Anya Ayoung-Chee

“…I’ve learned how to respect people’s opinions while knowing that they should not necessarily influence my opinion of myself… it can be so damaging to be swayed by other people’s opinions of you.”

Anya Ayoung-Chee 2011 Project Runway Winner

Lydia Maria Child

“Over the river, and through the wood
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day”

Lydia Maria Child   novelist, journalist, teacher
“Thanksgiving Song” written originally as a poem first appeared in Child’s Flowers for Children, Volume 2 in 1844.

Mahalia Jackson

“The secret of life, I am told, is to keep on moving. You got to have heart, you got to take hold. Heaven and earth is on the way. Take my hand, today's the day.” 

Mahalia Jackson contralto gospel singer & civil rights activist