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Women have made strides in the world over the latter part of the 20th century. Growing up in New York in the late 1960's and early 1970's, I was proud to watch women such as Bella Abzug rise to amazing levels of authority. They called her Hurricane Bella and Mother Courage. She was the first Jewish woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. She founded organizations in the United States such as "Women Strike For Peace", a group whose agenda was nuclear disarmament, and the National Women's Political Caucus, a group dedicated to supporting women in politics. She was a pioneer for women's rights in America.

At the same time, in Israel, Ukraine born Golda Meir was elected to the office of Prime Minister. She had served the majority of her life in politics, fighting for the rights of Israel and Jews throughout the world. She retired in 1965. At age 70, she came out of retirement, to assume the elected position of Prime Minister in 1969. These women were and still are role models in the western world and the middle-east.
In January of 2006, Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson was freely elected to the position of President of Liberia. She is known as the "Iron Lady", and after reading multiple counts of her life in politics and fighting for the rights of the Liberian people, a truer name has never been spoken. A mother and a grandmother, an exile and patriot, she truly encompasses everything a woman, or man for that matter, can truly be in this world.
As a young adult, I learned a little of the history of Liberia. I knew the country was formed originally as colony of the United States. Whether the reasons for establishing this colony were self-serving or truly magnanimous, I am not sure. That is still a question that is vigorously debated in my home in the lowcountry of South Carolina. What I am sure of, is that turmoil seemed to hover over this republic like a storm cloud ready to break. It's a testament to the power and drive of the people of Liberia that, after such a long history of men blinded by power and authority, and corporations raping the country & enslaving the people, a woman who was exiled and incarcerated for treason, simply for speaking her mind, was elected to power.
I ask myself, why is it that I had not heard of Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson until now. I am intelligent, and well informed. At least I believe so. I followed the tribulations of apartheid and Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Ignorance is not such a wonderful thing.
When I decided

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