Envisioning Equality: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage

Ninety years ago today, American society experienced a long overdue shift in the status quo. On August 26, 1920, after decades of struggle, the United States finally afforded women the right to vote.

The women responsible for this triumph walked no easy road to victory. Jane Addams, Abigail Adams, Lucy Burns and Alice Paul. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Ida B. Wells. Frances E.W. Harper, Sojourner Truth and Margaret Fuller. Lucy Stone. Lucretia Mott. Susan B. Anthony. Their names may be more or less familiar, but we too often forget how much these women sacrificed, over more than a century, to make possible every advantage today's women now enjoy.

Personal losses were common: some of these women alienated spouses, friends and loved ones as a result of their commitment to seeing women treated as full citizens. Others were shot at. Attacked by mobs. Locked in jail and threatened with death. There was no shortage of creativity when it came to devising ways to try to scare these women out of the streets and back into the kitchen.

And yet, despite all this, they pressed on. They rallied at Seneca Falls in 1848, and hosted a National Women's Rights Convention in 1850. They built formal organizations and associations to further the cause. They advocated in the streets, and organized in the statehouses until one hot day in August 1920, their movement had gained so much steam that 36 states ratified an amendment giving women the right to vote, ensuring that suffrage would be the right of every American woman.

It was a remarkable thing these women did, over so much time, and with so much opposition. They literally changed the world for those of us who live in it now. On this day, the 90th anniversary of their triumph, we pause to honor all they did, and all they gave, on our behalf.

Bringing true honor to these extraordinary women requires us to do more than just nod our heads in remembrance of the good fight they fought. It requires a commitment from those of us who treasure a democracy of full equity and inclusion to continue their work of ensuring that all Americans have equal access to the freedoms and opportunities our Constitution promises.

The grantees of the Ms. Foundation are the embodiment of that fighting spirit. From the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, to the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative; from National Advocates for Pregnant Women to Green for All to the National Women's Law Center -- every one of our grantees works each day to build a more just democracy and help make equality, finally, the law of the land.

Their work is, in so many ways, a direct extension of the groundbreaking work the suffragists did to begin to level the proverbial playing field, and we applaud them for their courage and determination in the face of so the many challenges that continue to block the path to full equality.

Happily, our grantees are not alone in their efforts. The movement to build women's collective power runs broad and deep, and is made up of thousands of social justice organizations driving change.

Among them is a group called Vision 2020, which has launched a decade-long national project dedicated to pick up where the suffragists left off. Their goal is to see gender equality achieved no later August 26, 2020 -- the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment. The group's first public event takes place on October 21-22, 2010, when a congress of national delegates, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will meet at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to launch an action agenda to move America toward equality by this important date.

It's hard to imagine that the suffragists wouldn't be exceedingly proud. On this important day in women's history, be sure to make your own commitment to honoring their legacy: pledge to support a new generation of women's leadership working to ensure equality for all.

Image: Postcard, c 1913, Library of Congress.

Van Jones Keeps Hope Alive

If you need a little jolt of something electric to get you rolling today, take a look at the remarkable speech Van Jones delivered at Netroots Nation just a few days back.

Jones, who is the co-founder of Ms. Foundation grantee Green for All, addressed the crowd at Netroots on the topic of "Hope and Heartbreak," outlining how a green economy can save America's future and urging progressives to "keep hope alive" even in the midst of the many challenges we face.

We kid you not: you probably haven't heard a speech this inspiring since the presidential campaign of 2008. What an excellent way to start the week. [See video below.]

In the Gulf, Women Struggle to Maintain Sense of Balance

With so much "new news" to process each day (McChrystal, Petraeus, Kagan; Russian spies among us), it's easy to forget that down in the Gulf, life is still falling apart. Oil is still gushing. As of Tuesday, that's 70 days and untold millions of gallons of crude, poisoning the waters and destroying communities, both physically and psychologically.

But residents of the Gulf aren't forgetting. They can't. Their whole way of life has been impacted, and the emotional strain is taking its toll -- a fact that a new article published by Mother Jones lays bare. Focusing on the lives of five women who are married to Gulf fishermen, the piece offers a rare look at how families are dealing with the new wave of destruction, having never actually recovered from Katrina.

Mac McClelland, who wrote the article, is a Hurricane Katrina survivor herself -- which gives her an eye for the kind of detail most reporters, looking in from the outside, miss. Like the fact that you can't buy toilet paper with food stamps. Like the fact that the unknown, and the total absence of structure in their lives, is really what's unraveling people.

And then there are hard details like these, that few news agencies are mentioning:

In Plaquemines Parish, 11 domestic violence [calls] came in on one recent weekend, compared with 3 on a typical weekend... The mayor of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, says they've had 320 percent more incidents of domestic violence since the spill.... "The more people are out of work, the more trouble we're gonna have," [a domestic violence hotline worker] says. "Plaquemines Community CARE is offering help now, but we're gonna need some more counselors. In the coming months, I'm gonna see a definite increase." She says she is also seeing an increase in child abuse calls.

