June 12, 2007 -  (National Press Club)  

 

Beyonce’s national anthem for women,  “You must not know about me” has been replaced by a global women’s anthem, “I am powerful”.

 

That’s the global motto CARE’s president Dr. Helene Gayle and Dr. Sheila Johnson want to send around the world to empower and educate young girls and women of impoverished countries.

 

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, and its root causes.

 

 “It diminishes us a human race when we know about impoverished countries and we do nothing about it”, says Dr. Gayle.

 

“Changing the lives of women is key to what we do.”  Whether it be providing food, water, shelter, or health care - which is critical for those without these basic services; but we also work on something called social provision.  A lot of women lack a sense of their own self worth.”

 

Women make up almost 70% of the world’s poverty and Drs. Gayle and Johnson are on a global movement to make a difference.

 

At a luncheon at the prestigious National Press Club  Dr. Johnson announced that she would be giving a financial gift of $5 million dollars to support CARE’s effort to help the organization end global poverty by 2025. 

 

Dr. Johnson’s gift is the largest single gift ever received by CARE from any donor.  She plans to match, dollar-for-dollar all donations given to the I Am Powerful campaign.

 

“It takes more than money to change the world.  You need a movement, and we’re here today to start a movement."

 

"Our goal is to mobilize three million women across the United States to get invested in this issue with their financial support, their energy, and ideas.   We want women (and men) to be advocates for CARE, and to bring their mothers, sisters, everyone along with them.  That’s how it starts, one conversation at a time to bring awareness to spark new change.”

 

“I am more than honored to be an ambassador of CARE.”

 

With her son and husband also present at the luncheon, Dr. Johnson told the audience that she wants her son to grow up learning what women go through and to appreciate women.

 

“I think there are so many men out there who need to learn these lessons.  We can have a much better world when the two sexes learn to work together.”

 

Having traveled to both Guatemala and Tanzania, Drs. Johnson and Gayle have both seen first hand the effectiveness of the CARE organization.  Their efforts in these countries have transformed women to believe they have worth, rights, and power.

 

Says Dr. Gayle, “if we invest in women, all of our lives will be enriched.” 

 

“ If you look at the AIDS and HIV epidemic, most of the women put themselves at risk because they have no other alternative economic opportunity.  So, women do sell their bodies in order to put food on their children’s table because the immediate risk of their children starving today is weighed against the risk of a virus that may kill them (women) sometime in the future.  If we contain women through economic opportunities, and change men’s beliefs about sexuality and faithfulness to their wives, then we would rid some of the underlying reasons why some women are at risk for HIV.  If we can change those dynamics we can have a huge impact,” explains Dr. Gayle.

 

Dr. Helene Gayle became the first woman, first medical doctor, and the first African-American to head the CARE organization.  Previously, Dr. Gayle was the director of the HIV and AIDS, TB and Reproductive health Program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and as director of the national Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control.

 

Event photos.

 

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Dr. Johnson Endorses Senator Obama.

 

Dr. Johnson, when asked during the Q&A segment of the luncheon whom she would endorse in the 2008 presidential election, replied, “I like both of them very much. I like Hillary and think she’s a terrific person.  But I’m an Illinois gal.  I’m from the Chicago area.   I’ve known Barack for a long time. I believe in him, and I think he is one of the most outstanding individuals out there.”

 

“He’s fresh. He’s got a persona about him I think this world is ready for, and this country is ready for.  In fact, I know they are.”

 

“In all the villages I go to, they know Barack.  They really do know Barack. And the world is ready for Barack, and I hope this country is ready for him.  I think he is one of the greatest human beings out there. I think it would be wonderful to have the first Black president.”

  

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Black History at The National Press Club 

 

Dr. Johnson’s monumental gift of $5M to the CARE organization wasn’t the only historical moment in Black history.

 

Present at the luncheon was Frederick Douglass, the fourth. Great, great, grandson of former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

 

Also present was the great nephew of  Robert Smalls, the First Black Captain of a U.S. Confederate vessel.

 

 

(Left to right) Frederick Douglass, the Fourth; and Commander Rudolph Brewington, Ret., great nephew of Robert Smalls) .

 

Please click on the above links to read about the history and legacies of these historical men and their families.