Taking Ownership of Our Feminine Authority

Social norms tell us that women of authority are rare, and yet the global call on October 14th hosted by the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Charter for Compassion International’s Women and Girls Sector, and Sistrum Spirit proves otherwise.
“The Role of Compassion in Owning Our Feminine Authority” celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Inaugural Women’s Assembly and Program Initiative at the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions and brought together powerful luminaries focused on driving action for women’s dignity and human rights.
A total of 514 people from around the world registered to join Bishop Barbara King, Marianne Williamson, Grandmother Flordemayo, Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Mallika Chopra, Larry Greenfield, Phyllis Curott, Molly Horan and Sande Hart on a call for compassion, justice, love and action.
One unique component characterizing the call were moments of silence, healing and prayer. Grandmother Flordemayo opened the call in this way, to which participants responded gratefully.
Speaker after speaker highlighted the importance of taking what was learned and experienced at the Women’s Assembly and utilizing feminine authority to drive action.
“It is important for us to not spend too much time with congratulatory rituals. We need to get to the work! This is urgent in nature. This has to do with expressing in the world the values we hold.” – Marianne Williamson
Speakers like Bishop Barbara King and Mallika Chopra highlighted how the power they felt during the Assembly has lead them to empower themselves and others in carrying out action rooted in compassion. Whether it’s donating gently used clothing or learning from the lessons of our foremothers and planting the seeds of compassion for the future generations, the call encouraged listeners to not only claim ownership of our feminine authority but take that authority and lead for actual change in the world.
This reconnecting also allowed the Parliament to share some encouraging stories of impact shared by participants who’d been inspired to launch new initiatives since attending the 2015 Parliament. Some of these plans range from new strides in global activism for women and girls up to and including the organization of upcoming regional interfaith women’s conferences.