One girl with courage is a revolution. CNN Films’ “Girl Rising” tells the stories of girls from around the world and how the power of education can change the world. Learn more 
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Girls Rising
Woman In Charge: Spy Division- CIA
Another glass ceiling has been cracked at least temporarily with a woman now running the CIA’s spy division.
The long time CIA veteran leading the National Clandestine Service on an acting basis cannot be publicly named because she is still a covert officer.
The question is whether she will get the job permanently. But her background could be problematic for new CIA boss John Brennan.
According to sources familiar with her career, she was assigned to a senior position at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
Outrage grows over gang rape, slaying of teen girl in South Africa
A dog would have been treated better than Anene Booyson, her neighbors said.
The 17-year-old South African girl was gang raped then mutilated to death in Bredasdorp, a tiny, rural town about two hours southeast of Cape Town, authorities said.
It’s the kind of story that happens too often in South Africa, where a provincial official said violence against females is “systemic.” Some 71% of women report having been victims of sexual abuse, the government notes.
Tagged Booyson, Cape Town, Gang Rape, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Violence, South Africa
World Hip Hop Women- From the Sound Up
The mixtape is available for free download at http://nomadicwax.bandcamp.com/track/world-hip-hop-women-from-the-sound-up
Full artist information at http://worldhiphopmarket.com/world-hip-hop-women-mixtape-artist-profiles/5771
Nomadic Wax and World Hip Hop Market team up for an all female MC Mixtape
Tagged Dj La Jedi, Eternia, Invincible, Jean Grae, Mana, Mia Lone, Nomadic Wax, Opal Rose, Sa Roc, Triple Threat, World Hip Hop Market
Take a Stand for the Girl Who Stood Up: Nominate Malala for the Nobel Peace Prize
Please take a second and petition for Malala to win the Nobel Peace Prize Here
Women Gain Wider Access to Power
(CNN) – I almost always get asked the same question: How can it possibly be the “end of men” when there are so few female elected officials — when men still hold the reins of political power?
It’s an excellent question. Until now, I’ve answered by pointing to statistical trends and future projections. Always, I ask people to take a leap of faith. But after this election, I feel like I am on so much more solid ground.
The women’s vote did not turn out to be historic in the way pundits predicted before the election. Yes, more women voted for President Obama, but not in record numbers. The gender gap was in fact a little smaller in this election than in 2008. Yes, women were important in certain states, but so were young people, African-Americans and Latinos, who, together, make up Obama’s new winning coalition. What’s more, women did not even constitute a unified vote. Married women tended to vote for Romney, while single women went for Obama.
What changed in this election was that women accumulated power in a calm and measured way, and began to look for the first time much less like outsiders to the political process.
Female Linebacker Inspires other Young Girls
Aminah Barrett is only one of the seven girls in the city of Houston that plays football with boys. She attends Twin Creeks Middle School.
The eighth grader receives solid A and B grades and has been playing since the fourth grade.
“I like playing linebacker,” Aminah told KMOV St Louis. “I like to hit people and be aggressive.” Aminah is also a running back.
When her teammate Colton Mangum saw a girl with them while they were getting their pads, he thought, “‘Oh, okay so this is different.’”
But it’s not that different in her family, her mom played in the Women’s Football League in Louisiana.
“I love her and I’m very proud of her, very proud of her,” said her mother, Mika Frizzell.
Twin Creeks Middle School Coach Chris Brice is not letting any of the boys go easy on her either.
“Our kids go hard with her and that way she gets the full experience … Speed agility drills, weight room work. Absolutely, I see no reason why any female couldn’t do it,” he said.
Brandon Peralta, a wide receiver, told KMOV he was surprised by how good she was.
“When she came out and I saw her play I was like, ‘Okay, we got a good girl on our team,’” he said.
Aminah hasn’t decided how far she wants to take football but her advice to other girls is, “Never let anyone ever tell you that you can’t. If this is something that you want to do, you work hard. You put your mind to it. Never give up.”
Source: The Grio
Make School Safe for Girls Everywhere
(CNN) – Tuesday was a tragic day for girls everywhere. In Pakistan, 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot by the Taliban on her way home from school on a bus. Although she was targeted specifically because she spoke out against the Taliban’s suppression of women’s education rights, her story serves as a reminder of the obstacles that girls face in trying to obtain schooling.
In all my travels, from Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to villages and towns across rural India, I have been struck by the unwavering commitment of every girl to do one simple thing: Go to school.
Just like Malala, the girls I met know that education is their ticket to a better future: for themselves, their families and their entire communities.
Girls would beg their parents to let them stay one more year in school, struggling to juggle their household chores with caring for their younger siblings, all so they can squeeze in one more day in the classroom.
Unfortunately, girls around the world have also shared with me how pursuing an education can be dangerous, whether it’s because of harassment and violence from teachers or the dangers they encounter as they walk to school.
Tagged Afghanistan, Education, Girls, Malala Yousufzai, Pakistan, Taliban
The Women Who’ve Transformed A Mars Rover Into A Sassy Social Superstar
NASA is no stranger to social media. The space agency has been actively working to reach out to the public over the Internet for quite some time now. But NASA seems to have reached its high point so far in social media when it comes to the Mars Curiosity rover. The rover’sTwitter feed currently has over 930,000 followers, and its Facebook page has over 250,000 fans.
One of the things that makes these pages so engaging and popular is that they’re written in the first person.Curiosity, it turns out, has quite the brassy personality. She litters her twitter feed with pop culture references, tweetspeak, and a bold attitude.
Tagged #Rover, #SocialMedia, Courtney O'Connor, Mars, NASA, Stephanie Smith, Veronica McGregor, Women
Gabby Douglas Wins Gold in the Olympics
LONDON – From the top of the podium, with the final bars of the national anthem still echoing through the gymnastics hall, Gabby Douglas’s smile seemed even brighter.
Even brighter than when she stuck each impossible landing here this week, even brighter than the gold medal hanging from her neck, even brighter than the future of both she and USA Gymnasticsafter this historic star turn.
It’s the smile that will forever be one of the signature images of these Olympics, the smile that will sell a million boxes of cereal or sneakers, the smile that will beam off countless magazine covers to come.
And it is the smile that will haunt every other competitor she left in a heap behind her – the sweet, wonderful smile of one of the most cold-blooded sporting assassins you’ll ever find.
Tagged First African American, Gabby Douglas, Olympics, Women