Ten News EXTRA: Celebrating Women’s History Month 👩🏾‍🎨
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🤣 It's Saturday, which means The Ten News is getting EXTRA! 👩🏾‍🎨 In this week's edition we celebrate Women’s History Month! 👩🏻‍🌾 Let's kick things off with Five Fascinating Facts about Women’s History Month! 🖍 Then, the extended interview with the first ever “crayon activist” Bellen Woodard. 🎨 Named one of Time Magazine’s Kid of the Year honorees, we learn how she's making change with her Bellen’s More Than a Peach project. 👑 Plus! The Trivia Question of the Day!
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đź–Ť Get inspired by Crayon Activist, Bellen Woodard's More Than Peach Project
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Transcript
Sound Bit 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
I'm Bethany Van Delft and this is no ordinary episode of The Ten News. This is The Ten News Gets Extra.
Today's Special Edition is all about celebrating Women's History Month.
Sound Bit 0:26
You go girl, you go girl, go girl.
Bethany Van Delft 0:28
Throughout the month of March, we've been highlighting women making history and honoring this year's theme, valiant women of the vote refusing to be silenced. Today, we'll break down what Women's History Month is all about and celebrate one very cool girl who's proving that you are never too young to make history or her-story. Let's dive in. Well, of course, we're celebrating all the incredible women in our lives every day. March is the official month to celebrate female greatness in history. But how did this come to be? We have the answers for you with five fascinating facts about Women's History Month. Number one, it all started in Santa Rosa, California in 1978, with a women's history week, where hundreds of students celebrated women's cultural, historical and societal contributions to the United States. Awesome. Number two, in 1981, Congress made women's history week an official thing. Then, in 1987. They declared March Women's History Month.
Sound Bit 1:48
Way to go!
Bethany Van Delft 1:49
Number three every year the celebration sas a special theme. This year, its valiant women of the vote refusing to be silenced. Pretty fitting since women voters just played a huge role and get her first female vice president elected. Number four, an especially big reason for the elections outcome was the work of incredible activists and all around Boss Lady, Stacey Abrams, her organization Fair Fight partnered with several groups across the state of Georgia to register 800,000 new voters. That's amazing. And number five, many of those new voters were people of color, under 30, voting for the first time. Female leaders continuing the work of women activists before them. You absolutely love to see it. Thanks, Miss Abrams. Okay, now we know how Women's History Month came about and the importance of this year's theme, but how about the special kids out there making history today? Last month, we had the chance to meet the first ever crayon activist Bellen Woodard, named one of Time magazine's kid of the year honorees. Bellen is making change with her More than Peach project to celebrate her role in making history. Here's the extended interview, and all the great inspiration she has to share.
Bellen 3:24
My name is Bellen Woodard and I am 10 years old.
Bethany Van Delft 3:27
Yes, I am so excited to hang out with the world's first crayon activist. So tell us the name of your project.
Bellen 3:37
My project is called Bellen's More than Peach project.
Bethany Van Delft 3:41
And why is it called More than Peach?
Bellen 3:45
When I was a bit younger people would ask for the skin color crayon and I knew that meant a peach crayon. And I didn't like that because it kind of made me feel not like sad, it hurt my feelings. It just made me feel confused and dis-included. So one day I addressed the problem to my mother. And she suggested next time for me to hand over the brown crayon. But I didn't want to do that because I knew I didn't like it. No one else would like it either. So instead I told her next time I'm actually going to ask what color they want because it could be a number any colors. So that's exactly what I did next time I went to school. And eventually my teacher started hearing me say that. And my class started saying that and eventually my whole school. And the reason why I decided to name it More than Peach is to let kids know that there's more skin colors. Other than just the peach crayon, even other than just the brown crayon that there's more than one skin color.
Bethany Van Delft 4:42
That is just so so so amazing. Wow. I wish I was little after More than Peach came out because I remember that feeling of they used to call it flesh. They used to call that crayon flesh. It's so crazy. Okay. So that's how that's what gave you the idea to start it. And I heard that you were eight years old when you started it?
Bellen 5:07
Yes. I was actually in third grade,
Bethany Van Delft 5:11
How did you do it? How'd you get it started?
Bellen 5:13
It took a lot of confidence to be able to go into my classroom, and say those things that I thought my teacher may not like me after or something, or they may not like my name. But I did it, just because I knew that it would help not only me out, but also future students who went into all my school because I don't, because there's probably a lot of other kids who haven't experienced the skin color situation. And I wanted that to be gone. So when the new kids come to school, they can have a good experience. And I did it also because I really loved school. I will and I didn't want one thing that didn't have to be a problem to throw it off.
Bethany Van Delft 5:59
So I thought this is so interesting that More than Peach went from, what you're describing a solution to a problem that really needs to be addressed to, and I'm taking this off of your website, to a mission to advance empathy, leadership and creativity for all students, excluding no one, how did it grow into that?
