The Power of Sisterhood by Michelle Donice Gillis, Ph. D.

As women, we are often told that there is only a limited amount of success to go around, and that we must be in constant competition with one another. But here's the truth: we are stronger when we are in community!

When we join together, we can create a unique bond that goes beyond any perceived differences. We can begin to understand each other's struggles and support each other through our victories.

We can lift each other up when the world tries to bring us down, individually or collectively.

When we set aside our differences and the mistrust that comes from those differences, we can truly unite and bring about change in our own lives, and also in the lives of the girls and women around the world.

Interestingly enough, feminism, an idea created to benefit women, is even marred in distrust. The very foundation of the movement was created for white women of a particular socio-economic status. Because it failed to address the needs of all women, women of color, and Black women in particular, womanism was born (To learn more, read Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose).

But here we are, in a new year solidly planted in a new century, yet we allow our differences to divide as if there were not already targeted attacks on what it means to be a woman and what it means to have autonomy over our bodies and our lives.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of walking into rooms supposedly designed for women where all the women are exactly the same. The lack of diversity, intentional or otherwise, is pathetic and boring.

The truth is where there is a lack of diversity, there is a lack of growth!

We cannot learn and grow in a vacuum. There must be friction, not in a negative sense, but opposing viewpoints are necessary for true growth.

If you know me, you know that I created The North Star because I saw a need. Yes, there are so many "girl groups" (although I find this label offensive because I'm a grown ass woman) many of these groups are stale because everyone is the same.

Honestly, my time, energy, and resources are limited, and I cannot hold space for something in my own life if it's not allowing me to grow. I can imagine it's the same for you!

I believe unifying as sisters and creating space for a diverse group of women to gather is not just a desire; it is a necessity. The world is yearning for our strength, our resilience, our uniqueness, and the profound love that we, as women, inherently carry within us.

When we stand together, we form an unbreakable bond, a force capable of initiating remarkable change and healing. We have the power to nurture, to inspire, and to love!