Yellow grasses, backlit by the setting sun, flicker like diamonds – illuminating the edges of the path. It’s relatively warm this November afternoon and it feels good to be out here – the fresh air and what’s left of the sun, a much-needed tonic. As I rise up the flank, I recognize that I’m grateful for another fall day before winter weather conditions make this trek more challenging. As I consider the challenges of trekking in winter, my newest inspiration and heroine, Harriet Tubman, pops into my mind and I feel a bit self-conscious that I even consider trekking in winter a challenge.
The movie, Harriet, is a must-see. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it for you, except to say that Harriet lived her mantra, Live free or die. She joins the ranks of others who have stood up for social justice, those who put their lives on the line to fight for what they believe in. Harriet is an agonizing, but beautiful, upsetting, yet poignant movie. I left the theater motivated and inspired as Harriet is an example of true grit, determination, perseverance, of someone absolutely convicted to her ideals.
Besides bringing many slaves to their freedom, Harriet Tubman is credited for becoming one of the first women suffragists, helping to ensure women’s right to vote. To avoid spoiling anymore about the Harriet movie, I am going to segue this blog over to a lesser known suffragist, Inez Milholland. I feel a debt of gratitude for both Tubman and Milholland, as these luminaries have lighted the path for all of us.
Unlike Tubman, Milholland was born white into a very wealthy family. But uncharacteristic of the social norms for women born into wealth in that era (1886), Milholland had aspirations to become a lawyer. She applied to Ivy League schools, but because of her gender, was rejected. Finally, admitted to New York University, she attained a law degree and afterward she worked as a journalist during World War I, reporting from the front lines in Italy, but, as a vocal proponent of pacifism, she was expelled.
Later, Milholland advocated tirelessly for the underrepresented and oppressed. She is best known for her activism for the National Women’s Party, where on horse, she led a parade of 8,000 women down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House to disturb Democratic President Wilson’s inauguration, as the Democratic party was in opposition of Women’s Right to Vote. She gave herself entirely to the cause – giving 50 speeches in 11 states in 30 days to encourage voting against the Democratic party during which she became ill and collapsed at an event, dying two months later on November 25, 1916 at the age of 30. Her death was highly celebrated, bringing more attention to suffrage, aiding in the ratification of the 19th Federal Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, on August 18, 1920. Milholland is described as a martyr for Women’s Right to Vote.
As I head down the hill, I consider these visionaries, their strength, fortitude, determination. Like the backlit grasses, they illumine our path.
