Hello people! Welcome back to the blog! Hope Zoom is going great for everyone and you are finding creative ways to stay occupied during this social distancing time. I know I have been going stir crazy but, on the bright side, I heard dogs can’t the coronavirus. So, if you have a dog at home, or see one on your walk (be safe), give the pupper a nice ‘ol hug. Also, HUGE shoutout to all the medical professionals out there (shoutout to my mom woo) because they are really risking their lives for us. I liked the quote below so I decided to share it with you guys 🙂

and with that it’s ~blog time~.

SO, this week we have a pretty cool lady. If you don’t want to take my word for it, take Forbes‘ word. They recently named our woman of the week “#1 Power Women 2019” which is a pretty big flex (source). She hails from Germany and the chancellor of the country (for her fourth term!). She is truly a multi-faceted queen. Beyond being chancellor, she is the de-facto leader of Europe and is notably not afraid to stand up to confrontation.

Our woman of the week is: Angela Merkel.

Angela grew up in the height of the communist turmoil in Europe. Merkel was a young adult when the Berlin Wall fell and soon after she joined the Democratic Awakening, where in the next year she became the party’s press spokesperson. Her role soon turned into becoming the deputy spokesperson of the government of Lothar de Maizére after the first democratic election in East Germany. Though these two roles were very impressive for such a young woman, little did anyone know that in 2005, Merkel would become the first woman, the first East German, and youngest person to date to become Chancellor.

However, despite her accomplishments, Merkel did not face easy challenges as a Chancellor. She had to deal with the struggling economy of Europe, tasked with finding peace between Russia and Ukraine, and faced with fleeing migrants from countries like Syria and Afghanistan. Merkel’s refusal to close the door to refugees caused domestic party contention and fueled nationalism, along with xenophobic behaviors, in the UK and US in 2016.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He cited her resilience during the time of living behind the “Iron curtain’, as she remained strong and refused to spy for their government, as remarkable. He also talked about her  celebration when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel called this moment “the incredible gift of freedom”. Obama articulated that the most remarkable thing about Merkel was not how she was denied her freedom or how she gained her freedom but, what she did when she received freedom. Her leadership has been rooted in freedom and guaranteeing rights to all.

Unfortunately, Merkel is not perfect. She did oppose the same sex bill that Germany proposed in 2017. The bill did get passed after all and she remained pretty quiet on the issue ever since. This is disappointing to see but hopefully she will come around on this topic as it should be non-negotiable.

But, overall Merkel is an outstanding women with an impressive resumé. Her commitment to humanitarian issues and her ability to cement herself as powerful, level-headed leader is very inspiring.

And, with that, stay super safe and healthy! Take this time to relax (even though it is hard) and  get some quality time with your loved ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8lqNVcl3ZE

Brianna Mitchell 🙂