Bellen 6:24
Well, I started, I started, I realized I wanted to grow More than Peach instead of just keep it to something really small in just my community because I knew there was more needs outside of my community. And so I decided I would start on, I decided I would start donating around my county at first and then it kind of got the word word kind of got out. And since it grew so much, I decided I actually was going to make my own my own More than Peach crayons. And my crayons are actually called all skin color. And I wanted to make my crayons. And so when kids actually read the name, it will they will all be skin color. And they'll understand that there is more than the peach or brown is not just the only skin color, all of them are skin colors.
Bethany Van Delft 7:19
Wow. Such a big fan. How does it feel? How does it feel to know that you have influenced big brands to reflect and to be inclusive themselves. That's incredible.
Bellen 7:33
It feels very surprising for one because I never thought I was gonna be especially at 10 years old, I never thought I was gonna be like a crayon maker. I like never imagined me being a person who would make crayons. And the fact that just tiny crayons in 12 and 24 packs can just make such a huge difference in the world. Like because I've even gotten responses from Spain and Australia. Like places all around the world. And I'm really happy about that because it's not only changing the language in the USA, it's also changing the language in all different parts of the world.
Bethany Van Delft 8:19
Incredible. Okay, so fact, I'm just fact checking here. You didn't want to be a crayon makers since you were little, like little Bellen wasn't sitting around going, I'm gonna be a crayon maker
Bellen 8:34
I wasn't just gonna be like, I'm gonna be a crayon maker when I grew up, I had a lot of different dreams and I still have those dreams. I was just, it was just, I never envisioned that.
Bethany Van Delft 8:48
So you and your organization More than Peach, you've already had so many prestigious honors, like incredible. I could I could list them all but what I really want to know is what are you most proud about More than Peach? What makes you most proud about your organization and the work that you've done so far?
Bellen 9:09
Okay. Um, I am most proud of everything that I've done, but I'm especially proud of two things. One is the Time Kid of the Year on top, I was a top five honoree and I was really excited about that because it was a really fun experience and and especially spread, spread my message. Actually, it took my project off and we got two more kids and people just everyone and also my crayons we found out last year before Coronavirus and everything that my crayons will be at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. And I'm really excited about that because that is a history museum and there's going to be a little display and that will mean my crayons will be there. For others, I don't know as long as what forever. And so even when I'm not doing More than Peach anymore, or when I'm not there, there can still be kids walking in there, and they can still like because I don't want my project to just stop, just stop right there and then when I'm older, I wanted to be able to just continue and so that, my crayons being in the museum is really helping that so kids can walk into to the museum, and that can inspire them to do, make a change and use that language in their classrooms and everything.
Bethany Van Delft 10:40
Bellen, you are inspiring me. And I bet you're inspiring everybody who is listening right now. So how can kids who want to help get involved in More than Peach?
Bellen 10:54
Well, I have a website, there's www.morethanpeach.com. And it tells you how you can get involved with my project. And I actually, I donate a lot on to especially teachers, because my projects started based off the things happening in my classroom, my classroom. And so I donate, especially to teachers, but how they can get involved is really just start by just little things with like, you know, using that language in the classroom, and then and then who knows what we'll do next, I just really want to inspire kids.
Bethany Van Delft 11:35
So what would you say? What would you say to a kid who sees a problem in their life and they want to solve it? Or they want to change it? What would you say to that? That kid?
Bellen 11:46
I always like to say, Well, I always say there's no color and roadwork, which basically means you can do anything you set your mind to. And if there's a problem, and you're, if there is a problem, you see, it won't just disappear on its own without someone doing something about it. So and so you should use your voice for something. Because not only may help you, but it will also help a bunch of other people out in the future. So yeah.
Bethany Van Delft 12:20
Awesome advice.
Bellen 12:21
Thank you.
Bethany Van Delft 12:22
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's such a joy to meet you.
Bellen 12:26
Thank you for having me.
Bethany Van Delft 12:28
Absolutely any time. This was a historic year for women at the ballot box. And while historians are sure to be writing about 2020 for decades to come, what really matters to music fans and historians right now is whether this year's picks for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will reflect this historic year for women. Which brings us to:
Sound Bit 12:57
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 13:00
Trivia on the Ten! Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Was it A) Britney Spears, B) Aretha Franklin, or C) Beyonce? Did you get it? The answer is B!
Aretha Franklin. That's right, known worldwide as the Queen of Soul, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Among the laundry list of her career achievements,Franklin also performed during former President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration ceremony. Not too shabby.
Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Want even more great content from The Ten News? Sign up for The Ten News newsletter, aka The Ten Newsletter. It's a free bi weekly email with even more stories to enjoy together, and we made it easy for you. The link to join is in the show notes. And on our website, thetennews.com. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and it's distributed by iHeartRadio. Our editorial director is Tracey Crooks. Editing and sound design by Pete Musto and Andrew Hall, writing contributions for today's episode from Ben Austin de Campo and Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Our creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Stephen Tompkins is our head of audience development and our production assistant is Sarah Olender. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Do you want to be part of the show? Have a grown up help you record a question a joke or a fun fact you want to share and email it to us at hello@thetennews.com and show your love for The Ten News by going to your favorite podcast app and submitting a rating and review and helps others find the show so they can join the fun too. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, finds out what it means to me.
