Hard Won, Not Done: Voting Matters
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 14, 2021, Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award author, keynoted our program commemorating voting and the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Incorporating music, land acknowledgments, activist speeches, poetry, and art, the event coalesced around four themes: non-citizen voting, enfranchisement, queer inclusion, and municipal voting. View the program (PDF)
Vermont State House Lawn, Montpelier
Photo Credit: Terry J. Allen
Annette Gordon-Reed, historian and professor, delivers the keynote address, Voting in Texas—156 Years of Struggle, exploring Black Texans’ exercise of voting rights after Juneteenth 1865, denial of those rights during the South’s Redemption Period, and today’s fight to preserve them.
Music by Nicole Nelson and Dwight Ritcher (Burlington) of the duo Dwight & Nicole. Mia Schultz (Bennington), president of Rutland-area NAACP, served as emcee and highlighted the importance of being engaged in municipal voting. Melody Mackin (Barre) opened and closed the event with land dedications and spoke of Native Americans’ voting rights. Storyteller Ferene Paris Meyer (Burlington) recited her poem, Ferene Existing While Black.
Photo Credit: Terence Grau
Dr. Jean Szilva (Winooski) talked about LGBTQIA inclusion. Cynthia Cagle (South Burlington) commissioned to create a painting on women and voting. The Light of Truth Upon Them. Student Hussein Amuri (Winooski) reads his essay on non-citizen voting. Student Tyler Hedding (East Montpelier) reads his essay on For The People Act. League of Women Voters of Vermont set up to register voters.
Kellogg-Hubbard Library Book Signing
Annette Gordon-Reed signs copies of her new book, On Juneteenth, following discussion and Q&A at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Thank You to Our Event Sponsors
