— There are currently 101 women serving in the House — 88 Democrats and 13 Republicans.
— In November, there will be at least 199 Democratic women and 88 Republican women on House ballots, according to the Center for Women and American Politics at Rutgers University (CAWP).
— There will also be at least 48 House races in which two women are competing, breaking the record of 33 all-woman House contests in 2018, according to CAWP data.
Read the full story here.
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Election 2020 —
‘A history of great glory’: The consequential, evolving role of Black sororities in suffrage
By Ko Bragg
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Members of Howard University's Delta Sigma Theta in Washington, D.C. (Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution)
On March 3, 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, nine White women dressed in brilliant white rode down Washington, D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue in an official state car, representing the only states that had given women of their race the right to vote. More than three dozen White women dressed in black flanked the vehicle on foot to demonstrate how much of the nation was home to vote-less women. “No Country Can Exist Half Slave and Half Free,” the banner above them read.
The irony in 1913 was overwhelming.
The White women who organized the Woman Suffrage Procession, which attracted thousands to protest for the right to vote, advocated for a supremacist symbol of their priorities; Black women could march — but they had to bring up the rear. Among the Black women who showed up to the parade were 22 college women from Howard University. As liberal arts students at the historically Black school in the nation’s capital, they had front row seats to the suffrage movement — and they wanted their fair share of liberation. Their college, led by a male dean noted for being unsympathetic to women’s suffrage, did not want the women to attend the march; the talk in Washington was that it was gearing up to be a contentious, and potentially dangerous, demonstration. The college eventually acquiesced and allowed the group to attend — under the terms that a man accompany them as a chaperone.
The women were excited. It would be their first public demonstration, and this particular group had recent practice advocating for themselves and their values. In the months leading up to the march, they rebelled from the nation’s first sorority for Black women, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., finding it to be more of an extension of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., even if just in name only, and not designed to respond to the societal issues of their time — the Great Migration, the aftermath of World War I, a thriving suffrage movement. These women needed something more than a social club.
Read the full story here.
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Curated by May Olvera. Have something you think we should recommend? Tell us or tweet at us using #19thShares.
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The number of pregnant Latinas with COVID-19 is staggering. And a warning sign, doctors say. Although research on how COVID-19 affects pregnancy is limited, medical experts have found Latinx people make up nearly half of the group’s coronavirus cases. Some doctors think this might be a reflection of the actual burden faced by the larger Latinx population, represents a disproportionate amount of essential workers and has struggled to access testing. (Washington Post, August 16)
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Suburban women take on Trump with a letter-writing campaign. More than 4,000 suburban women from across the country banded together earlier this month to organize against President Donald Trump. The group, called Suburban Women Against Trump, plans to send 100,000 copies of a letter criticizing the president’s response to COVID-19 and the rhetoric he has used to appeal to suburban voters. (New York Times, August 19)
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Why women’s suffrage matters for Black people. The Black women and men who fought for women’s suffrage made extraordinary strides against racism that translated beyond the fight for the vote. For many, it was just as much a movement for racial justice as it was for gender equality. (The Undefeated, August 18)
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A message from this week's sponsor Aetna
Feeling sad, anxious or stressed? You’re not alone. We’re always here to help, and to remind you to make #TimeForCare. Learn more at Aetna. |
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🎧 Listen: A woman’s place is at the polls. The story of women’s suffrage in America dates back to the country’s founding, and it continues today. “A right once gained is not necessarily retained, except through struggle,” says historian Robyn Muncy as she explores the efforts that have taken place beyond what is typically known as the suffrage movement. (Today, Explained via Vox, August 18)
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📺 Watch: Conversations with my daughter. The WNBA’s Candace Parker reflects on Black motherhood at a time of unrest and the hope that she gleans from conversations with her daughter about equality. More than wanting to be remembered for her contributions to basketball, she says she wants her children to be her biggest legacy. (The Players’ Tribune, August 11)
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