Diamond Stylz

"I got married and moved to Houston for my husband's job. Little did I know that he was married to someone else. When I found out, I left him and his other wife found me and we shared stories with each other. Even though it didn't work out with him he forced me to grow-me-up and  give me, the self love and security of being a trans woman that I needed to become self sufficient. Trying to live the perfect homemaker life led to a betrayal which then led to something beautiful." - Diamond Stylz is a blogger and produces the podcast Marsha'sPlate.

Sonya Zhang

"The customers like coming to the women artists. They think we have more patience listening to them and with the design process.  I don't really think we are more patient.  I'm not more patient, but people perceive us to be." - Sonya Zhang is a tattoo artist in the East Village and she is originally from China.

Margie Alley

"In 1974 I wasn't allowed to be in or even try out for Little League. There were four of us girls who fought to change the rule and we won.  It  became a big deal. The headline in the newspaper read, "Girls make History/Herstory".  All four us tried out and made the league.  They put each of us on different teams though.  Our teammates were very respectful, they knew we were good players.  The boys from the other teams who didn't have girls on their team made fun of us." - Margie Alley

Sylvie Degiez

"Everything would have been different if I weren't a woman, especially where I come from in rural Switzerland. It was very gender distinct, so much so that I never even heard about homosexuality until very late in life.  My mother said she was a feminist but there was a big discrepancy between her discourse and her actions.  She was the center pole of the family and she worked hard and earned a better living than my father but there was always a deference to the males in the family. That is just the way it was there.  In my village, divorced women were often looked down on. Even if it was the man who had a lover and broke up the marriage, it was the divorced woman who would have the lower social position.  But my mother was always kind to divorced women, well really to all women. She loved women. " - Sylvie Degiez is originally from Switzerland and is a composer/musician/educator.

Dominga Lukas Castro

"When I was a teenager and studying to become a teacher I got pregnant and dropped out of school. At the time I thought my work and the rest of my life would be in the house and in the kitchen. But after participating in some community women's groups and raising three children with my husband, I decided to become a health promoter so I could earn my own money and go back to school. I earned Q300 which was enough to pay for my school materials and my uniform. I only had one uniform for all three years I was in school. I had to borrow money from my family so that I could buy the clothing I needed for my graduation. But I kept pushing myself toward my goals. It was hard but I just kept going. While raising 5 children, I became a teacher and now I am the Director of the School." - Dominga Lukas Castro is an educator and business owner in Huitan, Guatemala. She also gives literacy classes to her mother-in-law (yesterday's EVE) and older women in her community.

note: This project is dedicated to Dominga and you can read a longer version of her story on meandeve.com. It is the very first story published.

 

Sil Lai Abrams

uu-church-of-all-souls0031-2"I grew up a motherless daughter. My book is about my journey and search for my own racial identity. What took me 46 years to find out, my daughter can learn in 350 pages." - Sil Lai Abrams is a domestic violence awareness activist, the author of  "Black Lotus: A Woman's Search For Racial Identity" and the founder of TruthinReality.org.