Every day we have to be conscious, every day we have to celebrate and broadcast the news about women, girls, people, those who have no platform from which to speak their needs.
I purposely did not post yesterday for International Women’s Day but my mind and heart were heavy thinking about the vast majority of women all over the world who don’t know of this day, and whose daily life is a toil, a real effort to have breath.
My heart feels constricted when I think about the vast exploitation of people, and in particular girls in the Congo in virtual slavery under the Chinese regime. I think of girls all over the African continent, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia and even in some parts of Europe who are not being educated, who are vulnerable to rape, forced marriage, random acts of violence both physically and emotionally.
I mourn that such beauty and vitality are being squashed every minute somewhere in the world, and that the contribution that these girls could make to improve our world will not be realized.
Celebrating International Women’s day means we have to broaden the focus so the issues that impact indigent and poor women in rural areas as well as urban areas are addressed with the same vigor and attention as issues of mainly white, middle-class women.
Yes, let’s celebrate International women’s day, and let each of us take a specific issue or geographic location and promote the welfare of women in that community.
Today I celebrate my 88 year old mother who is still my heroine, 
and who showed me a lived example of helping others less fortunate, who fought to be herself in Jamaica at a time when dark shinned proud women were not even allowed to work in banks despite their qualification.
and who showed me a lived example of helping others less fortunate, who fought to be herself in Jamaica at a time when dark shinned proud women were not even allowed to work in banks despite their qualification. I am fighting because that attitude still prevails today hence the wide-spread use of bleaching cream and artificial hair weaves by women from the working class community in Jamaica in the hope that being lighter with long hair, they will stand a chance, get ahead, and even be considered beautiful.
Every day we have to celebrate International Women’s Day until these beliefs and attitude are eradicated and women are not discriminated against based on their address, the color of their skin, the length of their hair, their sexual preference — their gender.
Celebrating International Women’s Day means all girls and women have true and real opportunities to be themselves, to love their own skins, and excel in whatever areas their passion soars.
Opal Palmer Adisa 