the iron lady

What do you do if you're over 65 years old, a mother of four and a grandmother of six, the first woman ever to be elected President in all of Africa, and the first black woman ever to be elected President anywhere? Why, you roll up your sleeves and get down to governing, of course. At least that's what Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia's new President (aka the "iron lady") has been doing.

And if your country has just come out of a destructive civil war, then you celebrate something as basic as turning on the electricity again.

This year Forbes magazine named her 51st in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

And I just wanted to say that because it's an incredible, a massive milestone for black women especially (and all women) EVERYWHERE and I also wanted to say because a quarter of a century ago MyDad was flying on a tinny jet plane out of Brussels on his way to Monrovia when he got called to the cockpit by a bemused pilot who told him he had an important call from one crazy lady - MyDad's wife (aka MyMama) who demanded to know what he wanted his brand newborn baby daughter to be called ... needless to say MyDad was ecstatic and now BabySister's middle name is ... Monrovia (aka the capital of Liberia).