Women History and Voting Rights
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I'm kind of in my feelings because last Sunday was the 57th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday." You know, the march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7th, 1965. The day that six hundred plus people boldly protested even though one of their own, Jimmie Lee Jackson, a voting rights activist, was shot and killed during a peaceful protest a few days before. The day in which these protesters were compelled to challenge voter suppression and Jim Crow practices. The day that their peaceful protest was met with violence from state and local police, the very institutions that were supposed to protect and serve them. The day in which police attacked and beat those protesters, including John Lewis, then a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader, though they did nothing wrong. Bloody Sunday is widely considered a catalyst and turning point for getting the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed in August of that year. I'm in my feeling because despite all that, here we are in 2022, and several states have introduced and passed legislation that chips away at the very thing they fought for, our Voting Rights.
I feel emotional because as voting rights decline, I am mindful of the women who courageously fought for voting and civil rights. Women from the Progressive Era who championed voting rights for all women before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Black women like Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, and Sojourner Truth spoke up for all women before and just after the Civil War and Reconstruction Era while facing many challenges and obstacles. These women advocated for voting rights for women even when other women attacked, criticized, and marginalized their very existence. I can't imagine all the must-have endured, yet they persisted.
March is the month that we set aside to celebrate them and acknowledge the struggles and achievements of all women. I feel pride and concern when I think about their efforts and the work of women like Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hammer, who were still fighting for voter and civil rights in the 1960s. Ella Baker was really the backbone for Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was often Baker who managed, encouraged, and guided the members of the SNCC as they protested in the South. It was her meticulous skill at organizing that made SNCC so successful. Fannie Lou Hamer was a voting and civil rights activist from Mississippi. She became nationally known in the 1960s when she became an organizer for SNCC. She was a peaceful but fierce and outspoken advocate who experienced physical, economic, and verbal attacks from those who did not want Black people to vote in the South.
All of the before-mentioned women literally put in blood, sweat, and tears to ensure that we have the right to vote today; nevertheless, last year, 19 states enacted laws that will make it harder for us to vote. In 2020 Black voter turnout was at an all-time high thanks to women like Latosha Brown, cofounder of Black Voters Matter, and Stacey Abrams' founder of Fair Fight Action. Because of these organizations, voters flipped Georgia from red to blue. As a result of the large voter turnout, some politicians are crying foul because their candidate didn't win. Therefore, they are pushing for new laws to prevent voter fraud, of which there is no proof.
As I reflect on this, I am thankful and very appreciative of all the 600 plus people who walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday. I also admire and acknowledge the work and sacrifice of the women listed above. At the same time, I am fearful that we are losing the ground they fought to gain. So, as we commemorate Bloody Sunday and Women's History Month, let's also commit to doing what we can to protect the things they fought for; let's push to uphold voting rights. We can do so, by getting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed.
Sophia Brewer (M.L.I.S.) is Collection Development and Serials Librarian, Grand Rapids Community College; Co-President of the Greater Grand Rapids History Council; member of the Grand Rapids Study Club and serves on the Grand Rapids Public Library, Board of Library Commissioners (Elected 2016-2021). She is a former Head of Programs, Grand Rapids Public Library and former Branch Manager, Madison Square Branch, Grand Rapids Public Library Congresswoman
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