VFA CELEBRATES WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY AND THOSE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN!

REMEMBERING THE SECOND WAVE'S FIRST BIG CELEBRATION

On August 26, 1970, the 50th anniversary of suffrage, Betty Friedan called for a nationwide strike to dramatize the "Unfinished Business of Women's Equality." Those of us who helped organize it remember that day vividly. In New York the day began with some of us invading the offices of the New York Times, where we passed out copies of the NOW York TIMES, a newspaper put out by New York City NOW, written as though women were running the world and announcing "All the news that would give The Times fits." The Times editors treated us harshly, but women employees were overjoyed. And, a few weeks later they filed a class action suit for discrimination against The New York Times.

The day continued with NOW and women's liberation groups holding demonstrations -- , for childcare, marriage and divorce reform, to protest anti woman ads, for the ERA. We invaded "men only" restaurants, put a plaque at Times Square which said "A statue of Susan B .Anthony would replace Father Duffy's, and held a mock mass " for the repose of the souls of male supremacists." One of us dressed as a priest and recited The Lady's Prayer"...

Our Mother, who art in heaven,
Sister we call thy name.
Our kitchen's done, our nursery's run,

on earth, and it isn't heaven.
Give us the right to earn our bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive men , who trespass against us.
And lead us not into subservience, but deliver us from Adam..
For Thine is the Freedom, and the POWER,
and the GLORY, FOREVER!
AWOMEN!

At 5 PM I headed for 5th Avenue to join the march, fully expecting (and very afraid) that there would be a small group of maybe two or three thousand women -- to see thousands of women , men and children. -- I couldn't see the end of the line! Apparently our take over of the Statue of Liberty two weeks before, when we'd draped Ms Liberty's top balcony with a WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE banner, and a MARCH ON AUGUST 26TH banner -- had worked.

The mayor had given us only half of Fifth Avenue, but when the police blew the whistle, the women spread out and took it all. With the blaring of car horns from the side streets pressed by angry commuters who couldn't cross the Avenue, our magnificent march of what I later heard was over 50,000 , women of all ages, men and children -- even babies ,took over the entire Avenue, not marching in neat lines like the suffragists had --- but running, skipping, shouting, singing joyously as though Hurrah... nothing will stop us now! Events and demonstrations which took place in many cities on that August 26th of 1970 reverberated around the country and the world.

Before then, in spite of great achievements like Title VII and successfully suing a few companies that discriminated against women, we'd been ridiculed, laughed at, criticized, scorned by many. On this day we became a Movement, and though our opposition got meaner, they no longer laughed.

There is still so much to be done -- not only in our country, but worldwide. To continue this fight for women's equality millions must be actively involved. So Equality Day and August 26 of every year is a day to remember and rejoice in what we've achieved and to refuel for future campaigns. VFA starts by showing some of the things going on around the country this August 26, and urging each and everyone to do something that day , even it is only writing or calling a legislator about the ERA or any issue involving women's rights and freedom. Jacqui Ceballos