The Michelle Obama Awards ceremony is held annually to honor women during Women’s History Month. The award is named after one of the most popular women in the world.
On March 25, the 6th Annual Michelle Obama Awards will occur at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street in Annapolis. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Each year, the Caucus of African American Leaders (CAAL) partners with County Executive Steuart Pittman and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee to host this event. There is no admission charge. The event is open to the public and all are welcome.
Pittman and the CAAL appointed a subcommittee that includes Dee Goodwyn, Colleen Joseph, Vincent Moulden and Tiyana Parker to organize this gala.
A catered meal will be served and an opportunity will be afforded to network with the honorees, their families and friends.
The Michelle Obama Awards allow us to showcase women making a difference in our country.
This year’s honorees include Janet Owens, the first woman elected as county executive, Ellen Moyer, the first woman elected mayor of Annapolis and Judge Ginina A. Jackson-Stevenson, who was appointed to the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court by Gov. Wes Moore.
Other recipients are Faye Allen Belt, Karen Theimer Brown, Dr. Maisha Gillins, Mikel Hicks, Tatiana J. Klien, Enid Collinson Lee, Kellie Michele McCantis-Price, Leah Aiello Paley, Lisa Shore, and Toni Strong Pratt.
Anne Arundel County has so many women who have broken glass ceilings and epitomize the attributes of Michelle Obama. They are icebreakers, pathfinders and trailblazers.
I often reflect on my late mother, Ora Snowden, who died at 104 and was born before women had the right to vote.
In her lifetime she witnessed a Black woman become vice president of the United States, women appointed to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and more than 125 women in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In Anne Arundel County, we have women who continue to break glass ceilings, they include St. John’s College President Nora Demleitner, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad and U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, now in charge of their respective organizations.
We have an all-female delegation to the Maryland General Assembly representing District 30, Sen. Sarah Elfreth, Del. Shaneka Henson, and Del. Dana Jones.
The majority of female Anne Arundel County council members are women and four of the nine-member Annapolis City Council members are women.
However, at the same time, we have witnessed women being elected and appointed in unprecedented numbers to previously male-dominated professions, and we are also witnessing women losing ground.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed women’s reproductive rights. Women who lost that right are not allowed to determine whether they and their doctors will make decisions on whether to have children.
Women are not paid as much as men, even when working full-time and year-round. This reality exists even after the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified by 38 states.
On March 25, we are celebrating the progress that women have made, while at the same time recognizing the struggle for women’s equality is far from over.
I end this column with an observation. Can you imagine a world in which women did not exist? Whether it is Aretha Franklin singing “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman” or Maya Angelou performing “Phenomena Woman.”
It was Michelle Obama, who in 2016, told us, “When they go low, we go high.” On March 25, we will once again witness the power of women making a difference in our lives.
During Women’s History Month, I want to thank my mother, who every day she was alive told me there is a power in the universe that puts wetness in water, blue in the sky and allows birds to fly.
She reminded me that when we treat women right, honor our elders, raise our children and serve our communities, we are guaranteed that among the living there will be a woman who will hug us and smile and simply say, “When they go low, we go high.”
Carl Snowden is convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders. Contact him at carl_snowden@hotmail.com.
