I love the ferocity of Women. I love the trailblazers who refuse to conform. The tenacity of warriors who never surrender. The temerity of pioneers who smash glass ceilings and extend their hand to lift up all women instead of pandering to a white supremacy manipulating you into tearing others down.

From your first breath you are told how to walk, how to talk, how to smile, how to dress, how to eat, how to drink, how to bow your head, tone down your voice, be meek. And if you refuse and dare to pave your own way, dance to your own beat, speak your own mind, honk your blunt laugh, then you deserve punishment from a world conditioned to despise you, break you, and attempt to make you bend the knee.

Hillary Clinton has a message to all the little girls: pic.twitter.com/wOnO4ZQUun

— Vox (@voxdotcom) November 9, 2016

But you refuse to hide in shame, remain broken, and erased. You rebuild yourself from the ashes of your losses, and rise up stronger, more willful than ever. You refuse to center male grievances and instead forge stronger weapons from the pieces of your broken heart, and move onward unbent, smashing through more glass ceilings.

"Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household…I never imagined a world where I would be represented by someone who looks like me," says Democrat Deb Haaland. She and Sharice Davids will become the 1st Native American women elected to Congress, CNN projects https://t.co/YnlfLSnY5F pic.twitter.com/ny764iIH8H

— CNN (@CNN) November 7, 2018

You follow your heart, you make them acknowledge the sound of your unique voice, you wage the battles that forge your glory in future stone.

You survive and thrive. You seek to break the patterns of your abuse, refusing to allow that punishing fist to further silence you and hide in shame.

My mommy, Sandy, was beaten for being too pretty, too ugly, too smart, too dumb, too black. Let us reject the myth that strong women, bold women, independent women, do not find themselves in the throes of violence at the hands of someone who claimed to love them. #VAWA #VAWA19 pic.twitter.com/9dXeUsCKTd

— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) April 4, 2019

You carry the weight of nations on your frail shoulders. You stand up to tyrants, outplay their authoritarian intentional cruelty, and defeat their insurrection to snuff your flame. And brighter you shine.

“When you are effective, you are a target.” Nancy Pelosi reflects on being a target of attacks and criticism throughout her entire career and how she fought to become the first female Speaker of the House in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/N5RvjIfyhO

— MAKERS (@MAKERSwomen) November 28, 2018

Undefeated warrior. You refuse to let them erase your brilliance, the road you paved, the rules you so deeply challenged by the very audacity of your triumphs. And you forge on, lifting up future generations of Women who will stand on your shoulders and live up to the promise of never giving up or surrendering their Rights.

I’m thinking about my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, and the generations of Black women who came before me who believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. pic.twitter.com/c3f13juMPw

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 8, 2020

Oh how much I love hearing all the multitudes of shades and sounds of your unique roar!

Here's the full poem from Amanda Gorman, who is the youngest poet to ever read at an inauguration.

"Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished." pic.twitter.com/0Hxeuqnt3d

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 20, 2021