Tag: Suffrage History

Harriet Tubman in the Art of Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold’s art on Harriet Tubman is an illustration of her capacity as an artist for taking somber stories and turning them into stories of triumph, victory and joy. 

Faith (my mother) is a fabulist whose real interest is in projecting her ideas into the future. The older I get, the more I appreciate my mother’s art, in particular her insistence upon rendering the most apparently despairing circumstances of our histories as Black folk as opportunities for spiritual and magical transcendence.

Our Democracy Has Problems. Women Have Solutions.

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The U.S., one of the world’s oldest democracies, is now seeing a rise of antidemocratic views. But never fear. We come bearing good news. There is hope. And that hope, we believe, is the shared power and potential of mobilized women to forge a new movement for a 21st century democracy.

We hope you are inspired and encouraged by what this slate of women experts—working at all levels to reform and revitalize our democracy—have to say. And to hear more about democracy solutions and how you can get involved, join us March 8–10 from 3–5 p.m. ET for RepresentWomen’s democracy Solutions Summit, which brings together experts and leaders in election administration, voting rights and democracy reform who are working on innovative solutions that upgrade and strengthen our democracy.

If the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Met the Dynamic Mrs. Dennett—Sex Ed And Censorship Would Be So 20th Century

Like other fans of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I’ll be binge-watching when the fourth season of the hit series finally drops on Friday, Feb. 18.

I can’t help but wonder if the fictional Midge Maisel was influenced by the real-life Mary Ware Dennett or what would happen if they met. From 1915 through the 1930s, Dennett’s pioneering battles against U.S. government censorship helped pave the way for the freedom of speech Mrs. Maisel relies on and fights to expand.

Women Have and Will Continue To Be a Driving Force in Protecting Voting Rights

Without women like Coretta Scott King, Mamie Till-Mobley and Fannie Lou Hamer and women whose names we may never know, passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and much of the progress toward justice during the Civil Rights Movement would not have been possible.

We’re now at a crossroads for voting rights and are asking our elected officials which side of history they’ll be on: the one that upholds justice at the ballot box, or the side that upholds voter oppression.

Weekend Reading for Women's Representation: The Case for Canceling Party Primaries; Remembering Jeannette Rankin, the First Woman Elected to Congress

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation: The Case for Canceling Party Primaries; Remembering Jeannette Rankin, the First Woman Elected to Congress

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: Remembering Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to U.S. Congress; how can the Republican Party recruit more women candidates?; election highlights for women, including the women elected to the NYC Council; the case for canceling party primaries; and more.

'The Suffrage Road Trip': A Tribute to Two Middle-aged, Lesbian, Immigrant Suffragists

‘The Suffrage Road Trip’: A Tribute to Two Middle-Aged, Lesbian, Immigrant Suffragists

In “We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip”, middle-aged lesbian Swedish immigrants Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg advocate for women’s suffrage in 1915.

I fell in love with Ingeborg and Maria when I retraced their route in 2015, and was astonished to find they’d gotten so little recognition for all they did—likely because they were older, working class women who spoke accented English.

Today in Feminist History: Suffragists Flock to National Women’s Rights Convention (September 8, 1852)

The convention will continue two more days, and the struggle will go on for as long as may be necessary. But if future advocates of equality for women have the same dedication as those present today, there is no doubt that Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s prediction of victory will prove true, and those who can say they were among the first to begin the work of winning total equality for women will be especially honored.