We've written before about how former Ms. Foundation grantees like Sharon Hanshaw of Coastal Women for Change and Brenda Dardar Robichaux of the United Houma Nation are working to address the needs of their communities during this newest disaster. And now our current grantee, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, is using citizen reporting to map the oil spill and change the face of disaster management in the process. These organizations are intervening where government and private industry won't -- and changing the landscape of recovery as they do.

Articles like McClelland's -- journalism that gives voice to the real experiences of women on the ground -- play a vital role in expanding the story about what this disaster "means" to communities across the Gulf. And they also underscore why the work of our grantees in the Southern region remains so important. Though the cleanup of the spill has been cast as a very "male" dilemma (think about who you see on those boats, and making speeches about who is to blame and how justice will be meted out), women continue to bear a heavy burden in this crisis. And their voices will be as important as any others in crafting solution for these communities, where now even hope -- the most abundant of human resources -- seems on the verge of running out.

Ms. Foundation grantees remain front and center as the Gulf Coast struggles to combat the oil crisis. Grantee Green for All sent Dan Martin, their Director of Operations, to the Gulf to Report on the economic and environmental impact of the disaster. Read his blog posts from the region -- and watch this moving video that shines a light on how the United Houma Nation has been affected by the spill.

Grantees on the Front Lines, Saving the Gulf

With news today of another delay in attempts to cap the leak that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the last 30 plus days, it’s clear that the impact of this ecological disaster will be with us for years – if not generations – to come. It’s one thing to be watching underwater images of the murky, toxic fluid gushing forth on TV; it’s another thing entirely to see that oil come floating up on the beaches and wetlands where you live – which is exactly the experience the people of the Gulf are coming up against these days, not even five years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita turned the Coast inside out.

Already, residents of the area are gathering together to organize a local response. Late last week, The American Prospect published an excellent Q & A with Sharon Hanshaw, Executive Director of former Ms. Foundation grantee Coastal Women for Change, who shares her first person account of the shape this early organizing is taking, and the kind of challenges residents are facing as the oil creeps further and further inland. Hanshaw reports,

…It's a very panicky situation because people are afraid. Hurricane season is about to start in two weeks. In these communities [fishing] is their livelihood. They ask, can I work? Can I take care of my family? Can I take my boat even though I don't have insurance?

BP is trying to answer them, but it's not enough. All the seafood's going to go; the restaurants are going to suffer. It's still out there. It's in the sea -- that means it's out there.

It’s out there indeed – and despite the fact that President Obama has called for a moratorium on drilling in the area, The New York Times is now reporting that federal regulators have granted “at least 19 environmental waivers for gulf drilling projects and at least 17 drilling permits, most of which were for types of work like that on the Deepwater Horizon shortly before it exploded.” In other words, yes, it’s out there, and there’s no reason to think another disaster might not be waiting right around the corner.

In the aftermath of the hurricanes in 2005, the Ms. Foundation made a commitment to build the strength and power of social justice organizations and coalitions throughout the Southern region – first through our Katrina Women’s Response Fund and now through our larger Southern Focus. Now, in the wake of this newest crisis, our grantees are standing at the front lines, evaluating and organizing in response to this environmental disaster. For another look at how the oil spill is affecting the Gulf Coast – and who bears responsibility for the aftermath – watch Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Ms. Foundation grantee Green for All, in her recent appearance on MSNBC. And check out the website of Ms. Foundation grantee The Bucket Brigade, whose members are also hard at work, surveying the damage on the ground.

Ms. Foundation Grantees Promote Women's Access to Green Jobs

Earlier this year, the Ms. Foundation issued grants to national organizations and coalitions with the potential to take advantage of progressive openings created by the new presidential administration. By supporting strategies that connect grassroots solutions to national advocacy, the Ms. Foundation is working to ensure that the communities with the greatest need benefit from policy change in areas that are likely to re-shape the social and economic infrastructure of our nation: health care reform, green jobs, workers’ rights, child care and immigration.

Two Ms. Foundation grantees, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and Green For All, have been focusing in particular on ensuring equitable access to green jobs for women, low-income people and people of color. Green jobs, like those in construction and other building trades, are more likely to offer a living wage and, because this is a new and rapidly expanding field, long-term economic security.

Last week, with funding from the Ms. Foundation, WOW held the first national institute for organizations from across the country seeking to train women in green jobs. This week, we share a video from Green For All which highlights how stimulus funds are already being put to use to train women in weatherization:

Tahlia is a single mother of a 3-year-old son in Brooklyn, NY. "Construction is something that I wanted to do for a long time," she said. "I had no way of knowing how to get into this field because I always heard it was a man's world."

Now, thanks to the Recovery Act, Tahlia has a job weatherizing homes in New York.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5U6ZO-3XGw

Learn more from Green For All's Green Economy Roadmap.