1,400 people were in Virginia’s capital city Tuesdayfor the Women’s Achieve Summit at the Richmond Convention Center. The sold-out event had a celebrity host - Queen Latifah.
Queen Latifah told women to believe in their power.
The all day event often felt like a talk show. It was part of the the 2019 commemoration series “American Evolution.”
“All year Virginia’s been telling authentic stories of 400 years of democracy, diversity and opportunity in America,” Queen Latifah said during the introduction to the show. “Women have not always been invited to participate in that democracy. Oh but we in it now.”
Speakers included an astronaut, entrepreneurs, and two Virginia First Ladies - Pamela Northam and Susan Allen.
Politics squeaked into the show when Queen Latifah asked Democratic Senator Mark Warner about the Equal Rights Amendment, which narrowly failed in Virginia’s Republican-controlled statehouse.
“If we switch a couple votes in the (Virginia) House and the (Virginia) Senate Virginia will become, I think it will be the 38th state, and the Equal Rights Amendment will become not only the law of Virginia but the law of the land,” Warner said to applause.
He encouraged the women in the crowd to vote in this year’s upcoming statehouse elections, regardless of political party.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
