The Woman's Place

This is Cicely Tyson!.   I remember seeing her first in Roots in her role as Binta, Kinta Kinte's mother.  I would later see her other movies, Sounder and then Sweet Justice where she played the role of Carrie Grace Battle, the no-nonsense lawyer who runs a progressive law firm. Watching that movie got me nursing the ambition of becoming a lawyer! Cicely was born in Harlem in 1924, to Caribbean immigrant parents, Frederica Tyson, a domestic worker, and William Augustine Tyson, who worked as a carpenter, painter, and at any other jobs he could find. Both her parents were born in Nevis, the sister island of St. Kitts. Her father arrived in New York City at age 21 and was processed at Ellis Island on August 4, 1919. Cicely Tyson was discovered by a photographer for Ebony magazine and became a popular fashion model before she became an actress.  In 1963, she became the first Black actress to star in a television drama when she starred in the celebrated series East Side/West S...

 Despite the challenges in the world, a lot is happening. Believe it or not, women are taking over. Whoever  coined the phrase, "the future is female" definitely saw tomorrow. Women are coming, period!

There is still a lot to live for. While watching a short video of a man named Paul who has lived 52 years bedridden by Polio but achieved his dream of being a lawyer and a good one at that, I understood that life is what we make of it and this quote by George Eliot explains it beautifully. You can start right now! Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda  . Be inspired!

This poem from Alice Walker is everything this Monday morning. A lice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she wrote the novel The Color Purple, for which she won the National Book Award for hardcover fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Be Inspired! “Expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. become a stranger To need of pity Or, if compassion be freely Given out Take only enough Stop short of urge to plead Then purge away the need. Wish for nothing larger Than your own small heart Or greater than a star; Tame wild disappointment With caress unmoved and cold Make of it a parka For your soul. Discover the reason why So tiny human midget Exists at all So scared unwise But expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise.” ―  alice walker

Like I mentioned last week, 2020 was a year of all sorts. Alas, 2021 is here and feels like a huge window of opportunity. A fresh start with the same challenges, and I want us to be ready to tackle them head-on. Let's grab 2021 by the horns and make the most of it, even though the pandemic is still here with us and may be for a long time to come. So instead of dwelling on what won't change, let's focus on what CAN change: you. Your professional and personal development. You can succeed  because  of 2020, not  despite  it.  Lindsay Gilder, the  Editorial  Producer of Thomas Insights captures the following helpful ideas quite beautifully. 1. Start Networking Many of us are now well-acquainted with remote work and don't plan to change anytime soon. As such, you won't be running into coworkers or upper-level management next to the water cooler, or meeting anyone interesting at an industry-specific conference.  However, you CAN work on your online netw...

Excuses are the holes through which result coins slip through to oblivion. Many times, we find ourselves giving excuses about tasks we are meant to work on. It is like the escape route for the lazy mind. I believe that the best time to take action is when you should. In this new year, beyond the decision to take action, take action and now!  May this words by Florence  Nightingale inspire you!  “I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.”    Florence Nightingale  (1820-1910), known as “The Lady With the Lamp,” was a British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. Be  Inspired!

I am particularly proud of these beautiful and brilliant ladies.  Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, whose tenure formally commenced on January 1, 2021, has assumed office, becoming the 4th Chief Executive and first female to occupy the position since the inception of the bank in 1988. Onyeali-Ikpe was formerly the Executive Director, Lagos and South-West Directorate of the bank and has been an integral part of management in the last 6 years. She is vastly experienced and has spent over 30 years working across various banks including Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Citizens International Bank/Enterprise Bank, where she held several management positions in Legal, Treasury, Investment Banking, Retail/Commercial Banking and Corporate Banking. The Board of Directors of Starzs Investments Company Limited (SICL) has approved the appointment of Ms Iroghama Obuoforibo as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company with effect from February 1, 2021.Obuoforibo’s appointment is...

  She was my confidant, my best friend, she was my go to one stop shop for anything at all. She was my mother. I am yet to know a woman so passionate and resilient. An embodiment of beauty and brilliance. She was emphatically an exceptional human being. I was rarely privileged to call her mother. Her death has been my greatest pain and regret. I don't know if the pain will ever go away but I am persuaded that her absence has spurred me on to build my faith in God for I had faith in her faith in God. I do not have words weighty enough to describe this woman I once called mother nor the pain of her loss. I can however, say that she lives on in my heart. Ezinne m, Udo!

I am almost certain that most people wished 2020 ended quicker than it did, really. It was such a year! Most times, I am not even sure how to describe the year, full of all sorts, the good, the bad and the ugly. Anyway, I am thankful for this brand new year. I am optimistic, looking forward to soaring. Take a chance on your gifts and talents, let them speak to the world through you. This is the year I am definitely doing just that! Happy New year from all of us at the Woman's Place!