Great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst to speak at Buy Yorkshire
BUY YORKSHIRE is to welcome Helen Pankhurst, women’s rights activist and great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the Suffragette movement, as a headline speaker at its conference next month.
Working in Ethiopia and the UK, Ms Pankhurst is a senior adviser to the humanitarian and development agency CARE International, as well as a board member for Action Aid.
She has also made it her life’s mission to keep the suffragette legacy alive, including as a suffragette at the Opening of the London Olympics and through her involvement in the 2015 film Suffragette.
During her address she will share her reflections on the ongoing resonance of the suffragette campaign, 100 years on, and share findings from her recently published book Deeds Not Words,
the Story of Women’s Rights, Then and Now.
She said: “Attitudes have changed but there are still challenges 100 years on.
“Taking to the stage at the Buy Yorkshire Conference gives me a platform to share the suffragette’s story – one that people are still fascinated in – and to explain why it is so critical to learn from the past as we march into the future.
“Many people will have seen the film Suffragette and in the themes presented see the parallels to today’s society and the continued need to champion a fairer world.
“I want to take this opportunity to look at how – just like the title of my book – it is deeds and not words that will make a difference.”
The event takes place on Tuesday, May 15 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.