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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hey NFB Family and Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Prepare to be enlightened and educated! Days 4 and 5 of our Black Empowerment Committee’s contribution to Black History Month is below <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Day 4 of Black History Month <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Mary Eliza Mahoney, born in 1845, dedicated her life to the field of nursing. After finishing high school, she applied at many schools and was denied because of her race or the fact that she was a woman. She started working at the newly created New England Hospital for Women and Children and continued there for many years. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1878, she applied for admittance to the school and although she did not meet the age requirements at the time of her admittance (ages 21-31), they allowed her enroll in their 16-month program in part to her servicer there.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After working extremely long hours, she completed the program and graduated in 1879 as a registered nurse, the first Black woman to do so in the United States.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1896, she joined the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada (NAAUSC).They weren't very welcoming to African Americans and in 1908, she became co-founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). Their mission was to not only improve the standards to the nursing profession but to also breakdown and dismantle the ongoing discrimination in the field. Over the years, as admittance to notable medical platforms for African American women rose, the NACGN decided to merger with the NAAUSC in 1951, which by this point was called the American Nurses Association.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She continued to work as a private nurse and at one point the director of the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum for Black children in New York. After she retired, she helped fight for equality for African Americans as well as voting rights. In 1920, she was among the first women in Boston to register to vote.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She died in January 1926, after battling breast cancer for 3 years. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 1976 and into the National Women's Hall of Fame in1993.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>s <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:6.0in;text-indent:.5in'>Submitted by: Andre Hill <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Day 5<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Bessie Stringfield better known as the motorcycle queen of Miami, is a trailblazer, a pioneer who broke down barriers not just for black riders but also for women and Jamaicans. She was the first black woman to ride across the United States on a motorcycle by herself. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica to a white Dutch mother and a Jamaican father in 1911<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When she was 19 years old, she got permission from her mom to purchase a motorcycle. In 1930, the interstate highway system was nonexistent, this meant that Stringfield had to navigate haphazard Roads, on paved and sometimes just dirt. However, she did so skillfully. To support herself while traveling across the country, she performed in motor vehicle shows performed stunts and rolled in motorhomes. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After her first trip across the country, she made the journey seven more times eventually visiting all 48 states, and Europe, Brazil, and Haiti. In world war two, she was the only woman to serve as motorcycle dispatch.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She is the first woman to be inducted in the motorcycle Hall of Fame. She paved the way for black Americans to be able to travel and enjoy the freedom to roam in our country and beyond.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When she was about five years old both parents contracted smallpox and died soon after. She was adopted by and Irish Catholic woman. Bessie's simple credo was, "what I did was fun and I loved it". She told a journalist that "when I get on a motorcycle, I put the man upstairs in front... I am very happy on two wheels". Bessie died in February of 1993.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Submitted by Nastaha Hubbard<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Member of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'><br>Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Jacki Bruce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia<br><a href="mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>mailto:jackibruce6@gmail.com</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="tel:(757)291-1789" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>tel:(757)291-1789</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfb.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfb.org</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#222222'><a href="http://www.nfbv.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfbv.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia<br>Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:#222222'>Live the life you want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#222222'>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>