The Weekly Passport

🧳 TRAVEL 
SHE TRAVELED TO WHERE?!

This Women’s History Month we’re sharing the transnational (and space exploration) travels of some of the most influential women throughout history.

Through international alliances, these women became powerful agents of change on global issues; through resilience and determination, they became record-setters in sports and entertainment on the international stage; and through a "phenomenal woman, that's me" attitude, they became history-makers in the galaxies.

CORRETA SCOTT KING

“As we traveled through the land, we were greatly impressed by the part women played in the political life of India, far more than in our own country”

In 1959, Correta traveled to India with Dr. King to study the non-violent political philosophies of Ghandi. Throughout her life, Correta also traveled to Ghana (1957) and Switzerland (1962) where she served as a delegate for the Women’s Strike for Peace to the 17-nation Disarmament Conference.

JOSEPHINE BAKER

Josephine Baker, in her own words, “was the girl who left St. Louis to come to Europe, to find freedom.”

On moving to Europe, Josephine said,

“One day, I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be Black. It was only a country for white people. Not Black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States… A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn’t stand it anymore… I felt liberated in Paris.”

In 1929, Josephine Baker became the first Black American star to visit and perform in Yugoslavia.

ALICE COACHMAN DAVIS

Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal.

In 1948, at the Olympics in London, Coachman competed for her Olympic gold in the high jump. She became a Gold Medalist and set a new Olympic record. King George VI of Great Britain put the medal around her neck. With this medal, Coachman became not only the first Black woman to win Olympic gold, but the only American woman to win a gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games.

ANGELA DAVIS

After her acquittal in 1972, Angela Davis went on an international speaking tour that included visits in Cuba, the Soviet Union, and East Germany.

In 1969, Angela was received in Cuba by Fidel Castro as a member of a Communist Party Delegation.

Davis perceived Cuba as a “racism-free” country, which led her to say the following:

“Only under socialism could the fight against racism be successfully executed.”

Click here to read more about the incredible stories of women traveling and impacting the international community, including one who was a spy for the French Resistance during World War II.

🛂 SHARE YOUR PASSPORT

Share your weekly passport with a friend. You know, that friend who needs a little vacation motivation.