On this 4th of July weekend, I am moved to write you a different sort of blog.
On this 4th of July weekend, I am moved to write you a different sort of blog.
Not asking you to donate, take a course, or purchase a ticket to the Power Up Conference for a change. Instead, I’m thinking about what this day means, and I’m curious about what it means to you. How do you celebrate it? Leave a comment and tell me if you’re willing to share.
As for me, I’m a sappy patriot. All four of my grandparents immigrated to this country from Eastern Europe with little or nothing to escape antisemitic persecution and pursue the blessings of a free society. They endured a lot to get here and I marvel at how they made new lives in a strange new land.
They instilled in my parents and me the belief that no matter what we did in professional life, we should be involved in community service. They never missed an opportunity to vote, because they hadn’t always had that privilege.
This history is why I tear up at the sight of the Statue of Liberty even though I’ve seen it thousands of times. I grew up believing in the words of Emma Lazarus’s poem at the statue’s pedestal:
“Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
Lazarus wrote the poem as a donation to the campaign to raise money for the pedestal’s construction in 1883.
While walking through New York’s Lower East Side one day, I stumbled upon a high school named for her, specializing in teaching English to a multicultural student body speaking 18 different languages.
Two early American Presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, often at odds politically, said some variation of “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Both failed to include women and Black people in their otherwise noble declaration. Jefferson was a slaveholder and Adams ridiculed his wife Abigail when she implored him to “remember the ladies” while writing the new nation’s Constitution.
No one said freedom would be easy. America has not yet fully lived up to its own ideals.
In fact, the rights of women, immigrants, and people of color are experiencing substantial setbacks. Take The Lead exists to continue pushing up the uneven path to full equality for all citizens even when it’s difficult.
On July 4th , enjoy the barbecues, parades, and fireworks, and let’s celebrate liberty by committing to keep working for the vision of liberty and justice for all.
PS Here is the poem Emma Lazarus wrote, in case you’re interested.
GLORIA FELDT is the Co-founder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, and a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.