In celebration of Black History Month, here’s an update on the woman Oprah Winfrey says was her favorite guest: Dr. Tererai Trent.

Dr. Trent is the founder of Tererai Trent International (TTI), an organization that “envisions empowered rural communities where all children have access to quality education regardless of their gender or socio-economic backgrounds.​”

TTI currently supports 12 schools in rural northwest Zimbabwe, along with additional projects that include Improved Education, Health & Nutrition, Gender Parity, Water Access, and Energy & Technology. Under each project are several ways in which the Foundation is fulfilling its mission.

On the TTI site, Dr. Tererai Trent honors recently deceased Jo Luck, longtime President and CEO of Heifer International, who visited her village in Zimbabwe in 1989 and asked the young women sitting in the circle what their dreams were. Never considering that she could even have a dream, this question set Trent on a journey, one where she undoubtedly will leave the world a much better place than she found it, especially for girls like herself.

Cast in Bronze, Deserving of Gold

I cannot imagine a woman more deserving than Dr. Tererai Trent, her likeness one of ten life-size bronze statues unveiled in New York City on Women’s Equality Day on August 26, 2019.

Australian global public artists and activists Gillie and Marc Schattner unveiled the statues of these inspirational women on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) that glorious summer day! Their organization, Statues for Equality, is on a mission to achieve gender balance in public statues worldwide. In NYC prior to their unveiling, only 3% of the statues depicted females; this climbed to 10% on August 26.

With much work left to do across the globe, Gillie and Marc invite nominations for inspirational women and welcome artists worldwide to join the movement. As it says on their site:

“Gender inequality is one of the biggest issues we face today. Women are still paid less, given less opportunity to rise to higher positions, and their successes overlooked. We cannot reach our full potentials if half of the population are not allowed to flourish.”

A Remarkably Inspiring Book

I expected Tererai Trent would go into detail about her personal story of success against all odds, but I had no idea how much wider and deeper her book would span than any one woman’s story.

Trent’s words inspire and reinforce why my sister and I created the Nasty Women Writers Project, highlighting women who have stepped up, worked hard, spoke out, and did whatever they were called to do for the benefit of others. In the words of Trent’s wise and beloved mother, “Every dream has greater meaning when tied to the betterment of the community”(Trent 52).

Trent’s story should be included as an example under the dictionary definition of the word PERSISTENT. She is unstoppable and is diligent in reminding us that she did not accomplish her goals alone: “I feel the energy of generations of women before me rising up in celebration, chanting, and ululating”(206).

“We need the wisdom of those who have traveled the same paths, these women pathfinders, the torchbearers, the ones who have been silenced but have found their redemption against all odds, claimed their own voices, and then remembered those left behind”(154).

Trent, born in a “cattle-herding village in Zimbabwe,” a child bride with four children by age eighteen, demonstrates that she has more in common and much to share with others than one might imagine. The differences seem vast, but she points out that the connections are profound and vital: “My sacred sisters, regardless of our differences, perhaps shaped by class, race, gender identity, and geography, ultimately there is one thing that makes human beings profoundly fulfilled – it is life with meaning”(5).

Throughout the book, Trent asks her readers, What is your Great Hunger? She explains,

“The Great Hunger is liberating and energizing; it enables us to move beyond immediate gratification and toward fulfillment. The Great Hunger inspires us, leading us to discover new ways to grow, to give, and help others”(4).

Her book does much to whet our appetite and inform us about what it takes to satiate our Great Hunger. Purpose and fulfillment lead to a healthy wholeness, for us as individuals, for our communities and for our world.

Trent reminds us,

“It is not about men verses women, but the ideas and practices that celebrate masculinity over femininity. The world can be a better place if we eradicate this unequal value system and bring more love, more light, and more life into all places where we experience silencing or invisibility”(211)..

The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25 years and hosted over 30,000 guests. Oprah chose Dr. Tererai Trent as her most impactful guest. NUMBER ONE! If that doesn’t shout something about this brilliant, brave woman who speaks her truth, our truth, and continues to work to make the world a better place, than nothing does.

Dr. Tererai Trent is a Nasty Woman Writer and Activist and we thank her.

© Maria Dintino 2020, 2026

Works Cited

Trent, Tererai. The Awakened Woman: Remembering & Reigniting Our Sacred Dreams. Atria Books, 2017.