In 1859, Clarina Nichols settled into a seat at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention even though her gender meant she was barred from voting or publicly addressing the all-male convention. By that point she had long served as a national champion of women’s rights, anti-slavery and other matters. She uprooted her family to move to Territorial Kansas to guide the fledgling state on women’s issues. A brave move, indeed.
Thanks largely to the lobbying efforts of Nichols, the Kansas Constitution granted women the right to vote in school elections, new educational opportunities, increased rights to property and equal standing on child custody during divorce. Kansas granted women the right to vote in municipal elections in 1887 (the first state in the nation to do so) and was the eighth state to grant women full rights to vote in 1912, years before the federal government followed suit.
Nichols’ story and the history of women’s suffrage in Kansas were featured during one of several speeches last weekend at the Women’s March in Lawrence. A diverse cast of speakers shared thoughts on a similar theme: Political activism.
They encouraged participants to run for office, from the grassroots precinct committee level and beyond. They asked for support of candidates who support women’s issues. They asked those in attendance to harness feminine energy to be supportive, caring and inclusive.
They asked us all — women, men and children — to be brave. To get involved.
I’ve often wondered how I might have behaved during a different historical era. Would I have been brave enough to fight for my place like Clarina Nichols? Would I have sheltered slaves? Would I have volunteered my seat on the bus or at the lunch counter? Would I have burned my bra?
Probably not. At least that’s what I thought. I’m an introvert. I hide in the back of the room. I refuse to raise my hand even when I know the answer. I rarely post controversial memes on Facebook.
But this past Saturday, I was there, one of hundreds who wore pink hats and chanted “This is what democracy looks like.” The election of President Donald Trump galvanized me, as it has so many others. We see now the depth of the glass ceiling and the vulnerable veneer of progress. We feel the weight of the legacy of women like Clarina Nichols and others who brought us to this point.
The Women’s March last weekend wasn’t just about pink hats or #MeToo or “the elephant in the womb,” though all those things certainly had a place. It wasn’t even about President Trump, at least not entirely.
It was about asking yourself: “Am I brave enough to get involved?”
