Self-Determination and Independence

A country said no to a king in 1776. Two hundred and fifty years later, women are still saying it — and still fighting for a seat at the table.

NO - a one word sentence; a loaded one; a declaration of empowerment. A word imbibed with inherent audacity to dissent to what is no longer tolerable.

It’s July 5, 2026 my bestie, Joan and I were walking along San Pablo bay. We found ourselves reflecting on our nation’s past and future. 250 years of independence from the crown of the United Kingdom, now one of our closest allies in the free world. Often we refer to the Brits as “our cousins from across the pond.” Paul Revere would turn in his grave with that phrase. Long gone is Paul Revere’s era of midnight horse rides galloping the streets warning colonial militias of British troop movements.

No was the battle cry of the American revolution of 1776. No taxation without representation. No to monarchy. No to an outside power determining one’s future, one’s destiny.

Our once ragtag band of 13 colonies had managed to craft a united nation of 50 states and position itself in central stage of the political world order.

We all have our own moments of declaring our “No” to someone or something.

It’s as if you finally found the switch and managed to turn the lights on in a dark room where you once felt immovable. You draw the line in the sand. From that moment, you unequivocally know what no longer works for you; what you will no longer tolerate; and what you will no longer be silent about.

You have become your own fierce advocate. You’ve clocked the time to take that leap of faith on yourself. It is a prospect both terrifying and peaceful all at once. You run with the momentum of that pivotal moment in your heart and mind, and you never look back.

Just as the history books spoke of the valiant men who died in Gettysburg, Joan and I thought of the women who lost just as much - fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. Yet they were also women navigating their own societal roles cognizant of the paradox in their situation at a time of great loss.

The Declaration of Independence stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Eloquent words of ideals. However, we all know now that the phrase “all men” was limited in its scope both in gender and color. How the brush strokes of that declaration would have been more refined were it so that female voices were present at the seat of the table while crafting the words side by side with their brothers at the Continental Congress.

While our young nation won the battle for independence and self-determination, the women were still confined to the constrict society afforded to their gender. They raised their concerns albeit limited in their power to do so. In her famous letter of March 31,1776 Abigail Adams reminded John Adams that the men of the Continental Congress, drafting our Declaration of Independence, to “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than their ancestors”; to avoid giving too much power in the hands of husbands who might use it for tyrannical purposes against women.

Ironic how in the process of forming a nation, we would go to battle for the cause of independence while the concept of self-determination for women was a foreign thought light years away from the consciousness of men drafting a “declaration of independence” about “inalienable rights” and “the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness”. Abigail Adams understood the irony.

From 1776 it took 144 years for women to gain the right to vote in 1920 when courageous women worldwide drew the line in the sand, and fought the long dramatic struggle through picket lines, hunger strikes, jail time and death for some of them. It was not until the 1960s when women could open a bank account without the approval of a husband. It was not until 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro was a vice presidential candidate; 2016 for Hillary Clinton and 2020 for Kamala Harris, formidable women in their own right who attempted to break the ultimate glass ceiling. So close and yet so far.

It makes me wonder how much more elevated women’s position in our society would be today if only the idea of self-determination was inclusive to all gender and color 250 years ago. If only, how many more women will be sitting in board rooms today, occupying the halls of Congress, leading the General Assembly of the United Nations, or dare I say sitting in the Oval office of the West Wing?

Today, the European Union has Ursula von der Leyen; Mexico has Claudia Sheinbaum; not so long ago Germany had Angela Merkel; in the 1960s Israel had Golda Meir; in the 1980s the Brits had Margaret Thatcher; India had Indira Gandhi twice as Prime Minister, 1966 - 1977; 1980 - 1984; and today, Italy has Giorgia Meloni.

So why does it feel like us “gals” in our nation 250 years later, we are still late to the party? Despite being a superpower on the world stage we have proven twice so far that highly capable women winning the popular vote remains an insufficient formula to break the ultimate glass ceiling.

By now it should be just as self-evident that women possess all inherent capabilities necessary for decision making in tables that matter. Women worldwide must insist to have a seat at the table. The business of becoming is our birthright - no longer waiting for the invitation, or permission. We have to keep opening the doors ourselves and finally break the ultimate glass ceiling. We are long overdue.