By Lori Day – If you’re like me and like most people, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Joni Mitchell turned that sentiment into a song in 1970, the same year the National Organization for Women disrupted a hearing in the US Senate and marched through the streets of New York City to bring attention to the ERA.
Forty-eight years later, we still don’t have an Equal Rights Amendment, and even more of paradise has been paved and turned into parking lots. But the fight for equality and a better world goes on, thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of women who have always carried a disproportionate share of that burden.
I am proud to count myself among the numerous women who engage in this exhausting, beautiful, daunting and visionary work. I share this passion with Jen Jones and Cynthia Hornig, founders of this platform (Women You Should Know), and it’s sister platform, Women You Should Fund. Without them, my voice never would have reached the millions of people it has reached, and my work to end domestic violence homicide never would have raised the money it has raised.
So I am gravely concerned because I just learned that there’s a chance – a very real one – that Women You Should Know could cease to exist in the coming months, due to a lack of outside financial support. There is no greater irony in 2019 than the potential loss of such an important platform for women’s voices, right at the cultural moment that they are needed more than ever.
There is no greater irony in 2019 than the potential loss of such an important platform for women’s voices, right at the cultural moment that they are needed more than ever.
Those of us whose lives have been touched by the moving stories about women they tell, and the critical feminist social justice work they do, must not let this happen!
The WYSK founders can no longer fund this effort from their own pockets, as they’ve done selflessly for over seven years, and we should not expect them to. If we all truly care about creating a society that respects, remembers, honors and appreciates the valuable contributions of women and girls throughout America and around the world, then let’s stand with the women doing this work every day. Let’s stand with Women You Should Know.
The WYSK Facebook community includes over 400,000 people. If one-quarter of this community contributed just $5—the cost of a mocha-frappa-whatever coffee drink—imagine the impact our collective support could have in helping Women You Should Know. Together, we can save the platform that inspires us all to thrive as women in the world.
I know there are many urgent appeals these days for everyone’s charitable giving, from Planned Parenthood to the ACLU to political campaigns. We are all stretched thin. But we cannot afford to not afford this.
Please join me in ensuring that Women You Should Know is able to continue their advocacy on behalf of women by taking out your credit card, clicking here, and chipping in what you can. In so doing, you’ll be helping ensure that this female-empowering resource is around for the next generation of readers.
You know what you’ve got. Please don’t let it go.
About The Author
Lori Day is an educational psychologist and consultant with Lori Day Consulting in Newburyport, MA. She is the author of Her Next Chapter, and President of the Board of Directors of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center. She is also a regular contributor to Women You Should Know.
Lori Day at the 2017 Women’s March