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100 years ago today some women’s right to vote was officially ratified in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Over time the right for more and more women to vote was secured. We are women – has our roar been heard?
I am hearing from you mamas and sisters, and you want to know what you can do in 2020. It feels like casting a vote for the president isn’t enough, and you’re right. But we CAN take action, right now.
Let’s learn, then return to THIS LINK to find out who needs to hear from you!
Lean in ladies, I want to amplify your voice.
Let’s dig into some knowledge because knowledge is power, and power plus unity are what we need to make an impact.
I turned 18 about two weeks before election day, and I voted although I was disappointed in my presidential options. I remember the grey booth, and the long list of names. I remember feeling that I had done something both weighty and anti-climactic.
Most elections after that I had to mail in my vote because my husband’s military career took us far from our home state. I took my ballot to the post office, but I had my doubts, and no one gave me a sticker. I wondered if anyone heard the tree fall?
One election recently I did not vote. I felt the only way to make my voice heard was to abstain, but afterwards I felt I should have at least pencilled in a name, or maybe scrawled Mark Twain’s quote, “If voting made a difference, the government wouldn’t let us do it.” But I got lazy.
Each election year has held one thing in common. I did not know many of the representatives on the ballot or even what the structure of the government they served in was, much less how it functioned.
COVID is giving me a crash course though. I called into our local City Council Meeting to speak on an agenda item that would affect my family and community greatly. There was a woman muddling together disparate acts and trying to use those to back up an ordinance she wanted the city to adopt. She roared about being an elected official with “the plenary responsibility to govern.” Plenary means unqualified or absolute.
“But the Constitution,” the city’s legal counsel kept reminding her.
I made a comment that day, and the ordinance was voted down. I wrote an open letter to my closed church and now they are offering their members space to worship during this crazy time.
I do not know if my words changed anything, but I do know that I raised my roar respectfully and it was at least heard. Maybe healthy, positive things would have happened anyway, or maybe my voice was necessary.
Do you feel unheard right now? When your great-great-grandmothers felt that way, they marched, they made signs, they spoke out, and they won us the right to vote.
Wether you believe we are not being tough enough on COVID or you know our rights are being restricted because of a disease with a very low death rate – do you wonder if your vote can possibly make a difference?
Abraham Lincoln disagrees with Mark Twain in that he believes, “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
Gloria Steinem said, “Voting isn’t the most we can do. But it is the least.”
Yes. It is the least.
Who knows what the most we can do is… But more that we can do is to know who we are voting for, and how government works even down to the local level.
Because do you know who affects your life more than the president? Your wacky governor in his big house, and the Leslie Knopes.
Yes, it’s true. The federal government does not have as much jurisdiction over your life as your state government does, and whatever your state mandates has to either be enforced or not at the local level. That brings us back to our roar…
After a century of trying to make space for women’s voices…
After women’s voices only having a platform for a tiny fraction of humankind’s history…
Now amidst this year of unrest, women who fit a certain agenda are allowed to do and say whatever they want. Women who don’t fit that agenda are publicly shamed. And women who are mistaken or unwell are not given the benefit of the doubt or mental health resources. Instead they are eviscerated in front of the nation.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want women to fall quietly back into others’ agendas. I want our own individual voices to grow. This mama bear wants to speak for her children’s futures and have it heard. I want our roar to grow less fearful as it gains knowledge.
Because John F. Kennedy said, “The ignorance of one voter impairs the security of all.”
I know the names of every plant in my neighborhood, I know the ingredients in my food. But I was shocked to hear my city council representative in her own words say that she needed to be able to exercise unchecked power over myself and my neighbors. I was shocked to find that my governor could upend our lives as soon as an emergency was declared.
I need to know the names of the people that represent me. I need to shake their hands if possible. I need to understand what happens beneath the presidency, senate, and house of representatives.
How can you roar if you don’t have the words, haven’t read the map?
Let’s go women – we are the life givers and the intuits. We are intelligent, strong, and brave. We are mama hearts and we are juggling so much. But there are women that fought for 70 years so we could begin to roar a century ago, and we are letting them down if we don’t learn and step up. There are daughters looking to our example, and we must not let them down.
That’s why today I’m starting my journey. I’m going to get educated, and I’m going to be bold enough to share with you as I do.
So here we go…
whitehouse.gov tells me that “Under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. All state governments are modeled after the federal government and consist of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.”
Yes I knew that technically, but did I think about it?
I knew all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states and that is why it’s important to make sure federal government doesn’t encroach on states rights because different people live in different states for a reason. Whatever floats your boat right? However had I previously thought about the fact that anything that my state didn’t snatch up as its authority was designated as my right?
Our governor used one declaration of emergency to issue 46 executive orders and change 400 laws in 142 days. He wants all the rights to belong to the state, none for the people.
“In times of war, disease or other extraordinary conditions, each state authorizes its governor to declare a state of emergency. Once an emergency has been declared, executive powers expand until the emergency ends. These powers include authority normally reserved for legislatures, such as the ability to suspend existing statutes or effectively create new laws—albeit temporarily and only as needed to respond to the emergency situation.”
Thankfully there is a federal constitution to check the state executive branch’s bounds when it comes to our unalienable rights, but that takes an appeal to the Supreme Court. In the meantime who stands in the gap? We do. Our representatives do. We roar.
These are temporary orders, mandates, and guidance that ONLY apply while the state of emergency is in force? According to the Emergency Services Act: “The governor shall proclaim the termination of a state of emergency at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant. All of the powers granted the governor by this chapter … shall terminate when the state of emergency has been terminated.”
Of course our governor doesn’t want COVID to end even if our hospitals are at only 60% capacity when pre-COVID they were at 80% – because that means his powers diminish and rights must be returned to who they belong to – us, the citizens.
Then you ask, who makes real laws? That takes both parts of the state legislative branch – the house and senate – representatives that we elect. And who makes sure these laws are legit and don’t infringe on our rights according to the state constitution? The state judicial system, the state supreme court.
Then how does this trickle down to us? How do the details get enacted and enforced in our communities? Who serves or interferes with us on a daily basis?
Local government. All Leslie Knope jokes aside these people are important.
Do you know who your city council members are? Do you know how and when they are elected? Have you ever listened to a city council meeting? Have you emailed the superintendent of your school district about your child’s school being closed? Do you know where your mayor or county supervisor stands on what is happening in your city and county?
Women we have been given the right to vote and speak up on every level. So let’s do it because even though the presidential race gets lots of attention, what happens in your state and city government has more impact on your life and you have an essential voice there.
There is a lot of noise. Your voice is a few words in a great storm but it is powerful. The more of us that speak up, the more powerful we become just like the women who linked arms and stood up so their daughters could cast a vote.
You’re busy, you barely made it through this blog post while hiding in the bathroom from the kiddos. But tonight, pour yourself a glass of wine or cup of coffee and CLICK THIS LINK which will reveal each of your elected officials.
Write a few pointed words or pour your heart out. Don’t worry – you can’t say the wrong thing. Just say what you know from experience. Say what you believe. Tell them how your community is struggling. Point out what is going wrong and what is going right. Lay out what your children need, deserve, and have a right to.
We are women, hear us.
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For those who are local many of our CA officials are not up for election this year. However, Dr. Melanie Burkholder is running for CA assembly and Brian Maryott is running for Congress this November. They both want our kids back in school, small businesses open, and families to have choice in education and medical treatment. So if you feel the same, then don’t just vote for them, reach out and see how you can get involved in small simple ways over the next few months.
