I pretty much ignored the 4th of June. Other than one little post, I let the 18th of August go by this year, too. Today, I’ll make a bit of “noise.”
Once an amendment is passed in Congress, it still takes ratification from three-fourths of the states for the amendment to become part of the Constitution.
On the 27th of January 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The three-fourths requirement has been met, yet that amendment is not part of the Constitution. We’re still waiting.
So, while the 19th Amendment got its 36th state (Tennessee) on the 18th of August 1920, that’s not the day to celebrate.
Today, the 26th day of August 2020, marks one hundred years since Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification of the 19th Amendment. On that day 100 years ago the 19th Amendment was included in the Constitution. That’s the big one.
With this addition, we weren’t “granted” the right to vote; passage of the 19th meant that they stopped denying us our right to vote. Our right to vote was finally protected. Passage of the 19th only recognized voting rights for white women, though. Black women (and men and other people of color) still faced barriers when attempting to exercise their right to have a say in governance.
Today, we celebrate an anniversary of the end of part of the battle for suffrage, but we look ahead to many more battles. Voter suppression and intimidation are widespread even now. And despite progress like the 19th, women still fight daily for equal pay, for privacy, for bodily autonomy.
When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.
— Alice Paul repeating her mother’s words
This work takes a long time, and we’re not at the end of the ERA row. Alice Paul raised a glass on the 26th of August in 1920, and then she got back to work trying to get a version of the ERA passed. I think I’ll follow her lead. I hope you will, too. Cheers!
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I can’t thank you enough for your patience and support. Together, we will gain equal opportunity and protections for all people. – Love, Brooks.
Link: Out of Bubble Gum – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (rights exist for all and aren’t “given” or “earned,” and we don’t owe men gratitude because they stop one form of oppression)
Link: Hysteria, My Ass – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (don’t minimize or ignore the threat to human rights, to bodily autonomy and privacy, that the current wave of anti-abortion and anti-women laws pose, especially to non-males. Abortion laws are about controlling women. Period.)
Link: Representative Government – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (while all the major political parties represent straight, white men, one party – the Democratic Party – gets a very large portion of their votes from black women and other groups but has the Democratic Party considered representing them?)
Link: Uppity Woman – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (on making excuses for sexists, especially men)
Link: Less Than – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (there is no party that supports women or that supports and defends equal rights protections as even the Democrats will welcome anti-women’s rights, “pro-life” members and candidates)
Link: Through – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (no point in wishing we could go back, and why would we? the past sucks for the majority of Americans. the only way out is through)
Link: Mother Taught Me – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters (on recognizing sexist remarks and not being a part of holding up the Patriarchy especially at the expense of women)
Link: Roe v. Wade (1973) – Cornell Law School
Link: Equal Rights Amendment
TL;DR: 100 years ago today, white women’s right to vote was recognized when the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution. Let’s take a moment to celebrate and then get back to work, starting with the ERA.
#RatifyERA #WomensRightsAreHumanRights #Equality #BodilyAutonomy
#GMEndOfARow