By Darcel Rockett
Chicago Tribune
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Tanya Christian, assistant editor at Essence, said the editorial team limited the list of impactful women to 100, but it was hard since so many people are making a mark on their communities in a measurable way.
Chicago Tribune
Just how “woke” is Chicago?
According to Essence Magazine, several Chicagoans are so “woke” their “wokeness” landed them on the second annual “Woke 100”, a list of black women who make it a point to push for change, shatter glass ceilings and light fires for equality.
The May issue features the likes of “The Chi” creator Lena Waithe, writer and sociologist Eve Ewing, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, activist Ruby Pinto, wellness expert and Black Girl In Om founder Lauren Ash and tech entrepreneur Tiffany Mikell, co-founder of Appolition, an app that allows people to give the change from their everyday purchases to help the incarcerated afford bail.
Tanya Christian, assistant editor at Essence, said the editorial team limited the list of impactful women to 100, but it was hard since so many people are making a mark on their communities in a measurable way.
“All the women on the list, which include the women in Chicago, have done something that has really revolutionized the way black women live life,” she said. “For instance, Tiffany, who I spoke to earlier this year about an app that she was doing, Appolition, took her knowledge of the tech industry and used that for such good in the community. It’s just amazing.”
The issue, also showcases nationally known names like Tarana Burke of the #MeToo movement, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, “Black Panther” costume designer Ruth Carter and “Scandal” star Kerry Washington, who graces the cover and sheds light on the Time’s Up movement in her interview.
Christian said that while there are celebrities on the list (singer Rihanna, and Chloe and Halle Bailey of the TV show “Grown-ish”), it also highlights names that have gone under the radar, such as the first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, a Harvard freshman and founder of One Pen One Page, and young people like Mari Copeny who stepped up to be an activist after the Flint, Mich., water crisis.
Christian said the Woke list was harder to whittle down this year since so many women and girls “in the age of Trump” are making moves to effect change.
“There are even more change agents out there now because so many people have realized that they’re moved to do something for the community,” she said. “There are so many women fighting the good fight.”
