Women's Equality Day

I will admit I have never heard of Women’s Equality Day. Women’s Equality Day is to celebrate the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. Although the Proclamation below says the 19th Amendment secured more than just the female right to vote it enforced the original idea of this nation that all people are created equal. I think most of us know that really isn’t all that true. We pretend it is but when the majority gets uncomfortable with something they are more likely to shut it down than embrace it. I posted the below Proclamation to remind us of how hard the Women before us fought for their belief in what was right and to maybe rekindle something in us to keep fighting for our planet and equality. The social media I feel sometimes dulls our senses a bit as to what should really be done to save our planet. Our words are not enough to get the job done.
As you can see below the proclamation talks a good game but I had no idea this holiday existed really and August 26th has come and gone many times with me never hearing a mention of Women’s Equality Day. This is an excellent example how a Proclamation signed by our former president sounds really nice on a piece of paper but actions speak louder than words.
This happens to be my favorite part of the proclamation in light of many things going on in America currently that really just prove this statement to be untrue not only for women but for many Americans of all different ethnicities, races and religions “The ratification of the 19th Amendment was an important step toward ensuring that the civil and political rights guaranteed by the Constitution would truly be the equal rights of all Americans.”.

A PROCLAMATION

Seventy-four years ago, the 19th Amendment was ratified,
granting women the right to vote after many years of painstaking
struggle and hard work by courageous suffragists. Empowered by
the efforts of the brave and pioneering women who came before
them, women today have secured positions as leaders in industry,
government, and academia. They serve as role models in every
aspect of our society.

The 19th Amendment did more than secure the right to vote
for women. It recognized and affirmed the fundamental principle
upon which this great Nation was founded — equality — “that
all [persons] are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The ratification
of the 19th Amendment was an important step toward ensuring that
the civil and political rights guaranteed by the Constitution
would truly be the equal rights of all Americans.

By recognizing this previously disenfranchised segment of
our society, the 19th Amendment became one of the landmark civil
rights laws in America, standing side by side with the
Emancipation Proclamation, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments. This year also marks the 4th anniversary of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the 30th anniversary of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the 40th anniversary of
Brown v. Board of Education. These laws and that pivotal
decision, along with the 19th Amendment, have marked the history
of our Nation’s progress in guaranteeing that every member of
our society is treated equally under the law.

We observe “Women’s Equality Day” to commemorate the
ratification of the 19th Amendment almost three-quarters of a
century ago. As we do so, we also honor the important
contributions and achievements of women in this country, and we
commit ourselves anew to fulfilling our obligation to promote
equality for all Americans.

The famous woman suffragist, Helen H. Gardener, advised the
Congress in calling for passage of the 19th Amendment:

Let us either stop our pretence before the nations of the
earth of being a republic and having “equality before the
law” or else let us become the republic we pretend to be.

To further celebrate and commemorate the 19th Amendment
this year, let us not take for granted our precious right to
vote, and let us rededicate ourselves to removing the barriers
that remain in women’s paths.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby
proclaim August 26, 1994, as Women’s Equality Day. I call upon
the citizens of our great Nation to observe this day with
appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
this eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and nineteenth.