30 Days of Thankfulness- 19th Amendment

Today is election day. I have no comment on the candidates, policies, or any other current news-worthy items. Today, I am thankful for events that happened well before I was born. I am thankful for suffragists who worked so incredibly hard to bring my country out of the stone age, and won the right to vote for women.

It's hard to believe that women weren't allowed to vote when my great grandparents were born. It's hard to believe that the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote, came half a century AFTER slavery ended in the United States, and men of color, formerly so famously known for only qualifying as three-fifths of a human being (disgusting), were granted the right to vote after the 15th amendment was ratified in 1870. It's hard to believe that on November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for filling out a ballot in the presidential race of that year. And she wasn't the only one. From 1917-1919- fewer than 100 years ago- the Silent Sentinels protested in front of the White House, holding provocative, well-worded signs condemning President Wilson for neglecting the inherent rights of women. In October of 1917, the incredible Alice Paul was arrested while picketing with the Silent Sentinels (again, she was not the only one.) She then began a hunger strike, was committed to a psychiatric ward for her lack of cooperation, and was ultimately force-fed by doctors who feared she might die. Three times a day, for three weeks, Alice Paul had a tube shoved down her throat, while high-protein foods like raw eggs and milk powder were poured into her belly. She was prepared to die of starvation, just so I, and the other 157 million females in the United States, could voice our opinions and cast our votes.

In 2010, only 46% of eligible women in the United States voted in the congressional elections. As of that year, only 66% of eligible women reported to the United States census that they were even registered to vote. After decades of protests, arrests, imprisonment, fines, pamphlets, picketing, writings, force-feedings, restraints, social ostracization and character assassination, we finally got the right to vote. And less than 100 years later, only two-thirds of us have even registered to exercise that right.

Today, I am thankful for the 19th amendment. I am grateful that I can drive my car over to my alma mater and cast my vote for whomever I choose.

Thank you, Alice Paul.
Thank you, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Thank you, Susan B. Anthony.
Thank you, Lucy Stone.
Thank you, Sojourner Truth.
Thank you, Abby Kelley Foster.
Thank you, Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis.
Thank you, Julia Ward Howe.
Thank you, Isabella Beecher Hooker.
Thank you, Henry Browne Blackwell.

Thank you, everyone else who dedicated their lives to ensure that I could cast my vote today. Even if you aren't thrilled with the candidates, please GO VOTE!!!