Last month, the world celebrated Women’s History Month - an annual time to highlight the accomplishments and contributions of women in society, both in history and currently. We at the Sentinel Sun would like to take this opportunity to highlight just a few of the many women making history with their work in art and activism today.
1. Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay is an acclaimed filmmaker and documentarian who has made significant strides in her career in the last few years; her two collaborations with Netflix, “When They See Us” and “13th”, along with her 2014 feature film Selma, have become staple pieces for learning and unlearning during the recent growth of the Black Lives Matter movement. DuVernay has rightfully cemented her place in history, being the first Black female director to have a film (Selma, 2014) nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
2. Aaron Philip
20-year-old Aaron Philip was drawn to pursue a career in modelling at a young age upon noticing the severe lack of representation of trans women of colour, as well as disabled women, in the fashion industry. Philip, who came out as trans in 2018 and has cerebral palsy, has already made history early on in her career, becoming the first Black, transgender, and physically disabled model in the major modelling industry, but her impressive body of work above all has cemented her place as one to watch in the modelling world.
3. MaryV Benoit
Guatemalan-American photographer MaryV Benoit is one of the foremost queer visual artists in mainstream photography. Her candid work focuses on intimacy and human connection through an LGBTQ+ lens, creating honest and touching portraits; most notably, her 2020 series You’re The One Who Holds Me Tight, in collaboration with her sibling Kénta Ch’umil, explores through candid photography the connection between queer people and their chosen families.
4. Indya Moore
Actress Indya Moore rose to prominence in 2018, when they were cast in Pose, an FX show about 1980s ball culture. The series, which made history having the most transgender characters/actors of any scripted television show, allowed Moore to share their talents, voice, and vulnerability with a larger audience, leading them to become a significant figure in the modern-day movements of Black, queer, trans, and non-binary visibility. In their own words, “I hope through people seeing me exercise my unapologetic autonomous self, that they also feel inspired, leaning on their own understanding of themselves a little bit, and that being okay.”
5. Djali Brown-Cepeda
Djali Brown-Cepeda is known as the founder of Nuevayorkinos, a digital archive with the intent of documenting, preserving, and celebrating Latinx history and culture in New York. Through this project, Brown-Cepeda, a native New Yorker, has created a space for Latinx-Americans to “share [their] stories, support one another, be seen, heard, and feel like [they] matter”. In her own words, “I’d love for this project to serve as a reminder for all the Latinxs that have existed — we have contributed to the social fabric of this city and nation.”
6. Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet to deliver a poem at a presidential inauguration, is known for her poem “The Hill We Climb”, but has been a prominent young figure of the current renaissance in Black art, merging poetry with social activism; in her own words, “Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change”. Her poetry, largely inspired by influential Black poets before her, has moved Americans and created a voice of possibility for the beginning of the post-Trump era.
Though Women’s History Month is a great time to remember the accomplishments and achievements of women in society, all year round we should be acknowledging and celebrating what the women of today are doing for our world, in the arts and beyond.
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