100 Years Of Progress? 19th Amendment Summit Reminds How Far To Go
A century of progress and more to do for gender and racial equity.
A vibrant, virtual, free five-day summit that addresses where women are now and how women can move forward toward gender and racial equity begins August 10, thanks to The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization launched earlier this year.
“A virtual, free five-day summit that addresses where women are now and how women can move forward toward #gender and #racialequity begins August 10, thanks to @19thnews, a new nonpartisan news organization.”
“The centennial of The 19th Amendment — which gave white women in this country the right to vote — falls at a really pivotal moment in American history, where we're grappling with a global pandemic and navigating a modern-day civil rights movement. There's never been a more important time to spur critical conversations about the role of women in this work,” says Emily Ramshaw, co-founder and CEO of The 19th.
““There’s never been a more important time to spur critical conversations about the role of women in this work,” says @Eramshaw, co-founder and CEO of @19thnews. #19thAmendment #genderparity”
Read more in Take The Lead on Emily Ramshaw and the 19th
To honor the centennial and prompt an urgent conversation on issues in the U.S. at the intersection of gender, politics and policy, the 19th launches, “The 19th Represents: 2020 Virtual Summit,” August 10-14, a five-day virtual gathering with panels, discussions and performances from leading advocates in the fight for gender equity and advancement. Participants include Sen. Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Melinda Gates, Alicia Garza, Meghan Markle and Stacey Abrams.
“@19thnews launches, “The 19th Represents: 2020 Virtual Summit,” August 10-14, a five-day virtual gathering with leading advocates in the fight for #genderequity, including @KamalaHarris, @HillaryClinton & @StaceyAbrams. ”
A century ago white women in America were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 2020. Forty five years later in 1965, Black women were allowed to vote. Women may have indeed come a long way, but there is a long way to go for gender and racial equity in this country.
“Women may have indeed come a long way since the #19thAmendment, but there is a long way to go for gender and #racialequity in this country. #genderequity”
2020 is significant for women not only as it marks this centennial, but as an election year.
“ 2020 is significant for women not only as it marks the #19thAmendment centennial, but as an election year. #womenvoters #womensrights ”
“This is a landmark election — a campaign season with record numbers of women on the ballot, on the presidential debate stage, and maybe even in the vice president's office,” says Ramshaw. “The women's electorate will be critical to determining the outcomes.”
On the first day of the summit, Monday August 10, with the theme of “Breaking Ground,” U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada delivers a keynote, as does U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), both moderated by Amanda Zamora, co-founder and publisher of The 19th, followed by the The Go-Gos performing, “Club Zero.”
Later a panel discussion,“The Firsts: Women in politics who blazed their own trail,” includes former New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez; Virginia Delegate Danica Roem; U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, with Andrea Valdez, editor-in-chief of The 19th Day, serving as moderator.
And while the hope is that there will be another first as a female vice president in 2020, Ramshaw says women are not where they need to be in 2020 in politics, in voting, in representation.
“While the hope is that there will be another first as a female #vicepresident in 2020, @Eramshaw says #women are not where they need to be in 2020 in #politics, in voting, in #representation. ”
“Beyond the 19th Amendment, it took most women of color another four decades, well into the civil rights movement, to get access to the ballot. And in many states, voter suppression still prevents women from voting to claim their full place in our democracy. In virtually every arena, women are still at a disadvantage,” Ramshaw says.
Stacey Abrams, considered a vice presidential Democratic possible candidate, is a keynoter on the second summit day, with the theme, “Suffrage,” on August 11, moderated by Errin Haines, editor-at-large of The 19th. Meryl Streep and Zoe Saldaña will perform “Voices of Suffrage.”
“@Staceyabrams, considered a vice presidential Democratic possible candidate, is a keynoter on the second @19thnews summit day, with the theme, “Suffrage.” #blacklivesmatter #suffrage”
Later a panel discussion, “The Asterisk: Suffrage as unfinished business” features Alicia Garza, principal at the Black Futures Lab and co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network; María Teresa Kumar, founding president of Voto Latino; Martha S. Jones, professor of history at John Hopkins University, with Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times Magazine, moderating.
“A century ago, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made voting, our country’s most fundamental mode of civic participation, a right regardless of gender. But this watershed moment in our democracy excluded millions of women, including women of color, from the ballot box for generations,” according to The 19th.
To move toward gender equity, all women need to participate in selecting leadership, according to Ramshaw. What can they do? “Vote. In every election. With no exceptions,” Ramshaw says.
“To move toward #genderequity, all women need to participate in selecting leadership, according to @Eramshaw. What can they do? “#Vote. In every election. With no exceptions.””
Read more in Take The Lead on Ramshaw and 50 Women Can Change The World in Law panel
And while this summit is an ode to the 100 years of progress, leaders must necessarily look to the future. “The Future is Female” is the theme of Day 3, August 12.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures is the first keynote, with Ramshaw, moderating. Madame Gandhi performs “The Future is Female,” followed by a panel discussion, “Next-Gen GOP: The women working to reshape conservatism.” Panelists include Young Kim, California congressional candidate; Valerie Ramirez Mukherjee, Illinois congressional candidate; Beth Van Duyne, Texas congressional candidate, with Sarah Longwell, president and CEO of Longwell Partners, serving as moderator.
