Lottie Pare is a 10-year-old fifth grader from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She wrote a letter to her school about how she was going participate in a “A Day Without a Woman,” a protest that joins and supports the “International Women’s Strike” and “International Women’s Day.” Women, men and children are participating in different ways. Some are wearing red in solidarity and doing anything they can to promote women’s equality. There are some women who are on a one day strike from their jobs, some are not spending money to show the power women have economically, and some are donating their day’s pay to women’s organizations. The strike is for all women and human rights.
The protest has caused some schools to close. Matthew Haag with The New York Times reports, “School districts in Virginia and North Carolina are telling students to stay home on Wednesday, on a nationwide day of protest called ‘A Day Without Women,’ because so many staff members do not plan to show up for work.” This is an example of how important women are in the education field as they are in countless industries. .
The event/protest seemed to speak to a Lottie. Sarah Lindenfeld Hall with WRAL reports:
After a weekend dinner discussion about civic engagement, Lottie Pare, a Raleigh fifth grader in the Wake County Public School System, wrote the letter that’s now been read around the world. Mom Laura Moreschi shared it on Twitter on Monday morning.
Lottie Pare’s letter is being covered by news groups including:
Here is Lottie’s letter via her mother’s tweet.
WRAL adds:
Inspired, Lottie’s seven-year-old sister Tori also put pencil to paper, writing a similar letter that Moreschi also shared on Twitter, where it’s been retweeted thousands of times and also picked up by some publications, along with the Women’s March’s Instagram account.
Here is Lottie’s 7-year-old sister Tori’s letter:
Lottie and Torrie did attend school after all, but wore red and talked to their friends about the protest.
WRAL reports Lottie is been interviewed quite a bit and “in between interviews, she’s reading about women’s rights leaders,” including Malala Yousafzai, the young Nobel Peace Prize laureate who continues to fight for female education and equality. Lottie says she’s definitely thought a lot more about the impact of equality during the last three days, than she has “for a very long time.” (I had to chuckle at “very long time.”)
Lottie’s Mom, Laurie Moreschi was reportedly surprised with how well the letter has circulated and says it’s been “completely overwhelming” but also a “very good lesson for us all about the power of social media.”
Lottie adds:
“We’re the next generation. We know what we’re talking about.”
Never did the You Go Girl! expression come in so handy. Cheers to Lottie, her sister and especially her mother, Laurie Moreschi for teaching her daughters how important respect and equality are in a girl’s life — and how sometimes they must ask/demand it … and sometimes they must asked/demanded again, until there is no question. And so, we march on…
h/t Denise Oliver Velez
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