Roanoke, VA — After the Virginia Senate voted to defund Planned Parenthood, dozens gathered at the CoLab for International Women’s Day. Freeda Cathcart, representing the Roanoke Women’s Club, introduced people to the history of International Women’s Day and why it’s important to celebrate our progress even when confronted with the ERA and Planned Parenthood setbacks in this year’s General Assembly.
The speakers inspired the crowd by sharing their journeys of overcoming discrimination to have vibrant careers. They were grateful for the generations of women who paved the way for them and mindful of forging ahead for future generations.
Every career the women discussed had a lack of parity with the men in their respective fields whether it was in law, academia or business. Shawn Spencer spoke about experiencing racial discrimination as well as sexism. Bettina Altizer encouraged women to be fearless. Elda Stanco Downey talked about how they celebrate Women’s Day in South America where she grew up and how her home country, Venezuela, has had several woman Presidents. Azurae Windwalker shared how she helps women heal from trauma they have experienced. Freeda Cathcart concluded the evening by encouraging people to support women in their chosen careers and to work together to advance women’s equality to close the parity gap by the U.N. goal of 2030.
