Heroines Quilt IX: Nana Mata

My Nana – Nga Mata ō tumu – was born in the Cook Islands and lived on one of the fifteen islands, called Aitutaki, until she was fourteen. Nana and her family then moved to New Zealand for better work opportunities. Once in New Zealand she had to...

Heroines Quilt IX: Denise Huxtable

My girlhood heroine was Denise Huxtable from The Cosby Show and A Different World, portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet. Denise was the big sister I never had. As the oldest of three children with two younger brothers, I often felt the weight of responsibility without...

Heroines Quilt IX: Artemisia Gentileschi

Growing up as an artist, Frida Kahlo was my first heroine. I was captivated by her personality, her style, and the fearlessness behind her work. But as my artistic skills developed, I found myself searching for inspiration in painters who worked within my favorite...

Heroines Quilt IX: Malala Yousafzai

Even though we are the same age, but she is my hero—Malala Yousefzai. I am 29 years old and feel like I have known who Malala is and the amazing things she has done for most of my life. I remember hearing about this girl who was shot for wanting to go to school,...

Heroines Quilt IX: Nannie

In my girlhood heroine race, it’s a close contest between Wonder Woman (those boots! those cuffs!), the Bionic Woman (so speedy! such good hearing!), and my grandmother, Nannie, who couldn’t fly or bend steel, or jump very high. As far as I know she...

Heroines Quilt IX: Grandma Nettie

My great-grandmother Nettie Wilhemina Kummer loomed large in my girlhood, despite her passing when I was only a baby. My great-grandmother was a tiny woman – less than five feet tall – but the stories of her life filled me with wonder and with the...

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