"Our Vote Is Our Voice": Opinionated MAMA's Perspective on the 19th Amendment
| By O-MAMA - Aug 19, 2010 12:35:21 PM PT |
| Also listed in: O-MAMA.org |
Our vote is our voice. So, if you ever think to yourself on voting day that finishing the laundry or staying late at work is more significant to your life than taking time out to visit the polls, well, think again.
MAMAs have something to celebrate this summer. August 18th marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment states:
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
The long awaited amendment was born out of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Prior to its ratification in 1920, women did not have a voice in politics because we were not allowed to vote…by law. Before women were granted the right to vote themselves, we had to defer social and political power to men. Our views, opinions and perspectives were invisible, only to be represented by people who had no understanding of what it was like to be a woman in America...or a wife, a mother, daughter or sister.
Gaining the right to vote for women was no easy task. Between 1878, when the amendment was first introduced to Congress and 1920, before it was ratified, women activists worked tirelessly to champion voting rights for women. They organized, petitioned, and picketed to earn the right to have their voice heard in the political arena. Some used tactics such as hunger strikes, silent vigils, and parades. And to no surprise, fierce resistance met their activism. Women were heckled, jailed, physically attacked, and abused. Many had their own lives, and those of their children, threatened for their involvement in women’s rights organizations. Our grandmas and great grandmas have a greater legacy than those recipes for apple pie and pot roast. They empowered us to be part of the democratic discourse and participate in our political process.
The matriarchs of our families spoke up, and in doing so, gave us a voice, too. And for crying out loud, we have a lot to say...so the laundry and emails can wait! But what can’t wait, is our political involvement. After all, we do not run the risk of getting jailed, beaten, or ostracized for exercising our voting rights….like women in other countries still do...so, in honor of all women, for just one day, put voting on the top of your “to do list.” We are so lucky to live in the U.S.A. where we are granted a government for the people and by the people, where we have the right to elect our officials and express our opinions. One person, one vote, one voice. We do not have to defer decisions to anyone else. Our grandmothers have passed the torch and empowered us, and our daughters are watching. Together, we can honor our nonis, nanas, grammys, bubbas and g.g.s and inspire our daughters. Our vote is our voice MAMAs. See you at the polls in November!
MAMAs have something to celebrate this summer. August 18th marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment states:
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
The long awaited amendment was born out of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Prior to its ratification in 1920, women did not have a voice in politics because we were not allowed to vote…by law. Before women were granted the right to vote themselves, we had to defer social and political power to men. Our views, opinions and perspectives were invisible, only to be represented by people who had no understanding of what it was like to be a woman in America...or a wife, a mother, daughter or sister.
Gaining the right to vote for women was no easy task. Between 1878, when the amendment was first introduced to Congress and 1920, before it was ratified, women activists worked tirelessly to champion voting rights for women. They organized, petitioned, and picketed to earn the right to have their voice heard in the political arena. Some used tactics such as hunger strikes, silent vigils, and parades. And to no surprise, fierce resistance met their activism. Women were heckled, jailed, physically attacked, and abused. Many had their own lives, and those of their children, threatened for their involvement in women’s rights organizations. Our grandmas and great grandmas have a greater legacy than those recipes for apple pie and pot roast. They empowered us to be part of the democratic discourse and participate in our political process.
The matriarchs of our families spoke up, and in doing so, gave us a voice, too. And for crying out loud, we have a lot to say...so the laundry and emails can wait! But what can’t wait, is our political involvement. After all, we do not run the risk of getting jailed, beaten, or ostracized for exercising our voting rights….like women in other countries still do...so, in honor of all women, for just one day, put voting on the top of your “to do list.” We are so lucky to live in the U.S.A. where we are granted a government for the people and by the people, where we have the right to elect our officials and express our opinions. One person, one vote, one voice. We do not have to defer decisions to anyone else. Our grandmothers have passed the torch and empowered us, and our daughters are watching. Together, we can honor our nonis, nanas, grammys, bubbas and g.g.s and inspire our daughters. Our vote is our voice MAMAs. See you at the polls in November!
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