Black Women in Europe: Power List 2012 - A List of Our Own

A few years ago I was active in an online community known as AfroSpear. It was a group of bloggers of African descent. One of the powerful voices in that AfroSpear community was Adrienne George. She operates a blog called, Black Women In Europe. Over the past three years she has published a list of powerful Black women in Europe to inspire others to reach their full potential.

The 2012 BWIE Power List names 11 women in the following categories: Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, Law, Media, Philanthropy, Politics & Activism and The Arts.



These women are:

1. Bola Agbaje (England) - The Arts
2. Fatou Bensouda (The Netherlands) - Law
3. Natalie Louise Brown (England) - Media
4. Baroness Cecile de Massy (Monaco) - Philanthropy
5. Doreen Lawrence (England) - Politics and Activism
6. Pauline Long (England) - Entertainment
7. Loreen (Sweden) - Entertainment
8. Mariam Osman Sherifay (Sweden) - Politics & Activism
9. Yvonne Thompson (United Kingdom) - Entrepreneurship
10. Mirel Wagner (Finland) - Entertainment
11. Zuzana Tvaruzkova (Czech Republic) - Media

I must admit that as an man of African descent here in America I have not heard of any of these 11 powerful Black women. I look forward to learning more about them through their full bios.

Feel free to check out the BWIE Power List for 2010 and 2011 as previously reported on this blog!

2011 Power List of Black Women in Europe

Adrianne George

One of my favorite 'blogging kinfolk' is Adrianne George. She is the blog-mistress of Black Women in Europe (BWIE). One reason that I admire Adrianne is her willingness to create that which may not already exist. Her blog provides a forum for sharing news and information Nubian queens operating on the European continent. There aren't (m)any other forums with such a focus.

Last year (2010), the Black Women in Europe™ Blog released its first Power List naming 58 women across Europe in 6 categories.

"Last year’s list proved that there are countless numbers of amazing Black women in Europe very few people ever hear of," Adrianne explains. "I couldn’t wait to compile the 2011 list."

Adrianne followed up on the success of that list with a new one this year. The methodology for the 2011 list is straightforward. The 2011 list names 35 women in nine categories: Athletics, Entrepreneurship & Business, Law, Lifestyle, Literature, Media, Politics, Science and Social Activism. Winners include award winning authors, record making athletes, model philanthropists and outspoken activists. This list is intended to acknowledge powerful Black women in Europe and to inspire others to reach their full potential.

 

View the complete Black Women in Europe™: Power List 2011 – A List of Our Own© in a variety of formats:

• Blog Post
• YouTube Video
• Slideshare
• Scribd
• myBrainshark

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I didn't know about any of the 35 powerful women of African descent on the 2011 BWIE Power List.  How many of them did you know before reviewing the list?

Good News Tuesday: Most Powerful Black Women in Europe

One of the first bloggers that I met when I jumped into the afrosphere was Adrianne George. She is the creator of blog called, Black Women In Europe. I've watched her grow the network of nubian women working together across the European continent. I was proud to see Adrienne come to America in 2008 to participate as an official blogger during the Democratic National Convention held in Denver.

Adrienne was proud of the fact that First Lady Michelle Obama was named the most powerful woman in the world in various publications last year. However, she noticed that no Black women from Europe made any of those lists. Instead of complaining about it ... she created her own list!

Enjoy the first annual list of the 'Most Powerful Black Women in Europe' as compiled by the BWIE Blog:

Were you already familiar with any of these powerful Nubian sisters?

Blackface is Holiday Tradition in Amsterdam

Mark Twain is credited with saying, "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." I live in Cincinnati ... and there are many times when I agree with Mark Twain's assessment. Today, I learn from an AfroSpear blog, Black Women In Europe, that Amsterdam may be even further behind the times.

Can you believe that they have an annual tradition of white folks wearing blackface in Amsterdam?

Declaration of Black European Women's Network

One of my colleagues in The AfroSpear is Adrianne George. She writes a powerful blog, Black Women in Europe, that is currently #48 on the list of Top Black Bloggers. She won the 2007 Black Weblog Award as 'Best International Blog'. Adrianne is a powerful sista.

She gathered with nubian sisters from 16 European Union states and Switzerland in Vienna on Sept 27-29 to create the Black European Womens Network (BEWNET). These sisters seek recognition of crucial role played by Black Women economically, politically, culturally and socially in the European context. They are determined to implement and mainstream Black Women´s Empowerment in Europe as a core policy issue.

Check out the five recommendations issued by BEWNET to the European Union leaders.

Villagers, take a moment to share your village voice about the five recommendations, BEWNET, Adrianne or Black women in general.