Voting Rights

I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock!—the animated educational short films ABC sprinkled between the regular Saturday morning cartoons. Like many Gen X kids, I loved those catchy earworms without fully realizing just how much I was learning.

“Conjunction Junction,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here,” and “A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing” strengthened my reading and writing skills. The series taught reading, grammar, history, math, and science in a way that made learning feel like playing.

I think I learned the most from the America Rock series. “No More Kings” and “I’m Just a Bill” explained government in a way that my young mind understood long before mandatory high school civics classes.

Music and videos were a big part of my growing up in the 1980s. Politics, whether we realized it or not, was deeply ingrained in our media. The Cold War, nuclear weapons, environmentalism, civil rights, and abortion were themes shown in music videos and song lyrics.

Through it all, we were taught to care about each other. We purchased music to feed the starving children. And, tore up the plastic rings from 6-packs of pop to save the ducks. We stopped using aerosol hairspray to save the ozone. And, we were told we could make a difference by voting. “Every vote matters,” they assured us.

I couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could finally vote. As I walked to the voting booth for the first time, I considered all my choices. My hands trembled as I filled in the circles beside my chosen candidates.

What I never considered that day was the women—the suffragettes—who had fought for my right to vote. I didn’t think about how they’d organized by marching and protesting—all give me a chance to stand in that booth and make my choices.

It wasn’t until decades later, when I combed through my great-grandmother’s historical mementos, that I stopped to consider the women who came before me. Then, I realized just how close that history was to my own life.

This Saturday, I’ll have the honor of participating in “Sister Suffragette!”, the August feature of “Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!”, the brainchild of Nan Tepper.

This special event celebrates the voices, stories, and courage behind the fight for women’s rights—and I’m honored to be part of it.

I’ll be telling a story about my great-grandmother, Blye, and I’d love for you to join me.