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West Coast LEAF's Equality Breakfast brings women together to honour collective achievements, to inspire and to be inspired to continue our work toward substantive equality.
Vancouver (02 March 2015) — As a celebration of women and women's achievements, the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is pleased to be a sponsor of West Coast LEAF's 28th annual Equality Breakfast.
Celebrating our strength, remembering our struggles: Minnijean Brown Trickey
West Coast Leaf is honoured to have Minnijean Brown Trickey as its keynote speaker at this year's Equality Breakfast. Brown Trickey is one of the nine Black high school students who bravely desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, Now known as the Little Rock Nine, these teenagers ushered a watershed moment in the history of civil rights.
The United States Supreme Court had ruled segregated schools unconstitutional in its landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling; three years later, states in the South finally began to face the reality of federally mandated integration. A crisis erupted when the Governor of Arkansas called in the National Guard on September 4, 1957 to prevent the Little Rock Nine from attending high school.
Minnijean’s experience exemplifies that rights are meaningless if we cannot exercise them. Her experience also reminds us that nearly 60 years after 1957, the legacy of institutionalized racism and structural inequality remains alive and well.
The Equality Breakfast will take place in Vancouver, B.C. at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at 900 W Georgia St. on March 3 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
West Coast LEAF is the only organization in B.C. that uses the law to further women’s equality
Working to end discrimination against women using equality rights litigation, law reform, and public legal education, LEAF envisions a society in which women are full participants in all social, economic, and political activities. Its work is aimed towards substantive equality, an approach that recognizes and celebrates differences. Rather than treating everyone the same, substantive equality ensures that historically disadvantaged people can actively participate in society and access justice. LEAF strives to ensure that the law upholds the equality principles in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which advances the rights of all marginalized groups.
NUPGE is honoured to support LEAF's work to ensure women achieve social and economic equality in Canada. Members of NUPGE's National Executive Board will be in attendance at the Equality Breakfast as the even coincides with National Executive Board meeting being held in Vancouver.
More information:
West Coast LEAF Equality Breakfast
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE