Are you a GoWoman?

With a title reminiscent of Beyoncé's hit song "Run The World (Girls)", GoWoman, a newly launched magazine featuring motivational stories of successful African women, takes a direct and assertive approach to female empowerment. Described by founder Vickie Remoe as the magazine "for African women who find a way when there isn’t one ", it is a testament to women from all walks of life who are bucking the trend, and challenging the sexist stereotypes of patriarchal African society.

In the latest addition to the urban dictionary, a GoWoman (n.) is defined as "a self-starter, pioneer and go-getter ". Angelique Kidjo (Grammy Award winning Béninoise singer), and Leymah Gbowee (2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner) are just a few of the inspirational women for whom the term has been coined.

The magazine, which officially launched on April 13th 2013, highlights prominent women such as Saran Kaba Jones. Jones is the founder of FACE Africa, a non-profit organisation that provides access to safe drinking water for rural communities in post-conflict Liberia. Upcoming issues promise profiles on prominent women such as Miatta Kargbo, Sierra Leonean Minister of Health and Sanitation.

Packed full of feel-good feistiness and girl-power, GoWoman dares to be different. Editor Pamilerin Beckley warns that "this is not your typical women’s magazine ". We couldn’t agree more. Yaaya shares GoWoman’s passion for empowering women of African descent with thought-provoking stories, and voicing real-life examples of women who have defied challenging odds to succeed in their respective fields.

We need more mouthpieces and platforms like GoWoman, Yaaya and MsAfropolitan, who are using their media platforms to shed light on pressing social issues such as identity and integration, that affect black women.

The premier edition has gotten off to a fantastic start, and we look forward to more inspiring stories in upcoming issues. By her definition, Vickie Remoe is a GoWoman. By ours, she is Yaaya.

Image Source | These images do not belong to Yaaya. Images courtesy of the GoWoman Facebook page .