Person's Day - Tea Parties and Intersectionality

Today is the 92nd anniversary of (most) women being declared persons under Canadian law in 1929. We mark Person's Day on October 18th every year with a tea party. Why a tea party? Because the Famous Five used tea parties as a cover for their organizing! Check out this quick Youtube video to learn more​.
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Although Person's Day is celebrated every year as a milestone for equality, it is crucial that we remember that many Canadian women were not included when we were declared Persons in 1929. Women of colour would not get the right to vote until the 1940's and Indigenous people didn't have full voting rights until the 1960's. White women were the primary beneficiaries of the Famous Five's advocacy.

It is important to acknowledge the lack of intersectionality in the Famous Five's personal feminism, and that they also held racist and harmful views. We encourage you to read this CBC article, 'Our Histories are Complicated: Famous Five fought a good but imperfect fight' and this Maclean's piece on the historical links between suffragettes and racism, to expand your understanding of who the Famous Five were, and reflect on the ongoing need to root out and address racism and oppression within feminist spaces and movements for equality.