As we honor the feminist fight for suffrage, more voters than ever can see themselves and their own life stories reflected in today’s pool of political candidates.
Aug. 26 is Women’s Equality Day—a day to pay tribute to the hard-won fight for women’s suffrage and ratification of the 19th Amendment. The brainchild of Bella Abzug, formidable feminist organizer and federal lawmaker from New York, the holiday was proposed in 1971, and in 1973 Abzug pressed Congress to pass a joint resolution creating a national holiday.
At the same time, Abzug and others—Ms. cofounder Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisolm and Fannie Lou Hamer among them—joined forces to form the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). Both endeavors were laser-focused on the urgent need for fair political representation: that “legal, economic and social equity would come about only when women were equally represented among the nation’s political decision-makers,” as per the NWPC archives.
This year, we commemorate the 51st anniversary of Women’s Equality Day with perhaps more optimistic urgency than ever before. One in which we are just 71 days out from the opportunity to elect the first woman to serve as president. One in which we are witnessing the real-time ascent of the next generation of political leadership—a diverse slate of candidates that includes men and women of color, LGBTQ+ people and young leaders. One in which more voters than ever can see themselves and their own life stories reflected in the pool of candidates from which to have to choose.
Amid the buzz, there has been an overt, palpable melding of pop culture and politics. That includes on Broadway, where the two-time Tony Award winning show, Suffs, tells the story of the fight for women’s suffrage—and all the humanity and perfectly imperfect organizing strategies of the cadre of activists who won the right to vote for women—in song.
This year we commemorate the 51st anniversary of Women’s Equality Day with perhaps more optimistic urgency than ever before.
Lyrics from the show made their way to the campaign trail.
At the Democratic National Convention, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bookended her remarks with lyrics from the show. She began her speech thundering from the stage, “The story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible, but not guaranteed. We have to fight for it and never, ever give up,” and closed her speech with, “I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment, that we were here and that we were with Kamala Harris every step of the way.”
(Cue the Suff soundtrack, “Keep Marching” and “The March/We Demand Equality.” And, no, it is not just because these are addictively catchy tunes; Clinton is a co-producer of the show, together with Malala Yousafzai.)
The show celebrated Women’s Equality Day this past weekend with a special post-performance extravaganza—a celebrity-filled roll call of the 36 states that ratified the 19th Amendment, followed by a panel on voting rights led by the League of Women Voters.
I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment, that we were here and that we were with Kamala Harris every step of the way.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the DNC
Between now and Election Day, New York City’s Music Box Theatre is decked out with voter registration information provided by the national nonpartisan initiative When We All Vote. Audience members are frequently spotted decked out in head-to-toe white, gold and purple sashes aplenty, to pay homage to the colors of women’s suffrage.
Suffs producers Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman are proud of the way the show reflects the real-time political moment. “It is incredible that we get to celebrate this anniversary with our audiences,” they said in a statement.” The suffragists, some of whom are depicted in our show, paved the way for Kamala Harris, for Hillary Clinton, for Sonia Sotomayor, and for all the powerful women in government that get to hold office today. It’s an honor to share their stories and encourage audience members who are inspired by their achievements to get out there and vote this fall.”
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