by Marguerite Kearns
There’s a network linking us together during 2020. SuffrageCentennials.com is part of it. But the roots go deeper than what’s immediately apparent. The year 2020 is being celebrated across the nation, not because of corporate funding, not because certain so-called party leaders haven’t been deeply invested in partisan politics. And not because a centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution just “happened.”
We’re celebrating 2020 as a turning point in the United States because thousands of concerned citizens drew the line and said “Enough is enough! We’re not going to let 2020 come and go without a peep.”
Remember the corporate cigarette ad in the past lobbying women to smoke cigarettes? They claimed we’d come a long way and should be glad we did. Why go “all the way” when we’ve already come a long way?
Sorry, but we aren’t spending our free time smoking cigars.
WHAT ARE OUR CHOICES?
BUSINESS AS USUAL doesn’t cut ice with women and others today who no longer accept a second class role. We can do better, and not with another round of candidates who claim we can’t do better and should be satisfied with less. Those parroting the themes of the old boy network may spout a loud line, but underneath they’re reinforcing the old adage, “Stay in your place. Women can’t win.”
We can make 2020 a turning point. Don’t sign up to reinforce the old and tired position that we can’t.
THE TOUGH QUESTIONS
Are we going to accept another century without women having equal rights under the US Constitution? Are we planning to keep marching into the sunset with the word “please” stuck in our throats? Are we going to continue marginalizing the accomplishments of those who have sacrificed and struggled for dignity and human rights in generations before us? How much longer will we tolerate blatant attempts to suppress the popular vote or eliminate voters from the rolls?
HOW MUCH LONGER ARE WE WILLING TO BE DUPES?
How far are we willing to go in support of a future where we’re no longer rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? How much longer will the old boy network continue its condescending attitudes, including not opening up the tunnels of power and sharing chairs at conference tables when it’s urgent to work together and ensure a safe future for the planet and its diverse living forms? How much longer will we grin and bear social policies that put women and others down and tell us that we’ve “come a long way” when an increasing number realize finally that it’s time to go “all the way?”
The clock is ticking.
Follow SuffrageCentennials.com during 2020.
A lot of news for 2020 is available on Suffrage Wagon News Channel.
Suffrage Wagon News Channel for news & views of the women’s rights movement on Vimeo.
Honor an early women’s rights activist during 2020. Check out the perks associated with featuring our US suffrage martyr, Inez Milholland.
The centennial web site for Inez Milholland has been updated. Check it out!
During Women’s History Month in March, I’m honoring my grandparents—Edna Kearns and Wilmer Kearns—for whom women’s rights represented a family affair. Intergenerational activist started before me, and it will continue after me.
Start at home, and let’s spread our wings to our community, the nation, and internationally. I’ve been blogging about my grandparents since 2009. I’m completing a memoir during 2020 as a way for me to honor them. It will be published in 2021. Check out Suffrage Wagon News Channel.
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