This year is the hundredth anniversary of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution–the amendment that gave white women the right to vote. For most of us, the idea that women, all women, should be able to cast votes in the nation’s elections seems like a no-brainer. It seems so obvious, so ordinary.
Getting here, to this place when all American women can vote, has been a rocky one though. Filled with violent protests, arrests, court cases and Supreme Court challenges, political cartoons and women leading the charge against their own rights as citizens. [https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage]
It’s really easy to get lost in the ‘what it is like now’ and forget that the things that are happening today around social justice are just new versions of the past. We forget that women worked with dedication to prevent their gender from having the right to vote. We forget the political cartoons, the mockery. We forget that there were violent protests and property destruction and arrests. But because of those, I, and millions of other women, have the right to vote over the next two weeks.
I hope that someday we forget how tumultuous these days are and simply take it for granted that equal rights should be given to everyone: black, white, straight, gay, trans, single, married, man, woman…. and all the shades in between.
Please vote for equality and justice.
I made the mini Vote quilt using Hunter Design Studio’s paper piecing pattern and hung it outside my home. If you’re looking for a quick project for a cause, here it is.
Happy sewing!
