People have suffered and died for it

Commemoration of the 1970 anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; the amendment was ratified in 1920 and provided for women’s suffrage. In the public domain. Ward Brackett, designer.

By Kathie MM

People have been stabbed, strangled, shot, castrated, burned, tortured, and killed for it–for pursuing the right to vote, and all the other rights that can be accessed through that right (including the right to make choices about who will govern).   Human beings have not always had such rights, and even today, even in the United States of America, some hard-fought-for rights are denied to many.

For centuries, the major view among rulers was that might makes right.  The biggest and strongest bullies built empires and used outrageous force to get what they wanted, causing enormous death and destruction in the process. Remarkably, many of the biggest most murderous bullies believed they had a divine right to do what they were doing.  Otherwise, how could they get away with it?

In today’s world, there seem to be two major views regarding rights.  The might makes right guys are still around.  The “rights”  to which they feel entitled are the rights to get rich, exert power,   squelch opposition, decide who will live and who will die, who will profit and who will be enslaved, who has free speech and who must be silenced. It’s hard to hold onto those “rights” in a true democracy, so generally tyrants become more and more ruthless.  You can think of your own examples in ancient and recent history.

It takes considerable control of resources and power to promote the myth that might makes right, and sooner or later, throughout history, ordinary people join together to fight for a more democratic, fair, and just society–for example, through massive, largely nonviolent resistance, as in South Africa under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, and in Poland under the Solidarity Movement. Sometimes in the U.S., major social and economic reforms have been enabled through the ballot box  as in the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (whose social programs have been under attack from the right ever since).

In a true democracy, in the kind of democracy for which people have suffered, fought, and died for hundreds of years, there are certain inalienable rights–like being able to vote, move around freely, worship one’s chosen deity, speak truth to power, pursue education, and engage in gainful employment; according to the United Nations, such rights are inherent.  That is, people of every color, every religion, every ethnicity, every sexual orientation are entitled to a range of  human rights, as agreed upon at the United Nations by nearly every nation on earth, including the United States, in the wake of two horrendous world wars.

Unfortunately, there are still some people, including here in the United States, who abhor and fear democracy.  Some of them hold political offices right now.  Do you know who they are? Do you know who among the candidates tries to disenfranchise voters, rob the poor to gratify the rich, rape the environment for personal profit?  And. do you know who has made the efforts, taken the risks to preserve and protect democratic and human rights?  Do you know who will help protect your rights, and who will promote a sustainable environment in a sustainable democracy in a sustainable world?

You have a few weeks left to learn all you can about all the candidates running for all the local, state, and national offices in the elections to be held on Tuesday, November 6. You don’t have to die for the right to vote.  Just exercise it.  What better way to maintain your self-respect, honor those who fought for your rights, and help make the world better for the coming generations?

 

 

Take action? Why? What good will it do?!

Women’s Rights Day celebration : 55 years since women won the vote : a look at our struggle. In the public domain. Author: Feminist Coordinating Council (Seattle, Wash.), sponsor/advertiser.

By Rev. Dr. Doe West

I am working daily to encourage all those around me to be sure they:

register to vote!

double check that they are on the voting rolls!

get to the polls on November 6th and victoriously vote!

Does my faith in this process mean I am somehow ignorant of or immune to the malevolent undercurrent seeping up around us, imparting a sense of hopelessness  regarding our efforts, imposing a sinking feeling that our votes won’t count, and enshrouding us in  fears that ruthless threats to our human rights, our futures, our planet,  can never be overcome?

Absolutely not.  In fact, it is my acute awareness and painful personal emotions each day that compel me to continue fighting the good fight every day at every opportunity.

Why?  What good will it do?

The hard truth is that any individual’s personal struggle for peace and social justice may not be enough to turn the tide tomorrow or bring hopes and dreams  to full fruition this year, or next, but it is also true that every single action taken by every single person does matter. And when people join hands and work together, they can make history and create better futures.

How do I know that?

It is October 2018 and …

  • We are fighting against voter suppression. That means that we WON voting rights!
  • We can connect with protestors we meet at marches across the nation.
  • We have specific names and locations of candidates who stood with us and on whom we can rely again to carry the fight from the inside out.
  • We have more diversity in our ranks in regard to gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other group identifiers in the candidates who take action for the causes in which we believe!
  • The alt right and radical right are coming out in daylight in public arenas where they show their colors and spew their hatred, making the need to take action against their self-serving agendas obvious to more and more people.
  • We have blogs such as engaging peace to which we can turn for affirmation and for connection with a community of people who are unified at the head/heart/spirit level and who will offer support when any of us stumble or lag or are hit by the fear that it is NOT worth it.  Be part of this community.  Write to engaging peace about your efforts on behalf of a fairer government, a safer future, a better world.

I know myself well enough to understand that like Maya Angelou, who spoke for us all when she said, “I RISE,”  and like Michelle Obama who spoke for us all when she said “As they go low, we go high,” and as I tell you right now… it matters. More than you may see or feel or understand. But every single success  we have had and gain that we have achieved has been created by every woman, man, and child before us who took action – even when, at times, they also asked “Why?  What good will it do?”

The answer is clear.  Persevering is the only way to go, the only way forward.  So rise to higher ground with me today …and take action!