Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (1941–2018)

I read this book in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment and, simultaneously, the year of national attention to the issue of race. The book clearly points to an example of systemic racism that exists today. And we must ask ourselves, - what good are laws if they are ignored or flaunted, and what does that mean for our democracy?

The long struggle for the Nineteenth Amendment was inextricably intertwined with the issue of race. Terborg-Penn has amply researched the history of Black women in the struggle for its passage. There are some prominent names that will be familiar, in particular Sojourner Truth. But there were so many more articulate Black women who struggled for universal suffrage and were tireless organizers, yet, were rebuffed by their white colleagues when it was expedient. These Black women had a double struggle - for gender and for race. Once the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, Black women (and men) found, in the South, many obstacles to registering to vote - obstacles so high that they resulted in the disenfranchisement of many Black voters.

This was a difficult book to read as it is a side of American history that we don’t see in text books. But as informed citizens we must understand it as we see it played out on our daily news.… (meer)