THe following is a script of a spoken word and sung one woman performance
All good movements have an anthem. A good song declares our purpose. It unifies us. I would like to teach you my anthem.
This is the story of the Unsung Heroine’s
By Melody Epperson
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
This story begins in England but soon sails across the seas to the newly formed
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Fact! Before Women’s Suffrage, women could not:
•Own land
•She could not sign a legal document
•She could not bring home the paycheck that she worked for
•Maintain the custody of her children in the case of Divorce
She could do the following things…
• Have children and raise them
• Iron
• Sew
• Clean
• Cook
• Laundry
• Housekeeping[SPEED UP and SQUAT DOWN]
• Mend
• Wipe
• Scrub
• Mop
• Dust
• Polish
• Swab…[PAUSE and STAND]
• And oddly enough, she could commit any crime she wanted to as long as her husband was present.
She could not, definitely not, don’t even think about it, VOTE!
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
Women like Alice Paul and Emmeline Pankhurst who were in England, were not happy with the way women were treated…
They would protest
They would picket
They would publish
They would pass out their publications to women
They would plead with those in power
They would engage in public discourse
Sometimes they would engage in violence. (Things like blowing thing up or setting things on fire, to get the public’s attention)
When they did speak up, they were jailed.
While in jail, they led hunger strikes and starved themselves (which got them out earlier). Soon the jails started force-feeding them in order to keep them in jail for their entire sentence.
Again they would protest
Again they were jailed
Again they got thinner
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
Meanwhile… women in the USA also began to organize. And they too began to speak up.
In 1848 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized theSeneca Falls Woman’s Convention and wrote The DECLORATION OF SENTIMENTS:
[PULL OUT FRYING PAN AND READ:]
[PULL OUT SCROLL, DROP IT and begin to read]
[PUT SCROLL OVER SHOULDER]
Eventually in 1920, women were granted the rights they always deserved!
The Right To VOTE!
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
You would think that this is the end of the story, but it isn’t!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first proposed by Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party in 1923… [PAUSE]
However, it was not approved by congress until 1972. It passed due to the leadership of Representative Bell Abzug and Shirley Chisholm, and feminists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem.
Its purpose IS to
provide the legal equality of the sexes and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex…
It has yet to be ratified into law
However, Virginia just became the 38th state to approve the amendment!
Maybe there is hope.
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,…
January 21, 2017
Somewhere between 3-5 million women marched in cities throughout the world. They were led by a group of passionate women who wanted their voices to be heard.
The voices that rang out that day and continue today are
• #metoo[Read and Gong the list]
• … VOTER RIGHTS!
[Turn Apron over and drop down to knees put finger to lips and whisper]
Now I am going to tell you the truly untold story of Women’s Suffrage. The story that was unwritten from history. The story of black women and men, and how they too fought for the woman right to vote.
{Stand up and speak]
They too spoke in those church halls and on city steps. They marched in the parades and stood in protest. And even I didn’t find their names and stories right away because, the ugly truth is, that white women didn’t want their story to be told. So they warped and leaders figures like Sojourner Truth to fit their narrative. We, I still have so much to learn.
…Forward through the darkness,
Forward into light!"
This is the story of the Unsung Heroine’s
By Melody Epperson
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
This story begins in England but soon sails across the seas to the newly formed
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Fact! Before Women’s Suffrage, women could not:
•Own land
•She could not sign a legal document
•She could not bring home the paycheck that she worked for
•Maintain the custody of her children in the case of Divorce
She could do the following things…
• Have children and raise them
• Iron
• Sew
• Clean
• Cook
• Laundry
• Housekeeping[SPEED UP and SQUAT DOWN]
• Mend
• Wipe
• Scrub
• Mop
• Dust
• Polish
• Swab…[PAUSE and STAND]
• And oddly enough, she could commit any crime she wanted to as long as her husband was present.
She could not, definitely not, don’t even think about it, VOTE!
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
Women like Alice Paul and Emmeline Pankhurst who were in England, were not happy with the way women were treated…
They would protest
They would picket
They would publish
They would pass out their publications to women
They would plead with those in power
They would engage in public discourse
Sometimes they would engage in violence. (Things like blowing thing up or setting things on fire, to get the public’s attention)
When they did speak up, they were jailed.
While in jail, they led hunger strikes and starved themselves (which got them out earlier). Soon the jails started force-feeding them in order to keep them in jail for their entire sentence.
Again they would protest
Again they were jailed
Again they got thinner
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
Meanwhile… women in the USA also began to organize. And they too began to speak up.
In 1848 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized theSeneca Falls Woman’s Convention and wrote The DECLORATION OF SENTIMENTS:
[PULL OUT FRYING PAN AND READ:]
[PULL OUT SCROLL, DROP IT and begin to read]
[PUT SCROLL OVER SHOULDER]
Eventually in 1920, women were granted the rights they always deserved!
The Right To VOTE!
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,
Forward through the darkness,
Forward into the light!"
You would think that this is the end of the story, but it isn’t!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first proposed by Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party in 1923… [PAUSE]
However, it was not approved by congress until 1972. It passed due to the leadership of Representative Bell Abzug and Shirley Chisholm, and feminists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem.
Its purpose IS to
provide the legal equality of the sexes and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex…
It has yet to be ratified into law
However, Virginia just became the 38th state to approve the amendment!
Maybe there is hope.
[TURN]
"Forward, out of error
Leave behind the night,…
January 21, 2017
Somewhere between 3-5 million women marched in cities throughout the world. They were led by a group of passionate women who wanted their voices to be heard.
The voices that rang out that day and continue today are
• #metoo[Read and Gong the list]
• … VOTER RIGHTS!
[Turn Apron over and drop down to knees put finger to lips and whisper]
Now I am going to tell you the truly untold story of Women’s Suffrage. The story that was unwritten from history. The story of black women and men, and how they too fought for the woman right to vote.
{Stand up and speak]
They too spoke in those church halls and on city steps. They marched in the parades and stood in protest. And even I didn’t find their names and stories right away because, the ugly truth is, that white women didn’t want their story to be told. So they warped and leaders figures like Sojourner Truth to fit their narrative. We, I still have so much to learn.
…Forward through the darkness,
Forward into light!"