Statues are very much in the news at the moment. The black lives matter movement has served to highlight the lack of diversity in our public monuments - something Monumental Welsh Women has been trying to put right for the last 5 years. We were delighted when our public vote for the first historical Welsh woman to be commemorated - and celebrated - with a statue, resulted in Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher and community activist receiving a huge number of votes. Now, her statue has been unveiled in Cardiff- not just the first Welsh woman to be celebrated, but the first Welsh black woman.
Why do we think statues are important? In her book, Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez said, ‘I wasn’t being shown women I could look up to …I wasn’t being taught about female politicians, female activists, female writers, artists, lawyers, CEOs. All the people I was taught to admire were men, and so in my head power, influence and ambition equated with maleness.’
Our Mission is to normalise female ambition and success by celebrating and commemorating the achievements of great Welsh Women and inspiring the next generation of great Welsh women. Read on to see who we want to celebrate and how you can help.
5 statues - 5 Women - 5 years.
