HER VOICE
Her voice resonates today. In 1922 she tried to educate us. We thought everyone listened. The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment was upheld in the Supreme Court. Suffragettes marched and had won the right to vote. We thought voting rights (at least for women) were an accepted right. Now across the country states are attempting to disenfranchise many kinds of voters.
Alice Paul knew. She received a law degree and was instrumental in writing the Equal Rights Amendment to Congress. We thought it would pass. It still has not been ratified. We didn’t pay enough attention. Now we listen.
***
Her voice resonates today. In 1942 she tried to educate us. Not many listened. Some women marched. Some women sought legal redress. We thought women’s health issues were in the forefront of people’s minds. Today, we experience a repeated urgency as the whole country suffers and feels the effects of ignorance and misogyny.
Margaret Sanger knew. She tried to tell us, to educate us. Some of her quotes have been taken out of context. Some of them have become controversial or up to interpretation. We didn’t pay as much attention as we should have. Now we listen.
***
Her voice resonates today. In 1962 she tried to educate us. Not many listened. A slow drumroll that pounds out an incessant beat. Now we listen. Now we and the world pay attention. Now we feel an urgency as the whole country suffers and feels the effect of global warming.
Rachel Carson knew. She tried to tell us in her seminal book, Silent Spring. She dedicated her life to environmental causes. We didn’t pay much attention. Now we listen.
***
Her voice resonates today. In 1992 she tried to educate us. Not many listened. Some did. She had launched the ACLU Women’s Rights Project in 1992 and proved to be a recognized legal scholar. Setting precedent by taking on gender equality issues, she was confirmed as the second female Associate Supreme Court Justice in the United States. Her decisions were studied and followed.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg knew. She tried to set an example, as a wife, mother, professor and judge she embraced gender rights, and became a cultural icon known as the Notorious RBG.
***
Stacey Abrams knew. By 2012 she had been in the Georgia House of Representatives for six years and been chosen as the winner of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award. As an African American woman who had earned a law degree from Yale University, she has been a force to reckon with in Georgia and around the country. She has promoted organizations that encourage people to register in Georgia and around the country. By 2013, her New Georgia Project had registered 200,00 voters. In 2018 she was the first female African American woman to run to be the governor of Georgia. By 2020, her organization had registered 800,000 new voters. She knows that voters rights are human rights and has effectively conveyed that message. Now we listen.
***
Her voice resonates today. In 2022, a retrospective of her artistic endeavors will be on display at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. They and other museums beginning in 2021, will celebrate her pioneering feminist creativity. It coincides with the fortieth anniversary of her groundbreaking Dinner Party installation and the one hundredth anniversary of the women’s right to vote. As the de Young Museum states, it “pays homage to an artist whose lifelong fight against the suppression and erasure of women’s creativity has finally come full circle.”
Judy Chicago knew. She set about exploring creative outlets for her artistic expressions. Her work lives on as well her inspiring story. Gratefully and hopefully, we will all listen.
***
Their voices resonate today. In 2023, women who are experiencing fetal abnormalities while pregnant and are in risk of endangering their own lives are hampered by draconian laws. When will we listen to them? When will the courts and legislators listen?
We all know. Use your voice.
