CITY OF PASADENA ANNOUNCES “HERSTORY 2021” & DENIM DAY
(PASADENA, CA.) - The City of Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women will be hosting a virtual “Herstory 2021: Celebrating and Elevating Women to Public Office” taking place on Wednesday, April 21 from 5:30-7:00 PM. This event will bring together women from throughout the community to discuss the status of women’s representation in civic leadership and how to best support women in seeking and holding all levels of public office.
The program features a diverse roster of distinguished elected and community leaders. After special remarks from Congresswoman Judy Chu and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, a panel of local leaders will discuss their experiences and lessons learned as women in public office or supporting women running for public office.
Panelists include Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, PUSD Board Member Tina Wu Fredericks, Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson, Community Leader Charlotte (Char) Bland, and Women in Leadership Vital Voices Founder Lena Kennedy. The panel discussion will be moderated by former Pasadena City Councilmember Jacque Robinson-Baisley and Commission on the Status of Women Chair, Beverley Morgan-Sandoz, will serve as the host of the event.
For more information and to register to attend Herstory 2021 via Zoom, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/herstory. Or, watch on KPAS live at the time of the event at www.cityofpasadena.net/media.
Additionally, City of Pasadena employees will support Denim Day on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 by wearing jeans. For the past 22 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign was originally triggered by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove them, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in 1999 in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault. In this rape prevention education campaign, community members, elected officials, businesses and students are asked to make a social statement with their fashion by wearing jeans on Denim Day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual assault.
“Denim Day, like Tarana Burke’s MeToo movement, recognizes that awareness and understanding of sexual assault are key to overcoming stereotypes surrounding this form of violence against women. For it is force and power that are behind sexual assaults. It is not the way a woman dresses or walks or talks or looks. Women, all women of every color, race, nationality, religion are saying enough! Denim Day symbolizes this unity of spirit and action,” says Commission on the Status of Women Chair, Beverley Morgan-Sandoz.
The City of Pasadena recognizes Peace Over Violence Executive Director Patti Giggans and her team for their tireless work raising awareness about sexual violence, providing prevention education, and supporting survivors.
Stay connected to the City of Pasadena! Visit us online at www.cityofpasadena.net; follow us on Twitter at @PasadenaGov, and Instagram and Facebook at @CityOfPasadena; or call the Citizen Service Center, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at (626) 744-7311.