Things I Found // Firsts Edition
Hello,
Welcome to Things I Found, a newsletter that celebrates the random, the interesting, the useful, the informative, the beautiful, the sometimes difficult - and everything in between.
All good? Let’s go.
The thing I found
Time Magazine’s Firsts
I found this…
A much-needed reminder.
Why?
As Kamala Harris becomes the ‘first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office on a major party ticket’ (NYT) in America, a quote of hers surfaced. It goes:
My mother had a saying: ‘You may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last’
The quote reminded me of Firsts, a project by Time Magazine which celebrated women who were the first at something, such as: First woman to own and produce her own talk show, First openly gay woman to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company, First woman to become president of the New York Stock Exchange, First tennis player to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the open era.
My addition to the list would be Madame Curie - first person to win a Nobel Prize in two different categories - and Halle Berry - the first woman of colour to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, and to this day, still the only one. I highly recommend to watch her raw, honest acceptance speech with a tissue nearby - it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
Although overall very American-centric, Firsts is a list that shows how much we’ve accomplished - and how much we still have to fight for. Get lost on the website, digging into the stories of all these amazing firsts.
To the women reading this - you might be the first, and often the only, where you are. Make sure that when you open that door, you leave it open for others to follow you.
To the men - look around. If everybody in that decision-making environment looks and thinks like you, actively seek for others to enrich your world.
How was it found?
I first heard about the project in 2017 - and the quote that inspired this today was found on The Female Quotient’s Instagram.
That’s it. Have a good day & until the next one.
Much care,
Nicole Ingra
Strategist for hire, writer, host of shrtcttng.
(& someone who wants to inspire more confidence, kindness & curiosity in the world.)
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