I came across this article today: apparently it is the 100th anniversary weekend of women who marched down Pennsylvania Ave demanding the right to vote known then as the “Woman Suffrage Procession.”
There were a lot of interesting bits in the article:
They estimate as many as 8,000 women showed up – this was 1913 – absolutely astounding, given the means of getting the word out that they must have used at the time! No tweeting, that’s for sure…
Grass roots at its purest. And they purposely derailed the crowd, that normally would have gathered to meet President Wilson at the train, who was there for his inauguration.
22 black women showed up to march but the white women, who were allegedly there to protest the oppression of WOMEN, tried to oppress these women based on the color of their skin. Always interesting when the oppressed become the oppressors.
The protestors had trouble with police brutality even back then!
So anyway, as much as politicians and our bloated government bureaucracy gross me out – and that’s on both sides of the aisle – I do make it a point to vote – in part because at one point, women didn’t have the right to vote.
I honor those who died (and yes men too!) so I could vote.
P.S. And if you’re one of those who choose NOT to vote (on purpose) I honor that choice too. Because not voting is a vote too.
About Beth Skinner