Posts Tagged ‘suffrage’

This month marks the 90^th Anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States and it’s looking more and more like time for another Suffrage Parade.

In 1913, Alice Paul and friends organized the Suffrage Parade in Washington, DC. They were frustrated by slow, incremental progress in their fight to win the vote. On March 3, more than 5,000 suffragists hit the streets in support of a woman’s right to vote. The Suffrage Parade was timed to coincide with Woodrow Wilson’s Presidential inauguration. The suffragists wanted to send a clear message—they would hold Wilson accountable for women’s suffrage.

Of course, there were many mainstream supporters of women’s suffrage who discouraged demonstrations like the Suffrage Parade. These supporters clung to incremental change, believing that state by state, women would gain the right to vote. They didn’t want to rock the boat and, of course, they didn’t want to risk offending their friends in power.

More than ninety years later and we’re still having the same debate. How much rocking do we do when our friends are captaining the boat? If this last year is any measure, it’s time we start moving.

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