Local Troop Learns About the Unique Struggle of Black Suffragists
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Photo right, from top left: Genetha Cleveland (Float Rider, Girl Scout Gold Award Recipient), Michelle Duster (Float Rider, Gr hoto right, from top left: Genetha Cleveland (Float Rider, Girl Scout Gold Award Recipient), Michelle Duster (Float Rider, Great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells-Barnett), at-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells-Barnett), Alina Rodriguez-Gould (Girl Scout, Troop 4601), Alicia Randall (Girl Scout, Troop 4601) From bottom left: Ernestine (Tina) Mar lina Rodriguez-Gould (Girl Scout, Troop 4601), Alicia Randall (Girl Scout, Troop 4601) From bottom left: Ernestine (Tina) Martin Wyatt (Float Rider, Great-great in Wyatt (Float Rider, Great-great Grandniece of Harriet Tubman), Kenneth B. Morris (Float Rider, Great-great-great Grandson of Frederick Douglass) randniece of Harriet Tubman), Kenneth B. Morris (Float Rider, Great-great-great Grandson of Frederick Douglass) (Courtesy Photo)
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Duster who grew up spending time with her grandmother, Alfreda Barnett Duster (the daughter of Ida B. Wells-Barnett) has intimate and detailed knowledge about the experiences and struggles of that era. She wanted the Girl Scouts and other to understand that the 19th Amendment was not the ultimate victory for Black suffragists. Although the amendment, ratified on August 18, 1920, stated that the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” Duster said, “Despite the fact that the 19th amendment was passed in 1920, most women of color gained the opportunity to vote between 1924-1965.” Black women in the South had an uphill battle to fight because of Jim Crow laws, literacy tests, poll taxes, and violence.
Unlike the mainstream white leaders of the era, Black women viewed the vote from an intersectional lens of race and gender. These women fought for the right for all women to vote, but were marginalized by many of their female peers from conventions, meetings and marches.
This year is also the 65th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which determined that segregating schools on the basis of race was “inherently unequal” and thus, unconstitutional. The reluctance from the South is what inspired Martin Luther King's 1957 speech, "Give Us the Ballot," advocating for the rights African Americans. It was only after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed that Black women were able to exercise this right without voter suppression impediments.
Duster said, “One could also argue that people in some communities are still fighting to be enfranchised.” For example, voter ID laws, gerrymandering, voter purging, and more are still hindrances that shows us that there is still work to do.
The national Black History Month theme of Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is "African Americans and the Vote." Election Day is November 3, 2020 and this is an opportunity to encourage people to get out and vote. It is also time to reflect, on our nation's historical and current struggles for equal rights and how voting has and could help make positive changes in many areas of our society.
To learn more about African American women’s experience in the suffrage movement, visit Duster’s website at mldwrites.com. For inquiries and bookings, please contact kim@ruddresources.net.
Unlike the mainstream white leaders of the era, Black women viewed the vote from an intersectional lens of race and gender. These women fought for the right for all women to vote, but were marginalized by many of their female peers from conventions, meetings and marches.
This year is also the 65th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which determined that segregating schools on the basis of race was “inherently unequal” and thus, unconstitutional. The reluctance from the South is what inspired Martin Luther King's 1957 speech, "Give Us the Ballot," advocating for the rights African Americans. It was only after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed that Black women were able to exercise this right without voter suppression impediments.
Duster said, “One could also argue that people in some communities are still fighting to be enfranchised.” For example, voter ID laws, gerrymandering, voter purging, and more are still hindrances that shows us that there is still work to do.
The national Black History Month theme of Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is "African Americans and the Vote." Election Day is November 3, 2020 and this is an opportunity to encourage people to get out and vote. It is also time to reflect, on our nation's historical and current struggles for equal rights and how voting has and could help make positive changes in many areas of our society.
To learn more about African American women’s experience in the suffrage movement, visit Duster’s website at mldwrites.com. For inquiries and bookings, please contact kim@ruddresources.net.
Michelle Duster, bove: Michelle Duster, Great-granddaughter of reat-granddaughter of Suffragist and Civil Rights uffragist and Civil Rights Activist, Ida B. Wells-Barnett ctivist, Ida B. Wells-Barnett (Photo Credit: Philip Dembinski) |
Michelle Duster with Alicia Randall and Alina Rodriguez- ichelle Duster with Alicia Randall and Alina RodriguezGould from Pasadena Girl Scout Troop 4601 ould from Pasadena Girl Scout Troop 4601 (Courtesy Photo) |