The Equality Can’t Wait Challenge recently “announced $10 million in new funding, bringing the total grant package to $40 million. The gender equity initiative backed by Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) will begin accepting applications Sept. 1,” according to Geek Wire.
“Melinda Gates’ philanthropic firm, Pivotal Ventures, announced the challenge in June as part of a broader $1 billion equality initiative. The challenge will award grants of at least $10 million each to the winning proposals with ‘transformational’ ideas for improving gender equality.”
For the fourth day of the summit, August 13, Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, is the first keynote for the day’s theme, “Electability.” Amanda Becker, Washington correspondent, The 19th, serves as moderator. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is the second keynote with Becker also moderating. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra with composers Camryn Cowan, Valerie Coleman and Jessica Mays will perform.
“For the fourth day of the @19thnews summit, August 13, @HillaryClinton, former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, is the first keynote for the day’s theme, “Electability.” #womeninpolitics”
The following panel discussion, “When will a woman win the presidency?” includes participants Kelly Dittmar, associate professor of political science, Rutgers University-Camden; U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, of Hawaii, former presidential candidate; Jennifer Palmieri, author and former communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, with Haines as moderator.
The notion of electability and successfully putting a woman in high office comes at a crucial time in history with the effects of COVID-19 and a pandemic of racial injustice consuming the nation. Gender equity is urgent now.
“The notion of electability comes at a crucial time in history with the effects of #COVID19 and a pandemic of #racialinjustice consuming the nation. #Genderequity is urgent now. ”
“We know that women are disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic in truly every way save mortality rates — whether it's the number of people who've lost jobs, or who are serving as front-line health care workers, or navigating child care with kids out of school,” says Ramshaw.
“We're seeing countless women who are stepping back from the careers they've fought so hard for because they now must stay home with their children. And add to this backdrop the pandemic-within-a-pandemic of racial injustice, where women of color are also hardest hit. This is truly a perfect storm,” Ramshaw adds.
Wrapping up the final day of the summit on Friday, August 14, the theme “On Race & Gender” addresses these parallel issues with immediacy. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, former Democratic presidential candidate, is the first keynote, with Haines as moderator. Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, poet, scholar and president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, follows with a performance of her poetry in “Forward, Forward.”
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was a late addition participant.
“The 19th*’s commitment to reporting and storytelling that lifts up those who are too often underrepresented in the media has never been more important,” the duchess said in a statement to Glamour. “I’m looking forward to asking the cofounder what it means to build a media outlet with gender equity, diversity, and community at its core.”
Glamour reports, “Ramshaw explains that ‘the duchess learned about The 19th* and its mission and reached out to us. She told us that our vision for The 19th*—building a truly diverse and representative newsroom that covers women with nuance—spoke to her immediately’.”
Noting the inclusion each day of an artistic performance, Ramshaw says, “The arts bring voice to the voiceless. They're tools for cultural osmosis, for greater understanding, for deeper education. In many ways they're the linchpin.”
The afternoon panel discussion, “All in this together: A conversation on race and allyship in America,” includes Robin DiAngelo, author, “White Fragility;” Brittney Cooper, author, “Eloquent Rage,” and moderator Sunny Hostin, co-host of The View.
“Women’s suffrage is sometimes portrayed as the triumphant end of a movement, the hard-won reward for decades of marches, protests, hunger strikes, feeding tubes. Really, it was a beginning,” writes Monica Hesse in Washington Post.
Hesse continues, “For all of the individual laws passed on the heels of women’s suffrage, for all of the dollars disbursed and diphtheria cases avoided, the main influence of women’s suffrage was philosophical: the idea that a nation made of many different kinds of people, in many different conditions, must expand the franchise in order to govern itself well.”
While moving forward, women can indeed learn lessons from the women leaders a century ago, says Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead.
“While moving forward, women can indeed learn lessons from the #womenleaders a century ago, says @GloriaFeldt, co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen. ”
“The suffragists made their voices heard and their presence known,” Feldt writes. “Politically powerless, they used what they had (that’s my Leadership Power Tool #3)—the power of grassroots organizing, their numbers and their passion—the power to create street theater that got attention of elected officials and the media.”
Feldt writes that the most important lesson we can learn from the suffrage movement is: “Even when you win, you aren’t done. In a democracy, you can never congratulate yourself and think victory is forever.”
“@GloriaFeldt writes that the most important lesson we can learn from the #suffrage movement is: “Even when you win, you aren’t done.” #19thAmendment”
With an eye on Take The Lead’s mission of gender and racial equity by 2025, Feldt adds, “A movement has to move. Power and energy come from moving into new space, not from resting on your gains.”
“With an eye on @Takeleadwomen ‘s mission of #genderparity and #racialequity by 2025, @GloriaFeldt adds, “Power and energy come from moving into new space, not from resting on your gains.””
