Inspiring “She Rises Up” Profiles International Women Entrepreneurs
In the brilliant Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, he wrote:
“Economic arrangements play a dual role in the promotion of a free society. On the one hand, freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself. In the second place, economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom.”
The link between individual empowerment and economic freedom is a recurring theme in the work of director Maureen Castle Tusty. Her latest documentary, She Rises Up, continues to explore these themes. The film examines three women entrepreneurs on three continents and their experiences in operating their businesses.
Magatte Wade of Senegal is behind the cosmetics brand Skin Is Skin and other ventures. Senegal women dominate markets, and Wade’s endeavors are in keeping with this tradition. Additionally, she is a world-renowned free-market activist working to make Africa more economically prosperous. She empowers women in her community through employment in her companies.
Gladys Yupanqu of Peru overcame personal and political hardships including repression by the brutal Shining Path, to open her own mini-market with money she worked for and saved. Her determination, strength, and positive frame of mind allowed her to overcome extreme poverty and provide for her family in a market environment where 42% of businesses are unregistered.
Sri Lankan Selyna Peiris leads Sely, a textile firm committed to employing local craftswomen in a place where women generally have little economic freedom and many of its people live in poverty. As the COVID pandemic hits Sri Lanka hard, Peiris creates a type of reusable menstrual pad to keep her business afloat. Even her employees understand that the ability to earn a living empowers them and is a means to achieving equality.
Each of the entrepreneurs profiled is strong-willed, creative, and resolute. Like all business professionals, they encounter many challenges and obstacles in running their businesses. They are also aware that their enterprises positively affect the community beyond their individual livelihoods. They build trust while offering goods to customers in their neighborhoods and around the world. They can invest in their communities’ futures by giving economic autonomy to women, hoping to plant the seeds of prosperity that may fully blossom.
She Rises Up persuasively posits the notion that economic freedom and personal freedom cannot be separated. For women to realize their full potential, they must be free to earn and spend. This is evident even to employees of Peiris who see work as a bridge to equality. In places where women have less autonomy, it argues for cultural shifts and policy changes to make that happen. While American women take for granted the personal and economic freedom that was fought for and attained, She Rises Up shows that substantial portions of the world’s women lack such freedoms.
She Rises Up is Tusty’s first feature as a solo director. She is again joined by filmmaking partner James Tusty in the executive producer role. As they did with Sweden: Lessons for America? and Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives, the duo again documents the liberating effects of markets on individuals by sharing compelling personal stories.
The film is also their first theatrical release since The Singing Revolution. As people are pondering the end of movie theaters, it’s encouraging to know that a distributor can play this winning documentary in cinemas, especially when its themes seem to run contrary to today’s conventional wisdom. Politicians and other world leaders often point to the state as the means of eradicating poverty, but She Rises Up demonstrates that markets are the best cure.