March 8, 2026
Dear Friends:
Today is International Women’s Day. The United Nations designated this day in 1975 and officially recognized it in 1977. International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Countries around the world honor women’s rights and achievements on this day. We invite you to participate in this effort to honor women on the eighth of every month by sending any articles or information concerning the voice of women that you would like to share to:
Thomas P. Bonacci, C.P
peace@thomaspbonacci.net
925-787-9279
A TRIBUTE TO A REAL WOMAN ON
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
March 8, 2026
by June Kirk
President of the Board of Directors
The Interfaith Peace Project
Caroline Knowles
A TRIBUTE TO A REAL WOMAN
IN OBSERVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Caroline Knowles celebrated her 100th birthday last Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Panama City, Panama. Carrie moved there from the United States after the last presidential election. She had had enough.
Carrie was born into a Jewish family and grew up in New York.
According to the Library of Congress website, here is the United States Carrie was born into:
In 1926, women’s rights in the USA were defined by the post-suffrage era, where the 19th Amendment (1920) secured voting rights, yet legal and economic inequalities persisted. While women enjoyed increased social freedom (flapper culture) and workforce participation, they faced limited legal rights in marriage, limited contraception access, and racial barriers that hindered true equality for many. (Library of Congress (.gov) +2)
The barriers for women did not stop Carrie from becoming who she is. Over the next 99 years, Carrie married, adopted two daughters, and completed Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, and Juris Doctor Degrees.
Carrie is a Woman who taught at prestigious colleges, raised a family, lived for a few years in different countries, pursued work as a Family Therapist, in her 70’s passed the California Bar exam and became a Lawyer working in Family Law, and in her 80’s she was ordained a Minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church. Carrie is a published poet and playwright.
Today, horrified by the developing events plaguing human rights in general and women’s rights in particular, Carrie continues to be a strong voice for justice and dignity.
Carrie wrote a poem in 2017 upon reading about how rudely Kamala Harris was treated in the US Senate during her questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Her words continue to resonate as Women in the United States and around the World struggle for economic equality, fundamental freedoms, and safety from violence in 2026.
Women’s Voices
How long, O Lord, shall our voices be silenced?
How long shall we mourn alone without speech for the pain
of wrongs, shall we grieve without shaping our breath into words
for the careless humiliations and deprivations
that strangle our declarations of truth?
How long shall the power of men interrupt
the witness of truth, the witness of history?
How long shall ridicule and reprimand and pretense
upend what must be told, what must be accounted?
Let us resolve in our hearts to open our throats to speak
our truths as we know our truths. Let us name what it is
when power disrupts the narrative of our lives, when power
talks over who we are, and who we must be, and what we know.
When we speak, let us speak it to all and be heard,
and expose the endless distortions of what has happened
and where we have been and who has challenged with lies
the center of our being. Let us find strength,
O Lord, as the wind speaks through the leaves of trees
And birds celebrate the dawn and the summers of our days.
Happy Birthday, Carrie Knowles! Thank you for having the courage to become your true self, to find your strongest voice, to love beyond measure, to change course with openness, to trust in the future, and to share your story with us.
Off