A phrase that has resonated with me for many years is the term “Strong Woman.” I first heard these words used to describe my mother when I was 10 years old “…she’s a strong woman.” I knew the person wasn’t talking about my barely five foot mother’s physical strength.
Another time I came across the term was when I worked on a new project for the California Department of Corrections. The objective was to develop a “treatment mall,” akin to the counseling areas in some newer mental health facilities: offenders from different living units meet in one area to attend counseling and living skills sessions in a cooperative, female responsive environment.
The task was to develop this treatment area without building anything new and using the existing prison facilities. The process is too long to describe here, but part of the planning involved selecting correctional staff and some female offenders to develop objectives.
One of the best parts of this project was the naming of our treatment mall. We invited all of the young women to participate by giving the building a name and a motto. Prizes were photographs and pizza. This may not sound like a lot, but in a prison, pizza and pictures are gold. (I won’t mention the illegal stuff that’s also gold).
After much fanfare and anonymous ballots, we had a winner. The name of the building: The Sunshine Mall.
Its motto: Strong Women Grow Here
This blew my staff and me away. I think it resonated so deeply because we felt they understood what real rehabilitation was supposed to be about. It meant some correctional counselors and team got it right with these particular women and that these women were listening.
Since that time, I’ve carried this motto and it’s concept with me. It finds it way into my fiction writing and I seek out books where characters are ‘strong women.’ It’s also made me think about what makes a strong woman.
A strong woman demonstrates several qualities. I could enumerate them but I also want to show examples of contemporary women who exemplify these traits. On the top of my list is:
Grace:The exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve another; favor bestowed or privilege conferred.
“Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts broke some bad news to viewers on Monday, announcing she has been diagnosed with MDS or myelodsyplastic syndrome, a blood and bone marrow disorder.
In 2007, Roberts revealed she had breast cancer and underwent a successful surgery to treat it. Though she has been in remission since then, she revealed her new diagnosis is linked to her earlier health battle.
“When I faced breast cancer, your prayers and good wishes sustained me, gave me such hope and played a major role in my recovery,” she wrote. “In facing this new challenge, I ask humbly for more of your prayers…My doctors tell me I’m going to beat this — and I know it’s true,” she wrote in an open letter posted online after she announced her diagnosis on the show.
Here is grace in action:
Grace is not only possessing poise, it’s also an attitude of thankfulness and dignity. Everything, from Robin Roberts voice, body language, and words exude grace. Amid this health challenge she says she is blessed. Her sister is a perfect match for her bone marrow transplant. Roberts demonstrates her grace by telling her viewers that she is:
“… focusing on the fight not the fright.”
“I’m like everyone who faces some life alternating situations, whether it’s your health, finances, or whatnot.It’s getting off the mat and fighting…”
“…This too shall pass…”
I’ll be continuing this “Strong Women,” topic for the next month and I’d love to know what qualities you believe describe a strong woman.
As a Latina and an American of Mexican descent, I often anticipate the release of films that highlight the history of Mexico or the Latino experience in the United States. That was the case with For Greater Glory with it’s thought provoking tagline:
What price would you pay for freedom?
From the movie’s website: FOR GREATER GLORY: General Gorostieta (Garcia), the retired military man who at first thinks he has nothing personal at stake as he and his wife (Longoria) watch Mexico fall into a violent civil war. As an atheist he hesitates joining the cause but soon becomes the resistance’s most inspiring and self-sacrificing leader, as he begins to see the cost of religious persecution on his countrymen… he transforms a rag-tag band of rebels into a heroic force.Yet it is those he meets on the journey – youthful idealists, feisty renegades and, most of all, one remarkable teenager named Jose – who reveal to him how courage and belief are forged even when justice seems lost.
The movie is the true story of the Cristeros War (1926-1929) which manages to blend personal, religious, political and historical events.
The faith of the Cristero martyrs and the ruthless violence of war make this a heart and gut wrenching movie to watch.
The Cristeros War was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government’s attempt to secularize the country, which had a four-century-old Roman Catholic history. President Calles attempted to enforce the 1917 Constitution, which called for secularization including his own ‘amendments’ that clerics could not wear vestments in public, celebrate Catholic Mass, or give Catholic sacraments. Soon President Calles used violence to enforce the law.
There is an interesting article written by Dr. Rudy Acuña, Professor Emeritus and historian. He states, “In my view, “For Greater Glory” must be put into historical context. The Cristeros… were not calling for religious freedom for Protestants or Jews. It was inspired by the Catholic hierarchy that eventually sold out the peasants.”
The Vatican stayed mostly aloof from the bloodshed although President Calles ordered the execution of many priests and targeted any Catholics. It was said that Pope Pius XI was sympathetic to the Cristeros, but was reluctant to break altogether with the Mexican government. Other Catholic groups, including the Knights of Columbus in the US, actively supported the Cristeros and pressured for US diplomatic intervention. The US government, having intervened militarily in Mexico in the previous decade (Mexican Revolution), was eager to see the conflict settled so that Mexico could continue selling oil to the US.
Over the three years, approximately 90,000 Mexicans died in the fighting, at a time when the total population was about 15 million. To put those numbers in perspective, the same level of violence in the US today would mean nearly 2 million American deaths
The roots of For Greater Glory are deep. A young French graduate student named Jean Meyer arrived in Mexico in 1965 to write his doctoral thesis on the religious war known as the Cristiada. After five years of research and hundreds of interviews with Cristiano’s his thesis was completed and published by a Mexican publishing house in 1972. The book is in its 20th printing. The work done by Meyer ultimately helped to provide the general framework for the movie. Pablo Barroso, the movie’s executive producer, is a Mexican-Catholic who wanted the full story told.
As a viewer I felt this movie was well acted, especially by Ruben Blades and newcomer Mauricio Kuri, who gave a very moving performance in the film, as 14 year old José, a mischievous schoolboy who witnesses the atrocities of Calles’ law first hand and makes a pilgrimage to join the Cristeros and fight alongside General Gorostieta. I like the inclusion of the women’s role in this movie, illustrated by actor Catalina S. Moreno (of Maria Full of Grace movie). She and many of the other women are depicted as strong, intelligent, clever, loyal, and an integral part of the Cristeros movement.
Dean Wright, (Lord of the Rings, Titanic), directed. The incredible cinematography of the movie lends to an authentic feel. Notwithstanding the accuracy of the historical facts and motivations regarding the movie’s theme, but for ‘entertainment’ value this is a movie I’d recommend and see again.
alvaradofrazier.com 