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The Emancipation Proclamation was drafted by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, calling for the end to slavery. We’ve come along way, baby, and we’ve got a long way to go. Today, the old 9 to 5 can feel like a life time of indentured servitude. Sometimes, when you’re spending the best hours of nearly every day in a gray, wall-to-wall carpeted box, it’s hard to remember your humanity. But you are FREE, man.

I wear my Emancipation Proclamation tie as a reminder that the past is our history, and its best not to forget it. Look, I usually can’t stand theme ties: those horrible piano key ties, the prehistoric bugs ties, the indecipherable abstract art ties, those saucy pin-up girls from the 1950s (okay, I like those, but you know I’d never get a way with owning one, much less wearing it at work, hello.) But this tie, with its gorgeous, parchment-colored handwritten text is really quite beautiful, actually. Somehow, understated, but at the same time, bold. It’s made of imported silk and hand-finished– it’s a stroke of genius and a beautiful reminder of a struggle that might not be completely over. I wear my tie on days when I need that added support. Hey, I take my empowerment anywhere I can get it.