Over 1,000 people packed the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Wednesday night for the Susan B. Anthony birthday celebration dinner.
The event commemorates modern women who continue the legacy of the women’s suffrage leader.
Grammy Award-winning producer and activist Tena Clark was this year’s keynote speaker.
Outside of her musical success, Clark has become a women’s rights crusader herself. She is the creator of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls, and speaks out against voter suppression. She says she is inspired to never give up, just like Anthony.
“She ate 'no' for breakfast. And she had a passion about her that never stopped. And she could have given up a million times, and she could have made people comfortable by giving up, but it wasn’t about making anybody comfortable,” Clark said.
Rochester’s first female mayor, Lovely Warren, became emotional as she spoke about Anthony’s legacy.
“I’m thankful because of the fact that women like Susan B. Anthony has the foresight to say: ‘That we want a seat at the table, and we are going to do what’s necessary to make sure that even if we never see the dream, somebody else will realize it,' ” Warren said.
The year 2020 is a milestone year for women’s suffrage and Anthony. It marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th, Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. It is also the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Anthony and the 75th anniversary of the Susan B. Anthony Museum.