It’s safe to say that 2018 was a banner year for women’s rights, and the kids behind the SPARK movement are aiming to ensure that continues far into the future.
SPARK is a nonprofit created and run by girls around the globe. According to their website, they’re “working to ignite and foster an antiracist gender justice movement to end violence against women and girls and promote girls’ healthy sexuality, self-empowerment, and well-being.”
Photo Credit: Spark Movement
Here is some proof that the girls behind the movement are on top of their game: after noticing that only about 17% of Google’s doodles feature women, they confronted the giant and asked for things to change. Not only did Google agree to feature more history-making women on their homepage, but they asked the group to research and honor notable women for their Field Tripper app.
Photo Credit: Field Tripper
The app lets users explore their surroundings – food, history, architecture, culture – in real time by alerting them to things of interest nearby. Thanks to the girls at SPARK, that now includes notifications when users are approaching spots where the women they’ve researched changed history.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
So far, the girls have added about 100 women. The list includes Mary Ellen Pleasant, an American activist who helped slaves escape their plantations; Mary Anning of England, a fossilist who discovered Plesiosaurus; and a group of Chilean woman known as the Arpilleristas who wove tapestries that documented the violence of Pinochet’s regime.
They’re working on more, so if you have a favorite women in history, you can nominate her to be researched and included, as well.
There’s no dearth of cool apps out there, but this one tops my list! I can’t wait to download it, switch on the history notifications, and geek out. You know you’re dying to join me!
