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Strong, gorgeous women!
Lumière:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
She is an acclaimed Nigerian writer. She comes from Abba in Anambra State, southeast Nigeria.
At the age of 19, she left Nigeria and moved to the United States.
Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (a profoundly moving novel about a Nigerian family struggling
under the cruelty of a raging, evangelist father), was published in 2003 and won the Best First Book award
in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, named for the flag of the short-lived Biafran nation,
is set before and during the Biafran War. It was published in 2006 and was awarded the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction.
Chimamanda is a 2008 MacArthur Fellow. [wikip.]
For links to some of her works - poetry, short stories and novel excerpts... http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/cnalinks.html
Lumière:
Simphiwe Dana
BORN in the Transkei, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Simphiwe Dana entered South African music mainstream
in 2004 with her debut album Zandisile.
Described as a young Miriam Makeba, Dana’s voice transports you to that golden era in South Africa’s history.
Her music is rich with warm harmonies from her backing vocalists and stylishly held together by her band's jazz grooves.
Simphiwe is the winner of 7 South African Music Awards (SAMA) for her two albums "Zandisile" (2004)
and "The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street" (2006) released in South Africa by Gallo Records.
She is currently performing in South Africa and Europe and preparing material for her next album due for release in 2009. [simphiwedana.com]
"Ndiredi" (from her album "Zandisile")
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK4DoHE7VF0[/youtube]
Lumière:
Meseret Defar
Born into a family of 7 in 1983 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Meseret Defar grew up as an active child
either while doing household chores or out shopping at the market. Later she started participating in running competitions
at school and completed most of the races with promising results.
At age 14, Meseret was probably one of the youngest runners to be included in the Ethiopian Banks club system in 1998.
Further, although most successful Ethiopian runners come from rural parts of the country, Messeret flourished
as a long distance runner to become the first and only female Ethiopian Olympic champion from Addis Ababa.
Messeret’s continuing achievements as an athlete are well known and include winning gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens
in the 5000m race as well as medal positions in numerous other athletic events.
Small wonder that she was voted Female World Athlete of the Year in 2007 and is rightly considered to be
one of the most promising female athletes in Ethiopia.
But Messeret’s great story isn’t all on the track field. After being selected as the Honorary National Ambassador in Ethiopia
for UNFPA in 2004, she has been active in championing the causes of women, youth and the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia.
Married to the former Junior Banks foot ball player, Tewodros Hailu, she now strives to add more to her glittering career
both as an iconic athlete and social activist. [addisconnexion.com]
Lumière:
African Herstories series contd..
Angélique Kidjo
Singer, songwriter
Kidjo was born in Cotonou, Benin. Her father, is from the Fon people of Ouidah
and her mother from the Yoruba people. By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe,
giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance.
She mixes the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of
American R&B, funk and jazz as well as European and Latin American influences.
Through her music, Angelique exalts individual cultures while underlining their universal similarities
showing that the world is far more culturally connected than it may appear. [bbc.co.uk]
Her latest album, Djin Djin was released in May of 2007.
It won Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Angelique Kidjo - Wombo Lombo
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlKquAsj6JQ[/youtube]
Lumière:
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born in central Monrovia, Liberia in 1938 and has led a distinguished career
spanning nearly four decades in the private and public domain in Liberia and internationally.
She is the current President of Liberia.
Johnson-Sirleaf is often referred to as the "Iron Lady", and she is Africa's first elected female head of state.
President Johnson Sirleaf is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders,
an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers
whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action
on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development. [wikip.]
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