A Celebration of Women, Part 1

To prove that it doesn't have to be Women's History Month for us to recognize achievements by the gender, here are some acknowledgements that will put some pep into your high-heeled step.

A panel of distinguished judges, aka the voices in my head, has announced awards for women in various categories.

The Giant Leap Award: Pilot Pamela Melroy and biochemist Peggy Whitson take the prize. Whitson is the first woman to command the international space station. Melroy commands the space shuttle Discovery. For the first time in 50 years, two women are commanding two space vessels at the same time.

These 40-something women, both married without children, are making aerospace and American history. It took half a century to reach this milestone and may take just as long to repeat it. Word is that Melroy is the last of NASA's female pilots for the shuttle program. That means that even with this giant leap into outer space, women have moved backward in the U.S. space program.

That said, those cranks who so often complain about women drivers can all take a flying leap. In space, no one can hear your road rage. You go, girls!

And whoever said girls don't do well in science didn't know diddly. For example, this year's Shake-Rattle-and-Roll Award goes to seismologist Lucy Jones.

Jones was featured in a recent Newsweek cover story about women and leadership. Between managing parenting and a marriage, the California scientist monitors earthquakes. She keeps track of things that go bump in the night, even when we don't feel it.

So much is written about temblors and aftershocks that we sometimes forget about things such as foreshocks, the indications that something is imminent. We all can relax more because Jones, chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project, is among researchers keeping track of such things for us.

The Rhymes With Witch Award goes to New York City's Anucha Browne Sanders, who did to Isiah Thomas what Al Sharpton did to Don Imus but with less fanfare and visible support.

Imus got whacked when his on-air slur against the Rutgers women's basketball team became the final straw for people who had put up with his broadcast antics for profit or amusement.

Sports executive Browne Sanders didn't put up with things in her workplace, so she took Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks to court because of sexual harassment. Thomas claims innocence.

Her civil suit cost the Knicks a sizeable sum, brought Thomas down to size and a jury verdict made her a potentially rich woman.

Now, if only we women could get a nickel for every time some rapper or comedian used the B-word. We all would be rich as Oprah then.

This year's Living Legacy Award goes to civil rights activist Dorothy Height, who, though in her 90s, is touring the country, most recently in Kansas City, Mo. Her visit reminds women and people of color from whence we came.

People who think they have it rough these days, ought to read her memoir, published in 2003. She put hard times in perspective. Life for black women of her generation was "no crystal stair.'' Through public appearances and willingness to share her stories about the civil rights movement and women's fight for equality, Height provides a history lesson that you cannot get strictly from books. Her discussions about race and gender are frank, honest and inspirational. No wonder Bill Clinton bestowed upon her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Large-and-In-Charge Award goes to Queen Latifah. Although currently celebrating some lost pounds, this multitalented plus-size performer continues to be an inspiration to girls and women who refuse to equate a dress size with success.

There are other things to cheer about, for example, in politics and finance. But those prizes haven't been announced yet. Until then, let's hear it for the girls.

Rhonda Chriss Lokeman (lokeman@kcstar.com) is a columnist for The Kansas City Star. To find out more about Rhonda Chriss Lokeman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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