Realize The Power of Your Mind, Body & Spirit

Enlightenment about Soy Products

**October 15th is National Mammography Day!

By: Bianca Lundien Kennedy, Y-ME Hotline Peer Counselor, Remote Counselor Trainer

October signifies a special month for women the world over: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With emphasis on early detection in this fight for life, October 15, 2004 is designated as annual “National Mammography Day,” whereby free and low-cost mammograms are made available by numerous health facilities across the country. Contact facilities in your area prior to this date to determine if they will participate in National Mammography Day.

On the topic of breast cancer, please do not readily believe the misconception, widely promulgated by people with good intentions, that soy is beneficial in the fight against breast cancer. Rather, do some research on the subject. Doctors at M.D. Anderson, as well as many other world-renowned cancer centers, have noted that soy products and supplements contain phytoestrogens, which although they are natural plant estrogens, they are still estrogen sources, which makes them counterindicated for breast cancer patients. This includes over-the-counter products sold to relieve menopausal symptoms.

We recommend that you do some thorough investigating of soy before adding it to your diet and decide for yourself. A little soy in one’s diet is one thing, but the intake of soy milk or soy supplements in one’s daily diet is imprudent. Soy is also implicated in a host of other health concerns, including thyroid disease.

Bianca (pictured above) is a breast cancer survivor and our guest writer this month. To learn more about the latest information on research, issues and concerns surrounding breast cancer visit the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization

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JAD FYI-news

Powerful Women - Forbes Magazine first ever list of the 100 most powerful women in the world contains politicians, queens, presidential advisors, television anchors and CEOs

Who does Forbes consider to be the most powerful woman in the world? That would be National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, one of President Bush's most trusted counselors. Although Rice grew up with racial segregation in Birmingham, AL, she didn't let that prevent her from pursuing her career goals. "[My] parents had me absolutely convinced that, well, you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth's but you can be President of the United States," she said.

Interestingly, the top 10 list includes only one representative from the business world—Hewlett Packard Chairman and Chief Executive Carleton Fiorina at No. 10. Two U.S. first ladies made the top tier—Laura Bush at No. 4 followed by Hillary Rodham Clinton at No. 5—as did two U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Sandra Day O'Conner and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (No. 6 and 7, respectively).

The top 10 list also includes an impressive array of international politicians, from the vice premier of China (Wu Yi, at No. 2) and the president of India's Congress Party (Sonia Gandhi, at No. 3) to the presidents of Indonesia (Megawati Sukarnoputri, No. 8) and Philippines (Gloria Arroyo, No. 9).

Forbes' descriptions of the 10 most powerful women confirm that when it comes to personality and leadership style, it takes all kinds to run the world. For example, Condoleeza Rice is noted for her "silver-tongued diplomacy and steely nerve, while China's Wu Yi is described as "proud, elegant, and intelligent." Laura Bush is said to have a "calm, commanding, and reassuring demeanor," while Carleton Fiorina—"the most powerful businesswoman in the world"—is called "a polished, sleek, and highly visible tech luminary."

You can learn more about these women at The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

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Wangari Maathai 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Photo: Women's History

Women in the News

Wangari Maathai
Nobel Peace Prize 2004

"African women in general need to know that it's ok for them to be the way they are -- to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence." Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya in 1977, which has planted more than 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for cooking fires. A 1989 United Nations report noted that only 9 trees were being replanted in Africa for every 100 that were cut down, causing serious problems with deforestation: soil runoff, water pollution, difficulty finding firewood, lack of animal nutrition, etc. The program has been carried out primarily by women in the villages of Kenya, who through protecting their environment and through the paid employment for planting the trees are able to better care for their children and their children's future.

Born in 1940 in Nyeri, Wangari Maathai was able to pursue higher education, a rarity for girls in rural areas of Kenya. She earned her biology degree from Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas and a master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh. When she returned to Kenya, Wangari Maathai worked in veterinary medicine research at the University of Nairobi, and eventually, despite the skepticism and even opposition of the male students and faculty, was able to earn a Ph.D. there. She worked her way up through the academic ranks, becoming head of the veterinary medicine faculty, a first for a woman at any department at that university.

Wangari Maathai's husband ran for Parliament in the 1970s, and Wangari Maathai became involved in organizing work for poor people and eventually this became a national grass-roots organization, providing work and improving the environment at the same time. The project has made significant headway against Kenya's deforestation.

Wangari Maathai's husband divorced her in the 1980s, complaining that she was "too educated, too strong, too successful, too stubborn and too hard to control." (quote from Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1999, Gale Group.) They had three children.

About Wangari Maathai:

1. 1970 - Began organizing work for poor people and helping the environment at the same time
2. 1980 - Divorced by her husband who complained that she was "too educated, too strong, too successful, too stubborn and too hard to control." (Encyclopedia of World Birgraphy, 1999 Gale Group)
3. 1991 - Arrested and imprisoned; an Amnesty International letter-writing campaign helped free her
4. 1997 - Ran for presidency of Kenya, though the party withdrew her candicacy a few days before the election without letting her know (she was defeated)
5. 1998 - Gained worldwide attention when the Kenyan President backed development of a luxury housing project and building began clearing hundreds of acres of Kenya forest
6. 1999 - Suffered head injuries when attacked when planting trees in the Karura Public Forest in Nairobi, part of a protest against continuing deforestation. She was arrested numerous times by the government of Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi.
7. 2002 - Accepted a position as Visiting Fellow at Yale University's Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry
8. 2002 - Elected to parliament in December
9. 2003 - Named Deputy Minister in the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in January
10. 2004 - Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Firsts First woman in central or eastern Africa to hold a Ph.D., first woman head of a university department in Kenya, first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

To read some quotes from Wangari Maathai visit click here.

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Empowering Your Destiny

This month's Empowering Question

"What thoughts do I have that continuously drive me into taking the actions that keep me down?"

This month's Empowering Affirmation

"I have grown in my consciousness, and release the old me. I forgive myself, and move forward to accept my abundance"

Recommended Reading This Month
Byways of Blessedness

Life is full of beginnings. They are presented every day and every hour to every person. Most beginnings are small, and appear trivial and insignificant, but in reality they are the most important things in life.

Have you yet discovered the vast importance of beginnings? Do you really know what is involved in a beginning? Do you know the number of beginnings you are continuously making, and realize their full import? If not, come with me for a short time, and thoughtfully explore this much ignored byway of blessedness, for blessed it is when wisely resorted to, and much strength and comfort it holds for the understanding mind.

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