Makers
Violet Palmer became the first woman referee in the National Basketball Association in 1997. She was told to “go back in the kitchen!” She didn’t! She was ridiculed by those whose minds are from another time in our country. She went on to referee 919 games in the most prestigious and powerful basketball league in the world! She became the first female to officiate in an All Star game, in any major U.S. sport. She became the first openly gay person to officiate a professional sport! She has gone on to be a referee manager for the NBA.
I grew up in a time in our land when women, minorities of all colors, races, nationalities and those who loved the same sex were insulted and degraded. When I heard some people talk, it puzzled me that they would speak harshly about someone they didn’t even know. I know that friends of mine when we were young boys would denigrate another boy who didn’t play well. We would say “You throw just like a girl!” There were unkind words for immigrants who came from all over the world. It seemed natural for folks to speak that way at the time.
We still have millions of people who may still speak and feel that way. This past two years has shown us a dark side of our country. Sports is one of the places that has become a meritocracy. The definition of meritocracy is: Meritocracy (merit, from Latin mereō, and cracy, from ancient Greeκ, kratos “strength, power”) is a political philosophy which holds that certain things, such as economic goods or power should be vested in individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than factors such as sexuality, race, gender, or wealth. In athletics, if you have the skills, attitude and perseverance to compete you will be respected and accepted. Violet Palmer has that.
MAKERS is a feminist media brand for newsMAKERS, historyMAKERS, and troubleMAKERS. They tell the stories of today’s trailblazing women to inspire the changeMAKERS of tomorrow. If you want to join the movement and raise your voice. go to makers.com. Right now, forty per cent of Democrats running for office in the U.S. House are women! Let us all support these new world makers! It is time for the amazing, powerful, inclusive, feminine energy to be leading the way for our Earth to discover it’s magnificence! From my feminine heart to yours, Thomas