A day for us all

Happy Women's Day

Today was Women's day, I woke up in Franschoek, after a fabulous dinner the evening before, that I enjoyed with my family extended, including my mom, my aunt, my cousin and my sister, 4 really wonderful women.

The image above is of me and my 2 sisters, and I'm really blessed to somehow have a network of friends that are incredibly strong and talented women.... today i thought of them, my sisters, my Oumas and my mom, but i thought it was important that i should include a little about what Women's day commemorates and why its such an important day.

On 9 August 1956, 20 000 women staged a march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950. They left bundles of petitions containing more than 100 000 signatures at prime minister J.G. Strijdom's office doors. Outside they stood silently for 30 minutes, many with their children on their backs. Those who were working for Whites as nannies were carrying their white charges with them. The women sang a protest song that was composed in honour of the occasion: Wathint'Abafazi Wathint'imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock.). In the 54 years since, the phrase, or its latest incarnation:

"you strike a woman, you strike a rock"

has come to represent women's courage and strength in South Africa.

Information from here