Still a Suffragette? (unpublished LTE August 13, 2020)

Women have been fighting for an equal role in our society for at least 170 years since Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony teamed up together in 1851 to begin the fight for the right for women to vote. 2020 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment which afforded women this important right. 

Sometimes lost in the dim recesses of our collective memories is the amount of sheer determination and guts it took to gain equality in the voting booth. Women who became known as Suffragettes were not only criticized for their beliefs but were severely and disparagingly attacked as being unlady-like, too manly, harsh and vile hags. They were accused of being a threat to the traditional family which would lead to the end of “true womanhood.” They were accused of not having the intelligence required for voting and if they did their brains would become bigger and heavier causing their wombs to atrophy. It was argued women voting would disrupt family life; reversing gender roles, abusing their husbands and neglecting their children. 

Name calling and withering attacks still exist to this day. When President Trump remarked after Kamala Harris was named as the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate that she was “nasty” it was an attempt to belittle and degrade her and all women. 

The one-hundred year celebration of the signing of the 19th Amendment should be one of those events we all embrace as a great feat in American history. It is time that we set aside our disgraceful and limiting labels against women which have lingered throughout our history and, instead, truly celebrate how great our country is and can be simply because women and the men that supported them have cared enough to fight for freedom and equality for all.

I Am Worried – Are You?

 

I’m sitting in the comfort of a new RV which we purchased in order to attend the birth of our second grandchild.  Nothing is more important than maintaining and celebrating with family on special events like the birth of a child.  Can we afford a $100,000 vehicle, but how else could we safely travel during the pandemic?  What about the risks of driving 2500 miles cross country? How do I stay focused on the recovery of my business along with the jobs of 25 people while looking at corn fields for five days at a 55-mile per hour clip?  How do I stay informed of the issues facing our country that are so dramatically changing by the hour?  What if we catch COVID along the way and infect our loved ones? What future do we really have in store especially if I get sick… if they get sick?  We have so many people that depend on us.  What if I should get sick and die… what happens them, to those I love; to everyone who depends on me…..

Yes, I am worried - are you?

I just read an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “America Is a Coalition of the Worried”  which is responsible for this distressed mood this morning. We are all worried and yet we do not like to dwell on it. Other than a few “did you hear..?” comments with friends, we try to avoid the deep dive into the sink hole of hopelessness.  Yet the ugly head of despondency is rising up in front of us, threatening to overwhelm us at any moment.  Even the cheeriest of us all recognize its presence in their lives.  No one can answer the question, “what will tomorrow bring?”  And if you try to carve out a hope-filled reply you find, in your heart, a lack of commitment and a dearth of uncertainty.

Yes, I’m depressed.  I admit it, but when I look into the eyes of my newly born granddaughter I feel an overwhelming responsibility, in some way, to dig out of this hole we have got ourselves into. We owe it to our children to rebuild a sense of hope for them.  We owe them a future in which they can dream beautiful dreams; imagine amazing futures; experience unlimited opportunities.  We owe every child a future.  It is our responsibility as parents and grandparents.  We cannot simply sit back in our cocoon of despair pining away at the good ole days and blaming others for what has become of our world.  Being angry and trying to place blame may be a deserving point of view at this moment in our lives but we do not have the luxury of brooding or the privilege of despair.  We have a duty and we are being called upon to exact that duty.  Now, and I mean today, is the time to act.  We need to take action immediately for the sake of our children.  This is not exactly an Obi Wan Kenobi type of calling of the guard but we are their only hope.  We are the only hope for the future of our world.

It is time to stand up and take charge.

What did I just hear?  Was there a whine out there in your midst?  A murmur of “what can I do?”  After that inspiring prose calling us all to action, is there someone still sitting in a mire of muck called uselessness?  Do you lack the courage?  How about audacity?  Did you not once dream of being a Prince Valiant or a Nancy Drew?  Wasn’t your heart filled with possibilities at the words: “To boldly go where no one has gone before?”  Come on.  It is within you.  You can be cheeky, nervy, brash and unflinching. I know you can.  All I’m saying is this: “NOW IS THE TIME!”  There is no one but you.  Stand up, join the throng, turn this country on its ear, protest, organize, vote… there is much to be done.

You are their only hope…