Our Brave Foremothers: Celebrating 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous Women Who Changed the Course of History

by Rozella Kennedy, Joelle Avelino (Illustrator)

Inspired by her own foremothers’ legacies and the friendships formed throughout her life, Rozella Kennedy centers and celebrates the stories of 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women—both famous and little-known—who changed the course of US history.
 
In the beautiful pages of Our Brave Foremothers , discover an intergenerational, intercultural bouquet of Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women lifted into the significance that they deserve. • From Etel Adnan to Mary Jones, Thelma Garcia Buchholdt to Pura Belpré to Zitkála-Šá, here are 100 women of color who left a lasting mark on United States history. Including both famous and little-known names, the thoughtful profiles and detailed portraits of these women herald their achievements and passions. • Following each entry is a prompt that asks you to connect your life to theirs, an inspiring way to understand their influence and the power of their stories. To consider on a deeper level the devotedness of Clara Brown, the fearlessness of Jovita Idár, the guts of Grace Lee Boggs, or the selflessness of Martha Louise Morrow Foxx. And to be as brave as we each can be—and then beyond that.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Feminism, Biography

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super quick and easy to read and I learned SO much!!

[Jeanene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each brief bio was a teaser to want to find out more about these fascinating women. Most included a personal quote. All included a reflective journal prompt or creative activity prompt. A must for young students to learn more and expand their knowledge base not just about the women featured, but about their influence in a variety of ways.

[LynnDee (LynnDee's Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of formidable women who have gone largely unacknowledged due to the color of their skin and their gender. There were a lot of women that I had not heard of before, which I think was the point, but it definitely made me want to look up more information about them. I also really liked the prompt at the end of each profile to get the reader thinking and reflecting. If I was a journaling type of girlie I would have eaten that up. Definitely one to add on your women's history shelf!

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of so many women have been lost to history — particularly BIPOC women. Thankfully, there are books like this to help bring their stories and accomplishments back to life.

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just in case some people didn't know about Madam C.J. Walker, before reading this book, she didn't patent hair straightening tools nor advocated for European standards of beauty.

[kim baccellia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What worked: Great collection of 100 mini-bios of diverse women that changed history. This is perfect for those who want to know more about the contributions of women in history. Even more, these are stories of multicultural women that history books tend to forget.

I'm a huge fan of history, especially ones that share the stories of women. These include BIPOC women who fought for women's rights; civil rights; and indigenous rights.

Here's a glimpse of some women that are highlighted:

Catarina de San Juan whose outfit inspired the china poblana, the traditional dress style of Mexico

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, an early twentieth-century suffragist who believed in women's equality

Bridget "Biddy" Mason- born into enslavement and walked on foot to the Utah Territory. She later fought for the rights of her family to move to California, where slavery was illegal and won.

Jovita Idar who fought against "Juan Crow' cruelties in Texas. One of her sayings, "Educate a woman, and you educate a family," rings true today.

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latine/x woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court.

There's other equally fascinating stories of other women throughout this educational book. The summaries of each woman are bite-sized and also include questions at the end for readers to answer. Most also have personal quotes. The illustrations add to this engaging biography.

Insightful glimpses into multicultural women and the importance they played in history. Highly recommend. Perfect for classroom discussions on civil and women's rights.

Originally posted: https://www.yabookscentral.com/our-br...

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I marked this book as Read, but truly I know that I will be reading it again and again -- sometimes to my nieces and sometimes just on my own for inspiration!
Rozella Kennedy has profiled some amazing, accomplished, creative and tenacious women and highlighted their achievements in science, art, politics, and many other fields. Some are well known -- like Dolores Huerta, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer and Sonia Sotomayor. Others have rarely been written about -- like Kalpana Chawla, a crew member of the space shuttle Columbia, Mary Richards, a formerly enslaved woman who became a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War and Yuri Kochiyama, who was incarcerated during World War II simply for being Japanese American and was at her friend Malcolm X's side when he was assassinated.
In clear, engaging language with strong, colorful portraits of each woman -- Kennedy and illustrator Joelle Avelino have created a great resource that will educate and inspire!

[Mary Keen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully published book with lovely watercolors of various very accomplished non-Anglo women in fields such as art, writing, science, medicine, and many more talents. Most of the women and girls have not been remembered elsewhere.

I've already gone thru the book once and discovered some amazing stories, so want to read it again. Some especially IMO memorable women (of the many) are: EMMA PING LUM, ROSE FORTUNE. ADA BLACKJACK, IDA B. WELLS, WILMA MANKILLER, BRIDGET "BIDDY" MASON, MIMI ONES, REBECCA LEE CRUMPLER, HARRIET TUBMAN, MITSUYE ENDO, SOJOURNER TRUTH, SONO OSATO, SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, ALTHEA GIBSON, XUE JINQIN, and the contemporary Justice SONIA SOTOMAYOR.

i think this book should be on every school bookshelf! I'm tempted to buy one for my home library!

(I'm sure there was a reason for the order in which the women are described, but not sure what it was?)

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, each mini history about each woman was interesting. I was a bit disappointed overall with the lack of diversity, as well as the lack of research. About 75% of the book is African-American women. Also arguably one of the most famous people featured in this book, Harriet Tubman, she couldn’t even get her birthdate right. The author put she was born between 1820 and 1822 - a whole two years range!? Especially considering she was born in March 1822…

I would recommend Notable Native Peoples: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers & Changemakers over this book.

[April]

Ended & return it. The black, Asian, Hispanic and indigenous women selected lived fascinating lives. The stories told about their lives needed more depth and character to do them justice. I’ve read much more interesting, better written jr biographies of historical people. Wonderful premise. It is a starting point. it did prompt me to read more about them elsewhere. not because the stories in the book caught my interest because I felt there had to so much more story than I got from this book.
P. 70

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of the book says it all! Extremely well-written short bios of 100 women who are/were change makers through America's history. There are names we all recognize and many more that we may have never heard of but after reading you have a new appreciation and admiration for the strength of women. I would not classify this as a "page turner" but more of an introspective - if Rozella Kennedy found 100 women to write about, how many more are out there who's stories need to be told?

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction into these ladies' lives. The illustrations are nice. The only gripe I have is that many of these women were artists, and it would have been nice to see some of their work featured alongside their biographies.

[OneDayI'll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. I'd love to see it in classrooms and school libraries, too. What an amazing collection of women rebels, leaders, journalists, teachers and civil rights activists. I'd say middle school levels and up would definitely benefit from access to books like this.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5✨

An informative and enjoyable text that also took me a while to get through. While each of the tw0-page profiles is interesting in its own right, the format doesn't necessarily draw you in and encourage rapid reading. The art is beautiful and the history is so important, so I do still recommend it.

[Sequella Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent bios of a wide variety of women of all ethnicities. The little reflective boxes for the reader ( hopefully students) are very creative.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to some amazingly brave women in history!

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a feminist teacher's dream! there's a little creative thinking activity after each entry!

[Liz Bieler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting, inspiring stories for readers of any age.

This exquisitely-written, beautifully-illustrated book gave me an opportunity to discover many of history's unsung heroines of color. Stories of Asian, Black, Latin, and Indigenous women are here to inspire people of color and their allies. Ideal for children and adults who wish to expand their horizons.

Each vignette is several pages, so it's easy to read no matter how much time you have, and you can pick up where you left off. The women in these pages beat the odds to make a difference in our world. I find it uplifting and highly recommend!