August 26, 2020
Ms. Foundation on Women’s Equality Day
Ms. Foundation on Women’s Equality Day
NEW YORK (August 26, 2020) – Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO Teresa C. Younger and Co-Founding Mother Gloria Steinem released the following statement on Women’s Equality Day:
“On Women’s Equality Day, we at the Ms. Foundation for Women wish to remember the works of activists whose contributions have outlived their names or recognition. Their accomplishments serve as the inspiration for our work, and the basis for the crucial on-the-ground efforts that our grantee-partners carry out with such effectiveness and courage across the country.
“Their stories deserve just as much weight in conversations about the historic fight for equality as those that are better known, and women from marginalized communities today continue to carry those torches and ensure that women’s rights apply to all women.
“Today, we commemorate the impassioned efforts of Elizabeth Piper Ensley, a Black immigrant activist whose efforts led to Colorado’s early adoption of women’s right to vote; Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a Black journalist and activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s and co-founded the NAACP; Jovita Idár, a Mexican-American journalist, political activist, and civil rights worker, who preserved Mexican culture in South Texas and encouraged women to pursue an education and push for equal rights; Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a teenage Chinese activist, and suffragist, who sought to bring Chinese women and many other women of color to the forefront, and was the first Chinese woman to earn a Ph.D. in economics; and Zitkala-Sa, a Native writer, and reformer who strove to expand opportunities for Native Americans and to safeguard their cultures amidst Euro-centric erasure of Native history.
“To carry on the legacies of these astounding women, and so many countless others, the Ms. Foundation proudly supports our grantee-partners, whose consistent and resilient efforts remain dedicated to fighting systemic inequality. Whether or not our names are written in history books, we must work tirelessly and continue to bolster our partners’ works until every person, of every background, is truly valued and treated as equal in the eyes of society.”
Ms. Foundation spokespeople are available for interviews by phone from NYC. To schedule, please contact Sunshine Sachs at [email protected].
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For over 45 years, the Ms. Foundation for Women has worked to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. The Ms. Foundation invests in and strengthens the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural, and economic change in women’s lives. With equity and inclusion as the cornerstones of true democracy, the Ms. Foundation works to create a world in which every person’s worth and dignity are valued, and power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age.