaigned for equal benefits for women who work in the university.
She worked with various branches of the UN in various capacities revolving around her work as an environmentalist and women’s rights advocate.
Mae Jemison
She joined university at just 16, later graduating with a degree in chemical engineering. Mae Jemison worked with NASA as an astronaut. She was the first black woman to travel into space in 1992.
Her interest in science started at a very young age. She loved dancing and took part in theatre. She managed to merge her love for science and the arts throughout her education and career.
She also studied medicine and during this time she worked in Kenya, Thailand and Cuba. Her medical career saw her working in the Peace Corps and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
After her stint at NASA, she became a college professor and is a member of various scientific organisations. She also advocates for science education and getting minority students interested in science. She is also an author having written a series of books and a memoir.
Fridah Mokaya
Fridah Mokaya is the first black woman with a PhD in Nuclear Physics in Kenya and the world. Achieving this was no easy task.
Her passion for physics started in high school where she missed the cut off to join the physics class by 2%. Through an intervention from her father and teacher, she joined the class and scored an A in Physics when she sat her KCSE.
Her troubles didn’t end there. At university, she found her grades lower than what she expected. But this didn’t stop her. She went on to graduate and join Binghamton University in the US for her master’s degree in Physics. Later, she pursued her doctorate at University of Connecticut where she was the first and only black female student.
Suzie Wokabi
Suzie Beauty Ltd was founded on the basis of creating a world-class make-up brand for African women. The brand is the first of its kind in Kenya; a product made for African women by an African woman.
Having trained in the US as a make-up artist, Suzie Wokabi came back to Kenya and found a huge gap in the beauty industry. The make-up that was available was overpriced and oftentimes counterfeit. This inspired her to fill this gap, hence the birth of Suzie Beauty.
The brand includes make-up, products and application services, and also trains make-up artists.
Suzie Beauty has garnered recognition not only in Kenya but worldwide as well. Suzie has received the Msafiri Business Award for Health and Beauty.
Internationally, Oscar-award winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has won the Suzie Beauty Zumba lipstick when she was interviewed on the Queen Latifah Show.
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