The mission of Women Strong is for female artists from diverse ethnicities, cultures, religions and color to build a community of friendship around art.  We would like to think that friendship leads to peace. While this idea may be unproven on a world scale, there is a theory of interpersonal contact that suggests that direct contact between members of different social or cultural groups can reduce prejudice, improve intergroup relations, promote mutual understanding, foster empathy and reduced anxiety about and the perceived threat of the other.
 
We have seen and experienced the vital role women play in American life.
Which is why we were so grateful to The International Peace Museum for allowing us, Women Strong, to be featured during Women’s History Month.  This year the theme of Women’s History Month is about advocacy for equality, diversity and inclusion. A theme that resonates with Women Strong’s raison d’etre. 
 
Advocacy involves the raising of one’s voice in support of a cause.  But what happens when one is not empowered to speak up? Or, if no one is listening?  In Do You Hear Me? I wanted to create a safe space for women’s voices to call out, to advocate for the inequalities they saw in the world.  In my life, I have been silenced in many spheres: from the religious to the professional.  But if we don’t feel encouraged to speak out, who will hear us?