warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly
convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."
left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing,
dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking
the women.
of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders,
Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair,
forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she
vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled
out to the press.
exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote
doesn't matter? It's raining?
waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my
say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
A friend who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She
was--with herself. "One thought kept coming back to me as I watched
that movie," she said. "What would those women think of the way I
use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now,
not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn." The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her "all over again."
HBO will run the movie periodically before releasing it on video and
DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would
include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunko night,
too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual
idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we
should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a
psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be
permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor
refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her
crazy. The doctor admonished the men: "Courage in women is often
mistaken for insanity."
posted this in another group. I am reposting it here because I think we can all be reminded of what others have given up so that we may have a voice. Never give up your voice.
This year, especially among the youngest voters, we MUST stand up to be heard. Our children fight in war, our friends and neighbors are losing their homes, our families are stressed about keeping food on the table and WE (both women & men) are afraid that our jobs will whither away.
Any vote, which is cast in this country, has now been tested and found wanting...especially in the wake of MI & FL. To throw it away, after all that has been done to make it a PRIVILEDGE and a RIGHT seems petty.
Never give up your voice....Spooky then why did you my dear friend? ---ginger
although my work computer will not allow me to post, we are allowed to read from there. I saw this and had to reply. Sorry it's taken me so long.
Ginger, my dear friend, 
I have not given up my voice. I'd never give up my voice. 
I don't know what I am going to do come election time. The only thing I do know is I will vote. For who 
(I have an idea, but it could change.)
I feel disinfranchised from the Democrats. I never have had anything in common with the Republicans. So, where does that leave me? It's difficult. I'm finding out who I am in regard to politics at the unlikely age of 56! 
What am I going to do? As things stand, if Obama is the nominee and he asks Hillary to be his VP, I will vote for him. Well, no, that is not exactly right. I'll be voting for Hillary. 
If not, I will be writing Hillary in. I have always looked at people who don't vote for one of the 2 party candidates as throwing away their vote. I now have a new perspective. I can't not vote, and I can't support a Repuplican, nor will I support Obama w/out Hillary. So, I'm making a statement with my vote.
&
