Well, I Have Been & Gone & Done it

Anthony, Susan B. "'WELL I HAVE BEEN & GONE & DONE IT!!'." National Geographic, vol. 238, no. 2, Aug. 2020, p. 100+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A650072446/ITOF?u=nm_p_elportal&sid=ITOF&xid=5d94b51c. Accessed 12 Mar. 2021.

Nearly a century after the nation's founding, seven years after the end of the Civil War, and two years after the 15th Amendment granted voting rights to African-American men, it was still illegal for most women to vote. Appended to the declaration were resolutions that claimed equality for women on many fronts, but without political power, these positions just amounted to wishful thinking. What women needed was the vote. If suffragists' interpretation of the amendment had been accepted by the Supreme Court, says historian Ellen Carol DuBois, author of Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote, "we ourselves would not be in the situation where states are constantly depriving people of the right to vote, what we call voter suppression.” The 2018 election saw the biggest increase in female representation since 1992. "We've made strides," says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, "but we're talking about less than a quarter of the members of Congress are women.

The gender politics of the March on Washington is just one example of how masculinist authority is often replicated within parts of the Black freedom struggle, relegating women to the shadows of their own movement.

An Uncomfortable Truth: The 19th Amendment and the limits of women's sufferage

Abdul, Alicia. "An Uncomfortable Truth: The 19th Amendment and the limits of women's suffrage." School Library Journal, vol. 66, no. 8, 2020, p. 42+. Gale In Context: Biography

The year 2020 marks a century since women gained voting rights in the United States. Many celebrate suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. However, they weren't the definitive vanguard of the women's movement. The movement focused on securing and protecting constitutional voting rights for white women, and in general, allyship across racial lines was not a deciding factor. Many of the issues that activists worked to combat are still relevant today, such as voter ID laws and voter suppression. The books listed tackle voting rights, in countless ways, from biographies to novels to nonfiction. This chronological history provides biographical descriptions detailing Black women's contributions to suffrage. Dionne shares the untold stories that advanced the cause. Kanefield covers Susan B. Anthony's life from her Quaker upbringing to her death. The text describes a wide range of tenacious women who were instrumental in ratifying the 19th Amendment. The book describes obstacles they overcame, their life experiences, and their religious and racial backgrounds. The black matter of the voting rights inspired voting laws and the more voting equality throughout history. Gr 6-8-this book depicts the grim realities of suffragists who were arrested and tortured. Gr 7-10-Passion takes precedence for Marva Sheridan, whose ambition to see eligible voters cast their ballot. Gr 10 Up-This graphic novel showcases the fight for women's rights in the U.S. and across the world. The book's broader context puts the history of voting into perspective alongside other struggles and social issues.

THE WOMEN OF SOUTH AFRICA

Norment, Lynn. "The women of South Africa." Ebony, vol. 49, no. 10, Aug. 1994, p. 98+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A15687234/AONE?u=nm_p_elportal&sid=AONE&xid=b4a27280. Accessed 23 Apr. 2021.

South African black women are a rainbow of oak, brown, mahogany, and tan. As a result, women make up around a quarter of the 400-seat National Assembly and a third of the seats in the nine regional assemblies in modern South Africa. They demonstrate bravery in the face of oppression and resourcefulness when options are few. Winnie Mandela was expelled from the country and put under house arrest demonstrated courage and strength."Women have taken their rightful places in society and are assisting in shaping and building the new South Africa," says Albertina Sisulu, a recently elected National Assembly member who has been involved in the bashing struggle since the 1940s "Their primary goal is to get their voices heard in parliament, at home, and in the workplace.". But South African women leaders say, it will be a long, bard fight to overcome tradition of sexism in their male-dominated society. "You are not given anything on a silver platter," says Lindiwe Mabuza, former ANC representative in the U.S.who is now a member of the National Assembly."We are continuing to struggle to educate the entire population to the backwardness of policies that relegate women to subservience. In the homelands, the women were left to feed, clothe and care for the children and elderly with little resources while the men went off to work in the cities. Black South African women will begin to rise up and play their positions in a fast-changing world that is full of promise and determination in the coming years. "Ensuring gender inclusion in modern South Africa would be a difficult battle," Mabuza-Suttle says. "Patriarchy, chauvinism, and tribalism are three patriarchal systems that have yet to be addressed. These women have struggled for national independence for a long time. Women, Black and White, will have to fight alone for their freedom. South African women are very poor, either living in the desperate poverty of densely populated urban areas or segregated into former homelands where many Black people were forced to live. In addition, domestic violence is increasing in South Africa, “one of every six women is assaulted regularly by her male partner, in at least 46 percent of the cases the children also are abused.” In the coming years, Black South African women will continue to stand up and assume their roles in a fast-changing society that is filled with hope and optimism. With greater access to education and opportunities, many will achieve success all around us. Felicia Mabuza-Suttle adds, "South Africa is going to have to get used to seeing more women in the boardroom.