By John Johnson II
Women throughout history have proven that they’ve had to become a force of reckoning. They’ve had to prevent America’s white male’s dominated society from treating them as glorified chattel. In marriage, they’ve had to assume the surname of their husbands, shoulder the responsibilities of bearing and raising the children, and leaving politics/ voting to their husbands.
As an undeterred force of reckoning, it took women one hundred years to win the right to vote (1920). It then took another 10 years before they could serve as jurors. Though unbelievably, it took over 50 years for women to gain the right to serve as members of all branches of the Armed Forces (1948).
Once again during the 21st Century, with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, women are having to prove that they’re a force of reckoning. A jubilant woman in Kansas stated, “they’re not to be messed with.” Yet, national and state Republican legislators as well as the Supreme Court have failed to heed the defiant cries of women for the rights to control their reproductive rights.
The women of Kansas as well as other pro-choice voters, voted to affirm women’s abortion rights. Also, vigilant movements such as Black Lives Matter, Me Too Movement, HeForShe, and countless others have evolved to address societal injustices targeting women. If America has a soul, will women have to save it? The answer is resoundingly, yes!
This Nation must never forget that the 2020 presidential election meant that it wasn’t just America’s soul on life support. Rather, it was, too, about the fate of our own democracy.
It should leave little doubt that America’s democracy remains a viable “republic,” due in part because women have continued to establish a role as a force of reckoning against voter suppression. Women mobilized and encouraged millions to vote for Joe Biden. As a result of their actions, Trump lost his re-election bid as well as a second chance at turning America into an Autocracy.
Women, as a force of reckoning, must now turn their attention not only to the upcoming midterm elections, but to the 2024 presidential election as well. Regrettably, democracy remains less as an experiment and more of a target for dismantling.
YOU BE THE judge!
