Progressive Women 5: Activists
First, a history lesson . . .
/>Sojourner
Truth - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/bltruth.htm
"Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must
be somethin' out o' kilter. I tink dat 'twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de
Nork, all talkin''bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all
dis here talkin''bout?
"Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped
into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber
helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!" And raising
herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunders, she asked
"And a'n't I a woman? Look at me! Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right
arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And a'n't I a woman? I could
work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear de lash a well! And
a'n't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to
slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And a'n't
I a woman? [from Sojourner Truth, 1851: Account by Frances Gage, 1881 - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_sojourner_truth_woman.htm]
Harriet Tubman - http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/qu_h_tubman.htm
We saw the lightning and that was the guns; and thenElizabeth Cady Stanton - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blstanton.htm
we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and
that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that
we reaped.
The strongest reason for
giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her
faculties, forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought
and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence,
superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear, is the solitude and personal
responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a
voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe;
equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and
professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to
self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself. No matter how
much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how much men desire to
have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety in an emergency
they must know something of the laws of navigation. To guide our own craft, we must be
captain, pilot, engineer; with chart and compass to stand at the wheel; to match the
wind and waves and know when to take in the sail, and to read the signs in the firmament
over all. It matters not whether the solitary voyager is man or woman. [from Solitude of Self
- http://womenshistory.about.com/library/misc/blsolitudeself.htm]
Sappho - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_sappho.htm
Some an army of horsemen, some an army onMargaret Sanger - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_margaret_sanger.htm
foot
and some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest sight
on this dark earth;
but I say it is what-
ever you desire:
and it is possible to make this
perfectly clear
to all; for the woman who far surpassed all others
in her
beauty, Helen, left her husband --
the best of all men --
behind and
sailed far away to Troy; she did not spare
a single thought for her child nor for
her dear parents
but [the goddess of love] led her astray
[to desire...]
/>
[...which]
reminds me now of Anactoria
although far away, [a fragment, translated by Josephine Balmer]
No woman can call herself freeEmma Goldman - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blgoldman.htm
who does not own and control her own body . . .
No woman can call herself free
until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother . . .
/>Woman must have her freedom, the fundamental freedom of choosing whether or not she
will be a mother and how many children she will have. Regardless of what man's attitude
may be, that problem is hers -- and before it can be his, it is hers alone. She goes
through the vale of death alone, each time a babe is born. As it is the right neither of
man nor the state to coerce her into this ordeal, so it is her right to decide whether
she will endure it.
All wars are wars among thieves who are tooJane Addams - http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_addams.htm
cowardly to fight and who therefore induce the young manhood of the whole world to do
the fighting for them . . .
The most violent element in society is ignorance . .
.
I do not believe that women are betterThanks, folks. More
than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislature, nor done many unholy
things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance . .
.
We slowly learn that life consists of processes as well as results, and that
failure may come quite as easily from ignoring the adequacy of one's method as from
selfish or ignoble aims. We are thus brought to a conception of Democracy not merely as
a sentiment which desires the well-being of all [people], nor yet as a creed which
believes in the essential dignity and equality of all [people], but as that which
affords a rule for living as well as a test of faith.
tomorrow.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Be at peace
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