November 3, 2012
I attended a dinner a few evenings ago to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Jewish Community Center of Denver. At the dinner, the keynote speaker talked about other things happening in the world around the time the JCC opened its doors. On the list - women "getting" the vote. His choice of verbs was benign, of course, but humor me please for a moment as I clarify slightly on his behalf.
The 1920 passage of the 19th amendment was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women. While the movement began formally in 1848 at the world's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, its spark was lit years earlier when two women - Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott - met at the World Anti-Slavery convention in London and got mutually pissed off when the convention refused to seat them and the other women delegates from America. Click here to read more about how a social gathering (coffee chat at Starbucks, anyone?) between Stanton, Mott, Martha C. Wright, Mary Ann McClintock, and Jane Hunt led to the first major push for legal equality for women in our country.
We women fought hard for, and won that vote.
Back to today. November 3, 2012. Yesterday was the last day to cast an early vote in Colorado, and our country is just three days away from making a momentous decision. According to the experts, women, especially independent suburban women, can play a critical role in determining who the next president of the United States will be.
What are you waiting for?
Women now make up 51% of the U.S. population and we possess endless opportunities to determine the direction of our lives. We have been voting for almost a hundred years, so it may be hard to believe but this Tuesday's election presents a critical choice. We can choose a leader who will rewind the clock on our hard earned rights or one who will enable us to continue making the choices that are right for our country, our communities, our families and our lives.
The pundits say that the 2012 presidential is a tight race, that a few votes could make a big difference. You have the power to make the big difference. Please exercise your right. Make your choice. Make it heard.
It counts.
The pundits say that the 2012 presidential is a tight race, that a few votes could make a big difference. You have the power to make the big difference. Please exercise your right. Make your choice. Make it heard.
It counts.
