Speech
Today, we women are literate, educated, and deliberate. Liberated to lead, we surge forward not only in politics but also in social life.
But first of all, we need to understand what empowerment of women really means, what its impact is. Empowerment is about being given authority and power to do something. It’s about becoming confident, and stronger. Empowerment again means to be aware of one’s rights and privileges and to have the ability to control one’s life in a more meaningful and fulfilling way. The term empowerment naturally presupposes a sense of powerlessness, doesn’t it? Well for women that has been the case; looking back centuries ago you always find the dark side where women were suppressed and treated as commodities with no voice in decision-making, no role in deciding how the community life evolved.
But empowerment of women is in us, all of us. Every single color, size, religious belief made change come, not without struggle and sacrifice, protest, and conflict just like me. Our transformation has come through many difficulties. This is why we have an obligation as women to keep the empowerment of women going for the future, for our daughters, for our world.
I am a formerly homeless empowered woman who is still currently going through difficulties with housing and my children. I feel the pain of all the women that are still out there, and that is where I draw my strength. We have evolved but we are never done. As women our work is never done, and this is why I am planting the seed now to help things grow, giving women who are less fortunate the opportunity to have the courage to speak up–about things like having more resources for women being viewed as assets and not as liabilities. This has to change if women’s empowerment is to become a reality in the fullest sense.
I am empowered, and I want to empower you! Keep San Francisco the San Francisco we love, and show the world our San Francisco values.
Bio
My name is Jacquelynn Evans Gbogboage, and I was born July 4th, 1987. I am a strong African American woman who is the mother of three beautiful children. In my life struggles I have overcome some tremendous things. I’ve seen things no woman should ever see, things no child should ever have to go through. I’ve used those as a stepping stone to become the strong woman that I am today.
I have been homeless since the age of 13. I was dragged back and forth through the foster care system being abused, misused, and tossed around like trash. While I have been independent all my life, being pregnant at 16 and still in foster care was a horrible thing. They put us out on my 18th birthday when I had aged out of the system and had become a burden to them since I was no longer worth a paycheck.
I’ve grown to look at myself as the queen of life. I’ve conquered the worst experiences and the best, and now I get to put it together to make a beautiful masterpiece of this thing we call life’s journey. I look back and cry and laugh at the things I’ve gone through as experiences to teach myself and other women and children what not to do. The struggles I go through now are just as hard. I’m still fighting the hardship of homelessness now with my family, and it kills me that we can’t all fit in our current living situation. Every night I have to pick which child gets to come home.
As a child and as an adult I have been raped, beaten, stabbed, and shot, and none of that has been able to stop my journey or my life. The universe wants me here. God has his plan for unique minds like mine, and I shall not let it waste. Today I am a shelter client advocate, and I enjoy my job 100 percent. I was previously a peer organizer giving back to the community in every way that I think is possible. I look at myself as a strong, independent African American woman with drive to do wonderful things. I found my purpose in life, and it’s to help others not get screwed over by the stupid systems that allow people to slip through the cracks and fall into the deep patches of hell.
For anyone trying to understand who I am, I am me, a marvelous empowering woman who gives all she can and expects nothing in return, who strives to bring out the truth even though it may cause her harm, possibly even discomfort and disappointment. I live my life like a crazy person by enjoying it to the fullest extent. Even through all my rough patches, I still choose to see the light because I believe that every person has a destiny, and I’m moving toward mine.
If you would like to know who I am, this is me, and who I will become has yet to take place. Everything I do is a step forward to show the world that one day I may be the president of the United Damn States of Our America because in our world, any and everything is possible. And even if that doesn’t happen, me having the belief and willpower to attempt it is the type of woman I am. THIS IS ME.