March is National Women’s History Month, and we’re celebrating by sharing a lady we admire each weekday.  Since today is the last day of this awesome month, we’ll be going out with a bank, spotlight FIVE women who rock.

GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917-2000)

There are several influential African Americans — women especially — who sometimes fall through the cracks of history. Gwendolyn Brooks is one of them. Where women are concerned, there are few socially and politically influential people who can be called amazing. But a quick peek into the life and accomplishments of Gwendolyn Brooks is sufficient to comprehend the impact that she has had on today’s African American culture.

Born in 1917, Gwendolyn Brooks came from a typical loving family with parents who celebrated education. Her mother left a teaching career to focus on family life. And because the costs of medical school were too high, her father pushed aside the idea of becoming a doctor, settling for janitorial work instead. Years later, Gwendolyn Brooks herself would experience the sting of “settling,” taking on typing jobs and domestic work despite having submitted over 75 poems to The Chicago Defender.