‘The Walking Dead’s’ Michonne Fights For Women’s Rights Along With Oprah, Charlize Theron, And Other Celebrities For The ONE Organization
The Walking Dead‘s Michonne (Danai Gurira) will take a break from slashing “walkers” and focus her strike on the world leaders as she joins fellow celebrities in the fight for women’s rights.
Everyone’s favorite “Zombie-Samurai” has signed an open letter for global gender equality other high-profile celebs — man and woman alike.
“We still living in a time period where the most impoverished and disadvantaged people in the world are, without question, women and girls, The light and the potential of women and girls in the world today is being blocked.”
The Associated Press reports that Gurira was long fighting for women’s rights even before she urged others to sign the petition for global leaders to take action.
The Walking Dead star added the following.
“Enough is enough. We have to close this gap, and we have to make a concerted, focused effort and that requires speaking directly to the global leaders who have the power to make change. It’s an extension of myself to fight for and, as much as I can, give voice to those who are in systems of oppression based on their gender.”
She and others will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, which is International Women’s Day, to meet with members of Congress to discuss women’s rights and other issues.
We NEED to hear candidates discuss global development during tonight's #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/NnXu0PB4HW
— ONE (@ONECampaign) March 7, 2016
The extravagant list of other celebrities joining her fight include the following:
- Oprah Winfrey
- Mary J. Blige
- Charlize Theron
- Meryl Streep
- Tina Fey
- Robert Redford
- Shonda Rhimes
- Ashley Judd
- Amy Poehler
- Colin Farrell
- Connie Britton
- Elton John
- Patricia Arquette
- Muhammed Ali
- Sheryl Sandberg
- and Sean Parker
Indeed, the list is riddled with celebrities in the fight for women rights and it is expected to grow even larger as the current celebrity signees fight for women’s rights.
One of the main components of the letter mentioned that 62 million girls around the world are denied the rights to education. Around the globe, there are over 500 million women who can’t read and 155 countries with laws that will not allow them to learn.
The women’s rights letter states the following.
“Nowhere on earth do women have as many opportunities as men. Nowhere, the fight for gender equality is global”
The organization which initiated the urge for celebs to fight for women’s rights was heralded by Irish rocker Bono’s ONE Campaign, which he co-founded to end extreme poverty and disease.
The AP mentions a report titled “Poverty Is Sexist 2016” posted on Bono’s ONE website, which claims that to be born poor and female means a life sentence of inequality, oppression and poverty — and in other cases, a death sentence.
ONE.org spoke with Shonda Rimes who says poverty hits girls and women harder than it does men, which creates a real urgency that world leaders must address as a human crisis.
The Grey’s Anatomy creator says that this is why she must join celebrities in the fight for women’s rights.
ONE’s report highlights why the call for celebrities to fight for women’s right is necessary by showing where the 20 toughest places to be born a girl are also among the poorest places on the planet.
The movement will challenge leaders to be more aggressive on women’s rights issues and inequality around the world, tackle the injustices that pervade the lives of girls and women, and invest in fighting poverty.
This will be Meryl Streep’s second time signing the letter. Streep was one of the celebrities to sign the women’s rights list last year, along with this year’s Super Bowl Performers, Beyonce and Lady Gaga.
ONE’s “Poverty is Sexist” Movement will take action on their letter to congress for women’s rights by introducing policies which support basic human rights like, female economic empowerment, access to electricity, connectivity, education and justice, and much more.
To learn more about ONE’s campaign and the many prominent celebrity’s plans for women’s rights, or women’s rights in general, the visit ONE.org to read about their mission plan.
[Photos via Getty Images/Jemal Countess (Danai Gurira), Frazer Harrison (Charlize Theron), & Rich Polk (Oprah Winfrey)]
