The 19th Amendment

08/25/20 • 58 min

In this episode, in the midst of the centennial anniversary of women's securing the right to vote, we focus on the 19th Amendment. The perpetual struggle for U.S. voting rights has been fraught with conflict, and the fight for women’s suffrage was no exception. Even after the 19th Amendment was passed, women of color were denied the opportunity to vote: Black women were kept from voting through insidious practices like poll taxes and long wait times (some which still exist today); Indigenous women, many of whom inspired the initial Euro-American push for women’s rights and suffrage, were not considered citizens; and Asian women could not naturalize for citizenship. In fact, until the mid-1950s, laws enacted by Congress—including the Page Act—made it very difficult for Asian women who immigrated to the U.S. to become citizens.
Because voting rights are central to our democracy, we devote this episode to the 19th Amendment, its history and the road ahead.

Helping us to understand the power and the promise of the vote and what this means for women’s empowerment are two very special guests:

Sally Roesch Wagner is a writer, historian and director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center. She was awarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz). She is author of "The Women's Suffrage Movement”; "Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists"; and "We Want Equal Rights: How Suffragists Were Influenced by Native American Women.”
Melanie Campbell is the executive director and CEO for the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation and a nationally recognized expert in civic engagement, election reform and coalition building. She is a convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable Intergenerational Public Policy Network.

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Helping us to understand the power and the promise of the vote and what this means for women’s empowerment are two very special guests:

Sally Roesch Wagner is a writer, historian and director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center. She was awarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz). She is author of "The Women's Suffrage Movement”; "Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists"; and "We Want Equal Rights: How Suffragists Were Influenced by Native American Women.”
Melanie Campbell is the executive director and CEO for the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation and a nationally recognized expert in civic engagement, election reform and coalition building. She is a convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable Intergenerational Public Policy Network.

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Previous Episode

Women's Political Leadership: We Have Her Back

In this episode, we focus on why #WeHaveHerBack. You heard it recently in the wake of Sen. Kamala Harris’s selection as the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic ticket. #WeHaveHerBack is as a powerful challenge to newsrooms to avoid sexism in media representation. Tina Tchen, president and CEO of Time’s Up Now, joins host Dr. Michele Goodwin to talk the importance of having Harris’s back—and other women candidates’ backs, too.
Today’s episode also focuses on women’s political leadership, starting with the urgent need to repeal the Helms Amendment. Dr. Goodwin is joined by two pathbreaking members of Congress—Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Barbara Lee—to discuss why women’s leadership has been central to forging political representation, equality and fighting for reproductive health, rights and justice—at home and abroad. Their leadership helps to put in context why the #WeHaveHerBack campaign is so important, and why women’s leadership matters.
This week, on the issues:
• Representative Barbara Lee represents California’s 13th district, which serves Oakland and the East Bay. She is the highest-ranking Black woman in Congress. She is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, serves as co-chair of the majority leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, co-chair of the Pro Choice Caucus, and is former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus.
• Representative Jan Schakowsky represents Illinois's 9th congressional district, which includes Chicago's North Side. She is the House senior chief deputy whip, chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus Providers and Clinics Task Force.

• Tina Tchen is president and CEO of Time’s Up Now. She is the former assistant to President Barack Obama and served as chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama. She was also the executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls.

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