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Celebrating Women Everywhere

March 8, 2013 | Julie Arostegui

Today is International Women’s Day, a global day to celebrate the achievement of women. Much of my work focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. I thought about writing about the frustrations of the past year - the policy issues, the attacks on women’s’ rights, the persistent gender based violence, the gender politics that seem to have taken us back to a different era, the double challenges faced by women with disabilities - and the advances that women have made in spite of them.

Instead, I just want to recognize all of the beautiful, strong women in the world. In my professional and personal lives I interact with all kinds of women, women who have lived through all sorts of circumstance – some beyond imagination. But I am constantly inspired by all of the amazing women that I know and the woman that life has led me to be. We are individuals, mothers, lovers, partners, friends, survivors, supporters, workers. We are warriors. We face obstacles and we overcome them. We make mistakes and we learn from them. We live with passion and conviction.

Earlier this week, AAPD gave one of its two Hearne Leadership Awards to Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt, who personifies the strength of women and the potential of women with disabilities. Paralyzed from the waist down since she was an infant, Anjali is a two-time Paralympian in the sport of wheelchair racing, an advocate for the needs of people with disabilities, and a public speaker. She holds a PhD in Human Resource Education. Through the adversity she faced because of her disability she developed a drive and determination that she has used in every facet of her life. Her life motto is “Dream. Drive. Do.”

Anjali is an inspiration and a light in the disability community. May all of us, everywhere, continue to Dream, Drive, and Do. Then we will never stop being amazed by our achievements.

Happy International Women’s Day.