City leaders, partners celebrate Women’s Equality Day Aug. 27 at the Filson
Ida B. Wells and Susan Look Avery knew a thing or two about getting knocked down and getting back up again. These women fought for women’s equality and civil rights and racial equality at a time when the world was just beginning to allow women’s political participation.
They saw gains in women’s right to vote, only to see some of the advances they fought for pushed back time and time again.
Nevertheless, they persisted.
More:Marking women's history with the Kentucky Votes for Women Trail: Opinion
Today, more than 100 years later, women, particularly Black women, women of color and transgender women, are facing new attacks to their freedom, voice and rights – attacks that echo earlier battles for equality.
Rights that had been won through hard-fought battles and enshrined into law have now disappeared. And even women’s gains in the workplace have been set back decades by the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including family challenges that resulted in the mass exodus of women from the workplace.
In this context, it is more important than ever for us to honor and to celebrate Women’s Equality Day. This day was first recognized in 1971, when U.S. Rep. Bella Abzug designated August 26 as a holiday to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
Amid the past several years of racial reckoning, there has been a greater recognition that the 1920 milestone was denied to Black women. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Black people received protection for their right to vote.
It is in this spirit that a group of local organizations – including the League of Women Voters, Louisville Metro Government’s Office for Women and the Lean Into Louisville initiative, as well as Delta Sigma Theta, Louisville Alumni Chapter and the Woman’s Club, among others – have convened a celebration of Women’s Equality Day, to be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 at the Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. Third St.
The chosen theme of “Lift Every Voice,” refers to the Black National Anthem and envisions a world in which all women’s voices – particularly those who have been marginalized – will be heard.
The event will feature remarks from Enid Trucios-Haynes, a professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law; Dawn Wilson, Chair of the Education Committee of the Metro Human Relations Committee; and Taylor Ryan of Change Today, Change Tomorrow; as well as historical reenactments of the stories of suffragists and entertainment by the Real Young Prodigys.
Participants will be invited to learn about local organizations supporting women and how they can become more active in the movement for women’s equality.
As Executive Administrator of Metro’s Office for Women, which was created in 1991 to raise the status of women in the city through education, advocacy and legislation, I am proud to partner in this important event. I appreciate the support of Mayor Greg Fischer, who continues to champion policy changes and programs that directly improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable women in our community – ranging from eviction prevention to education to decreasing maternal and child morbidity through the Healthy Babies Louisville initiative.
In 2021, he signed an ordinance providing paid parental leave for LMG employees welcoming a child by birth or adoption and in 2022, signed an ordinance providing paid leave for LMG employees who are victims of domestic violence and other crimes. Also in 2022, he elevated and relocated the Office for Women to reside within the city’s Office of Equity in order to streamline and amplify efforts to seek equity across our community – because he recognizes the struggle continues.
More:Mayor’s office elevates work to support women, underscores it as an equity issue: Opinion
In that vein, let’s acknowledge that this year’s event is not just a celebration of past victories; it is a call to action. We encourage the entire community to attend, become engaged, find out about groups working to support women in our community and most importantly, VOTE.
Our lives, the lives of your sisters, mothers, nieces, daughters, and granddaughters, depend on it.
Gretchen Hunt, Executive Administrator for the city’s Office for Women, is an attorney and longtime women’s advocate with over two decades of work combatting gender-based violence, working with immigrant communities and overseeing policy change at the state and local level.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: City leaders celebrate Women’s Equality Day Aug. 27 at the Filson
