The theme of the Labor Department's centennial is 'Then, Now

In the words of Tom Perez, “The theme of the Labor Department’s centennial is ‘Then, Now, Next.’ So in honoring Esther Peterson, we look not just to the past but to the future, acknowledging with honesty and a sense of purpose the lingering challenges we still face and the distance we’ve yet to travel before equality is truly a reality in the lives of all women.” These words carry the weight of both memory and prophecy. They remind us that history is not a static tale to be read and forgotten, but a living flame that must be carried forward—past, present, and future entwined in a single torch of justice.

The ancients often spoke of time as a great river. The Then is the headwaters, where the first drops are born. The Now is the rushing current in which we live and struggle. The Next is the horizon, unseen but inevitable, shaped by the choices of today. Perez’s words echo this ancient vision: that to honor Esther Peterson, a pioneer of labor rights and women’s advocacy, is to understand that her victories are not monuments to be admired in stillness, but stepping stones across the river toward equality.

Esther Peterson herself was such a stone. As an advisor to presidents and a champion for working women, she fought for equal pay and fair labor standards. She stood in an age where women were often silenced in the workplace, yet she raised her voice and made it heard in the halls of power. Like Deborah of old who judged Israel under the palm tree, Peterson brought wisdom, courage, and vision to her time. To honor her is to recognize that the challenges she faced are not wholly vanquished; they continue, and we must continue with them.

History reminds us that progress is never given; it is wrestled for. The story of the suffragists, who endured scorn, imprisonment, and hunger strikes to win women the right to vote, mirrors this truth. They won great victories, yet their work was not the end but the beginning. So too, Perez calls us to see: the Now is not an age of triumph alone, but an age of labor, honesty, and unflinching recognition of what remains undone. For though women may stand in boardrooms and parliaments, the promise of equality has not yet reached every household, every factory, every field.

Perez speaks also of Next, and here his words shine with both warning and hope. The Next is not guaranteed to bring justice unless we shape it with deliberate purpose. To look ahead without courage is to drift into complacency; to look ahead with resolve is to bend the arc of history toward fairness. The ancients would have said: the gods grant possibility, but it is mortals who must seize it. So too here: the promise of equality waits, but it is human will that must bring it into being.

The lesson is clear: honor the past, act in the present, and shape the future. To dwell only in the Then is to grow complacent in nostalgia. To live only in the Now is to lose sight of where we are going. To leap only to the Next without foundation is to build castles upon sand. But to hold all three together is to walk wisely—to remember, to labor, and to hope.

Practical actions follow from this teaching. Study the lives of pioneers like Esther Peterson, for in their struggles lie blueprints for today. Confront the challenges honestly, refusing to hide behind easy victories or shallow celebrations. Educate and uplift those around you, for true change flows not from a single hero but from many voices rising together. And above all, work with purpose—in workplaces, homes, and communities—to ensure that equality is not merely an ideal spoken in speeches, but a lived reality in the lives of all women and men.

Thus, Tom Perez’s words are not simply a reflection on a centennial—they are a charge for the ages. Then, Now, Next is more than a theme; it is the eternal rhythm of justice. Let us walk it as the ancients walked their pilgrimages: with reverence for those who came before, with courage in our own steps, and with eyes fixed firmly on the promised land yet to be won.