I was Born Yesterday: BIPOC Suffragettes
This post is the first of a series titled “I Was Born Yesterday,” where I intend to address and correct the whitewashing and sexism that perverted my education.
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m relearning about the suffragettes, and in doing so, I created a new, less whitewashed timeline. The below is not a complete list of everyone involved, but I hope you find out something that you didn’t know before, I sure as sh*t did, about these incredible women.
“Haudenosaunee
Women’s rights is a relatively new concept for the United States, but that certainly wasn’t the case for the Haudenosaunee who had equal rights since the mid 15th century. Women had an equal voice in matters of politics, economics, and the last word in matters of war and peace. They nominated chiefs and removed them if necessary. The rights that Euro-American women strived for, were already guaranteed to Native women.
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“The Fortens
Charlotte Forten Sr. was a prominent Philadelphia abolitionist and mother to the ”Forten Sisters” who would carry on the tradition of abolition as well as women’s suffrage. Most notably founding, along with Lucretia Mott, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Margarette and Harriet would later become active members of the new American Equal Rghts Association (1866)
Charlotte Vandine Fortern Sr.”
“First Women’s Rights Convention
Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Lucretia Mott drafted what would be known as the Declaration of Sentiments at the first convention in Seneca Falls, NY.
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“Sojourner Truth
A former slave, Sojourner was a towering influence (not just because she was nearly 6ft tall) on the women’s suffrage movement as well as a contributor to the Union cause during the Civil War, for which she was invited to meet Abraham Lincoln. She met with activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott and quickly took up the cause for women’s rights. She was not at Seneca Falls; however, she spoke at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, where she delivered “Ain’t I A Woman,” in which she addresses race and women’s rights. I included Sojourner’s “Aint’ I a Woman” read by Kerry Washington.
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““We should do more and talk less” -Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Cary was an abolitionist, writer, suffragette, and educator who paved the way for many Black women. 1853 she would be the first Black woman to publish a newspaper; the Provincial Freeman, an anti-slavery publication in Canada with subscriptions in the United States. In 1870, she would be one of the first Black women to earn a law degree. She was a member of the National Women’s Suffrage Association and would write to Stanton and Anthony to include the names of 94 Black suffragettes in the Declaration of the Rights of Women of the United States.”
“Civil War
Activism for Women’s suffrage was put on pause during the Civil War. Many suffragettes directed their attention to help the Union, acting to enlist men, raise funds for supplies, and tend to the wounded as nurses. One woman was an American badass, Harriet Tubman. She led slaves to freedom, acted as a cook, nurse, and spy for the Union Army, informing leaders of Confederate troops’ movements, and led a military operation (Combahee Ferry Raid) that rescued more than 700 enslaved persons.”
“American Equal Rights Association
At the Eleventh National Women’s Rights Convention, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper would deliver her ”We Are All Bound Up Together” speech that would inspire the creation of the American Equal Rights Association a few weeks later. However, there would be division in the organization surrounding Black men receiving the vote before white women. Harper disagreed with the organization’s leaders seeing the proposed passing of the Fifteenth Amendment as a necessary step to ensuring racial equality.”
“National Women’s Suffrage Association
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony started the NWSA in direct response to the division of AERA and its preference of enfranchisement of Black men vs educated (white) women. ”
“The Fifteenth Amendment Ratified
The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, giving Black men the right to vote*. This was a very contentious event for the suffragettes, Frederick Douglass split from Stanton and Anthony over their position.
*Although Black men were given the right to vote, that didn’t prevent legislation and literacy requirements of which was an additional barrier for Black men and later Black women. ”
“Declaration of the Rights of Women of the United States
Everyone remembers Mott, Stanton, and Anthony, however, there’s another author, often termed “radical,” Matilda Joslyn Gage. She was inevitably written out of history for her anti-Christian rhetoric (example: “The Christian theory of the sacredness of the Bible has been at the cost of the world’s civilization.”), equal rights regardless of sex, race, condition, and pro-Native independence- which made her an honorary member of the Mohawk Wolf Clan, but an outcast among conservative suffragists.
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“National Association of Colored Women’s Club
Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell would be united by the horrible lynching of a mutual friend, Tom Moss. Together they led an anti-lynching campaign throughout the United States to bring awareness to the barbarity that Black people faced (and still are) in this country. They also went on to be the founding members* of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club (NACW) and the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Both women would carry on the fight for Black women’s suffrage until their deaths.*Frances Harper and Harriet Tubman are also founders of NACW
“Maria de Guadalupe Evangelina Lopez de Lowther
Lopez was extremely influential in ensuring California ratified the right to vote for women. With only eight months to organize and get the word out, Lopez gave speeches in Spanish at rallies, translated campaign materials, and successfully brought the Latinx community to the ballot boxes. California would ratify the women’s right to vote in 1911 by a minimal margin (equal to one vote per county), all of which would not have been achieved had it not been for Lopez.
“Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
Baldwin was of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe in North Dakota that advocated for Native rights and women’s suffrage, from marching in the 1913 parade, testifying in front of Congress, meeting with Woodrow Wilson on the issue of women’s right to vote in 1914, to using the power of imagery and taking her Federal ID picture in traditional Native dress with braids. She was one of the first Native American Women to earn their law degree in 1912 and felt it vital to protecting Native and women’s rights.”
“Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
A feminist, suffragette, horseback riding badass. Since her teens, Mabel had been fighting for women’s suffrage. In May 1914, she wrote: “We all believe in the idea of democracy; woman suffrage or the feminist movement…is the application of democracy to women.” She organized rallies and parades, spoke at both Chinese and American feminist organizations. By 24 she graduated from Barnard university and would go on to be the first Chinese woman to earn her Ph.D. at Columbia University. Read More
“Zitkala-Sa
Educator, composer, musician, lecturer, activist, writer, and all-around amazing woman, Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird) also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin fought for Native rights until she died in 1938. Through art, she brought Native spirit to the Opera, composing “The Sun Dance,” one of the very few Operas composed by a Native American. She was instrumental in the passage of the Citizenship Bill of 1924 and, in 1926, established the National Council of American Indians. She advocated for better education opportunities, healthcare, cultural recognition, and preservation. Included is a rendition of one of Zitkala-Sa’s pieces from the Sun Dance Opera.
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“Women’s Suffrage Parade
The National American Women’s Suffrage Association organized a parade down Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, D.C. The parade was coordinated by Alice Paul, a radical suffragette with racial biases, she informed the participants that Black suffragists would need to march at the back of the procession. When the parade starts no one can find Ida B. Wells until She emerges from the crowd to join the Illinois leaders at the front. She was the only Black woman leading the Illinois suffragettes.”
“World War I
The US wouldn’t enter into WWI until 1917, the same year that the first woman, Jeannette Rankin was elected into the House of Representatives. She would cast her first vote in opposition to going to war. This was not well received by her fellow suffragists as they saw that this vote would make women look too weak for matters of war. ”
“The 19th Amendment is Ratified
Women finally gain the right to vote following the end of WWI. However, given the particular language, as it only applied to “citizens,” Native Americans wouldn’t gain citizenship until 1924 but wouldn’t have full voting rights until 1948. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 flat out prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens; until the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 finally lifted the restrictions. Jim Crow laws prevented Black people from voting, and that wasn’t abolished until 1964 with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (it seems to be making a comeback with new legislation making voting less accessible... What the f*ck?). The Voting Rights Act also ensured accommodations were made for those that did not speak English which greatly affected the Asian American community.”
