I began to appreciate the power of women when I was a child. I was in constant conflict with my mother, Ola Mae Sanders. We clashed over and over. I did not prevail in any of these clashes. This woman was too powerful.
I eventually came to appreciate the power of my mother and of women in general, not because of overwhelming opposition but based on wisdom. I learned that my mother was not just wiser than I but wise beyond my understanding. I have so many stories that reflect her wisdom and power. However, I only have space for one.
My mother told me how important it was for me to trust my perceptions. I tried trusting my perceptions and ended up getting into so much trouble. I told my mother that I followed her advice, but it had not worked. She asked me to share an example of what I tried. She listened carefully. Then she said: “Son, there is a difference between perception and judgment. You are combining them. That is always a mistake. You need to separate the perception from the judgment. Your perception will be right ninety percent of the time if you trust it. Your judgment will be wrong at least half of the time. If you separate them, both percentages will go up.” I followed her new advice. I have been rewarded for a lifetime by her wisdom.
My mother was not the only woman who personally demonstrated the power of women. I was a very mean child. After a terrible incident, I concluded that I was too mean to live. My Aunt Catherine Norman Lidge, whom we called Aunt Cat, told me, “You are one mean child, but you are not too mean to live. Your mother and grandmother were just as mean as you are when they were your age. Both of them grew out of it, and you will, too.” This advice from my Aunt helped me for the rest of my life. No uncle would have told me that. In fact, I do not even remember any uncles on my mother’s side ever visiting our house. These women showed me that I, too, could change. But none of this will go down in history unless we share it. Women are powerful, but Women’s History too often goes untold.
Women’s history commenced with the beginning of time but got lost in the shuffle of men writing the history. We need Women’s History Month to help tell the powerful stories of women that go untold. Women are powerful, and Women’s History is powerful.
History is often represented as great struggle and great overcoming. Women, at least White women, were both victims of oppression and beneficiaries of oppression. That made it hard to fight oppression. But women still fought and won. Women could not even own property in most places in the United States. Women could not vote. There were great struggles and great victories.
I perceived the power of women in Harriett Tubman. She escaped from slavery and found freedom in the North. However, she risked re-enslavement by returning to slave states 19 times to help others escape slavery. No other person, man or woman, performed such feats.
I am touched by the power of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was not President of the United States, but she exercised great power as First Lady. Over and over again, she pushed for civil rights for African Americans. She pushed privately. She pushed publically. She stimulated even greater efforts by African Americans.
Women touch us from conception and birth through life to death. They touch us with their love, their caring, their sacrifice, their knowledge, their understanding, their wisdom, and their courage. They touch us all of our lives. And we don’t even know we are being touched. We sometimes go astray, but the power of women limits how far we drift and eventually draws us back to the foundations they gave us.
Women seldom have official positions of power. This country is two 228 years old, yet no woman has served as President of these United States of America. No woman has served as Vice President. Only one woman has served as head of a branch of Congress. Only a few women have held the highest positions of leadership in our state. However, the power of women still manifests itself in many ways.
I work with strong women all the time. I have a strong wife. I have strong daughters. I have strong women friends. All are fellow strugglers. I see their power in the love for family and community. I see their power in service to community and country. I see the power in their sacrifice. I see their power behind every official position they do not hold. When I don’t see their power, I feel their power. I sense their power.
When powerful history goes untold, those who follow cannot stand on it, reaching higher and seeing farther. Women’s history is powerful, but it must be told for its full power to be realized. Women’s History Month helps the stories of women to be told. Women are powerful, in spite of their history too often going untold.
EPILOGUE – I am a better person because I know that my life has been profoundly touched by women, and it continues to be touched. That is why I lift the power of women this month, the month of March, set aside to lift Women’s History. I lift all women for the power that elevates people, creates family, builds community, and constructs society. I lift all women because they point the way to a brighter future for all. Women are powerful, and their powerful history should be told year-round.
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