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August 18 2020 marks the
hundredth anniversary

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of the passage of the 19th
amendment, which prohibited

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the US government from denying
citizens a right to vote

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on the basis of sex.

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The 19th amendment has long been
considered a major milestone

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in the history of US democracy
for granting American women

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the right to vote.

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While today, we may take the
civil liberty for granted

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it's important to acknowledge
the decades of struggle

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and activism, as well as
the history of racism

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within the suffrage movement.

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Getting the amendment through
Congress was a major feat.

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On top of the fact that both
dominant political parties

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resisted women's
suffrage for decades

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there were also
fundamental clashes

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within the movement,
which focused

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on the right of
white women to vote

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to the point of intentionally
excluding the rights of women

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of color. In 1919,

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after over 70 years of
suffragists'lobbying, picketing,

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marching, and protesting the
House of Representatives

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approved an amendment written
by Susan B. Anthony guaranteeing

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women's enfranchisement.

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The Senate followed
suit and the amendment

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was soon after ratified by
the states in August 1920.

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While this date marked
an important turning point,

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many women of color,
including southern Black women

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continued to be disenfranchised
until the passage of the Voting

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Rights Act of 1965,
which aimed to prohibit

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racial discrimination in voting.

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Today more than 68 million women
vote in US elections thanks

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to the work of thousands
of brave suffragists

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who refused to give up on
the right to voting equality.

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Though women's rights in
America have come a long way

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we still have a long ways to go.

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And there are still
many more battles to be

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won. Join us in celebrating
this historic anniversary

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while also looking towards the
future of the women's movement.