This forum has been canceled. If you have any questions, please call Tiffany France at 216.350.5571.
This year, the United States commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Women and men of all races, ethnicities, and identities fought for—and against—women’s right to vote. The national movement that led to the women's right to vote is not only a story about women’s rights, but is also an American story of race, class, citizenship, gender, immigration, political identity, and values.
Paula J. Giddings, the Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College, is known for her writings on the complicated history of Black women in America including Ida: A Sword Among Lions, the award-winning biography of anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells.
Join us as Giddings' discusses the troubling history of the 19th Amendment: how women of color were alienated from the suffragist movement, could not exercise their right to vote in the Jim Crow South and, until recently, had their contributions to the fight for equality erased from history. How can we reconcile our country’s narrative of a triumphant, steady march towards women’s enfranchisement with the more complicated and painful reality of racial inequality towards women of color — a trend that continues today?