1. JANET JAGAN
By: Brigetta Thomas
"The women must join in the struggle to
bring about political and socio-economic
changes so that there will be equal
opportunities for all, so that we can end
unemployment, poverty and hunger, so
that genuine democratic institutions can
flourish, so that our women can be free
and equal citizens in the countries in which
they live."
—Janet Jagan, September 1975.
How a Chicago-born Nurse Ascended to Be the First Female Pr
2. Though American women gained nominal steps toward equality with right to vote in 1920, social progression since has been
rudimentary. However, females today cherish the rights to vote, to divorce, to own property, to drive a vehicle. We can earn
educations and self-sufficient incomes; basic freedoms still not granted in all countries. There are societies where misogyny runs so
deeply, women have next to no human agency. But even in USA, the scales of gender parity remain nowhere near even.
Men occupy the top rungs of not just politics, but all industries. Female authority is mainly shown in the gendered roles of
mother or school teacher. Many jobs available are not authoritative, but supporting roles- waitress, flight attendant, dental assistant,
secretary, maid, nurse, retail/cashier. Some will never see beyond the limited, paltry view of life options they are taught. Popular
culture rarely display girl’s full capability to succeed. Rather, girls see men in power- as the CEOs, the bosses/owners, the pilot, the
doctor. Even with our “equal rights,” how can we expect for men and women to truly exist as equals, when the system in place
is still inherently patriarchal?
It is evident how detrimental white male supremacy has been on the minorities and women they limit. Millions may blindly
accept a narrow path they were taught was “life.” To accept the pattern of all mighty white male power, some unjust standards and
prejudices inevitably reflect in the public. One of the most absurd and commonly accepted facts about American society is that
there has never been a female President. But, actually……………… an American woman has been elected President before!
Janet Jagan (née Rosenberg) was born in 1920 and raised in Chicago, Illinois in a middle-class Jewish immigrant family.
Jagan is celebrated as the first elected female Prime Minister and President of Guyana. She proved to be a survivor, following
decades of attempts to remove her from leadership positions. Janet Jagan ultimately succeeded due to an unwavering belief in
herself, a conviction she harnessed in far more dire times.
“In the 40’s and 50’s we fought for and
won the right to universal adult suffrage.
Before it was introduced, following mass
protests including thousands of women,
very few women had the right to vote. The
vote then had been based on property and
income qualifications, which only a very
few privileged women could meet."
-Janet Jagan, Sept 1975
3. Janet first met Dr. Cheddi Jagan at Northwestern University; they wed in 1943, and moved to Cheddi’s
homeland Guyana (known then as British Guiana). She worked as a nurse at Cheddi’s dental clinic for 10
years, and lost her U.S. citizenship due to her Marxists-Leninist beliefs. Jagan, already a strong political
activist in the States, began her rise to power in Guyana. In 1946, she founded the Women’s Political and
Economic Organization. She created Guyana’s first modern and democratic political party in 1950, the People's
Progressive Party. That same year, she was elected to the Georgetown City Council. In 1953, she was elected
to the House of Assembly and chosen as Deputy Speaker of the Legislature. Jagan served as the secretary
general of the PPP for 20 years. The party had no easy success and had to overcome decades of oppression,
as their primary goal was decolonization. The South American nation had been under British rule and
exploitation since the 1700s. The PPP fought labor struggles, inspiring workers strikes and labor unions. This
scared British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; as result Churchill put Janet and Cheddi Jagan in jail for two
years as political prisoners.
Janet and Cheddi
Jagan
4. Unwavering from her goals when freed, in 1957, Janet was re-elected to the House of Assembly
and became Minister of Labor Health and Housing. In 1966, Guyana was finally independent from the
UK! But plagued with decades of rigged elections and national debt. Given the political
turmoil/unrest, and her labor unions targeted by JFK, Janet took her Presidential strengths beyond
the PPP.
Jagan was elected to Parliament in 1973, and she was the longest-serving member for 46 years.
She served as editor of the Mirror newspaper from 1973-1997, and co-founded the Union of
Guyanese Journalists. Journalism was a strong tool for her to gain influence and continue
improving the South American nation. Outside of politics, Jagan was always involved with writing
and literature, publishing many books and poem collections in her later years.
Entering Georgetown Prison, Sept. 1954
Crowds waiting outside the Prison for
Jagan’s release
5. Addressing U.N. General Assembly, 1998
Leaving Law Courts, 1960s
In 1992, Guyana’s first truly fair and
free elections, Cheddi Jagan was voted
President. As first lady, Janet held many
significant positions, such as the
country's ambassador to the United
Nations in 1993. When Cheddi died in
March 1997, Janet Jagan was sworn in
as the country's first female Prime
Minister and first Vice President.
Janet then ran for Presidency in
the December 1997 elections. She
was the victorious candidate,
winning with the PPP she formed
nearly fifty years prior
6. FEMALE PRESIDENT
By the time Jagan was voted Commander-in-Chief,
the country achieved the independence from Great
Britain she sought and had nationalized most of its
economy. She established health centers, maternity
and child welfare clinics, and still improved wages and
working conditions. Janet Jagan’s lifetime of
accomplishments made her only the third woman
elected in her own right as chief executive of a country
in the Western Hemisphere. As a great President, Jagan
gained worldwide respect and won the Gandhi Gold
Medal for Peace, Democracy and Women's Rights from
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.
Sadly, Jagan was forced to resign from her
Presidency in August 1999. Her poor health meant that
she was no longer capable of "vigorous, strong
leadership.” Despite heart conditions and her
resignation, Jagan remained very active in the PPP for
the rest of her life, still working in her office each day
and editing the newspaper Thunder until 2008. Janet
Jagan died at age 88 of an abdominal aneurysm on
March 28, 2009.
Janet Jagan Funeral
7. The age-old adage, “well-behaved women rarely make history,” could not be more true. Only
revolutionary and defiant women have rose above to create change. Not many recognize how
severe and even fatal the price was that women paid for life as we know it. Most all the rights had
to be brutally, slowly, senselessly earned. Women and suffragettes were jailed, beaten, raped,
underestimated, constantly shut up and put down. We owe it to a tenacious few heroes who were
brave enough to fight the status quo. Janet Jagan is one of these heroes; Born a strong American
woman who earned her rightful place in world history. That deserves to be celebrated! She was
fiercely passionate in her socialist ideals, her confidence as a politician concrete. Jagan’s legacy
should inspire all to continue promoting human rights, to believe in and pursue their individual
dreams. We need girls to set higher goals, and see more female representatives in all positions of
power. Regardless of how far society has come, difficult work remains ahead for women and
minorities. We are not equal, and we owe it to the accomplishments of women such as Jagan to
act for a better future.
“Nothing
much
frightens
me.”
—Janet
Jagan
