1. This year marks the sixth anniversary of South Africa’s Black Mambas -- the world’s FIRST all female Anti-Poaching Unit. The badass team of thirty-six women patrol the 100,000-acre Balule Nature Reserve to protect the country’s lions, pangolin, elephants, and rhinos - whose horns can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market. “These women are part of the changing face of the male-dominated safari industry” says Deborah Calmeyer, Roar Africa’s founder and chief executive. “Without them, our wild spaces and wildlife would perish.” They also teach their children a woman’s role and contribution OUTSIDE of the house - even on the traditionally male-dominated safari.
2. Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth of the Indian Air Force made history this week, becoming the first woman to qualify for combat missions on a fighter jet. After acing the operational syllabus by flying a MiG-21 Bison aircraft from Ambala Air Force Station, the feat declared our pilot ‘Operational by Day.’ (Literally meaning fit to carry out combat missions during the day.) Along with Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi, she was one of the first women selected for the Air Force's fighter stream in 2016. The 25-year-old fighter pilot had fulfilled her childhood dream, something “only boys were expected to aspire for.”
3. In true exemplary feminsit form, Harriet Tubman’s image has begun appearing on the $20 bill despite US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announcing a no-go on the bill’s proposed redesign this week. The currency’s literal facelift, which replaces Andrew Jackson with our iconic abolitionist shero, has been made possible thanks to a “high style” stamp created by thirty-three year old NYC artist Dano Wall. Available via his Etsy shop and two stamping locations, the artist aims to have at least 5,000 stamps in circulation in the name of good ole #civildisobedience. And yes, Tubman twenties are legal...happy stamping!
4. Three teenage girls in Lagos, Nigeria have come together to change the law on child marriage in their country, where 43% of girls are married off before their eighteenth birthday. Kudirat Abiola, Temitayo Asuni, and Susan Ubogu launched NeverYourFault, a campaign that takes aim at a hypocritical clause in Section 29 of the Nigerian constitution, which states that girls under the age of eighteen cannot get married while a sub-section proclaims "any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age." Their online petition calls to raise the age of consent from eleven to eighteen years, which would criminalize the practice. To date, over 130,000 people have signed the change.org petition. Global child rights group Plan International has shown support, and Nigerian celebrities are partnering with the girls to rally support!
5. This week, Rihanna adds to her fierce resume of firsts by becoming the first woman of color to create an original brand with the French luxury conglomerate LVMH. Robyn Rihanna Fenty debuted her new luxury fashion label ‘Fenty’ on Wednesday via a pop-up shop in Paris, joining labels such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Givenchy under the LVHM umbrella-ella-ella ay (sorry, had to). The inimitable mogul said it was imperative to create a line versatile enough to embrace and celebrate women as “multifaceted, complex, vulnerable yet bulletproof...forces of this earth.” With her same signature inclusivity of other business ventures, clothes run to a French size 46. Available online May 29.
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