To celebrate the 115th anniversary of women enjoying the right to vote in Aotearoa New Zealand. A great cartoon for the day is posted here. With the gumboot missing! In 1893 the courageous efforts of pioneers like Kate Sheppard led that little country to be the first in the world to have universal suffrage. An excellent historical survey is posted here. I didn't realise that there are women alive today in the USA "who grew up at a time when women were disenfranchised" (thanks Shamaal for that quote). And renew my gratitude for the context I wasn't even aware of as I grew up. The YouTube video I just posted is quite long and more doco than fun - but does give a 'warts and all' overview of women in NZ.
A few years ago I was privileged to meet a member of the Afghanistan Commission on Human Rights. They commented very favourably on the important role NZ Peacekeeping forces had played in ensuring safe passage for women to the polling booths. These young men and women of our defence forces may not have been conscious of it , but they were possibly living out an age-old principle of our nation. Despite my Pacifist stance, I am pleased to support a family member who will be serving in that challenging country before long.
It perhaps explains, in part, the deep outrage felt by our family when we immigrated and found in this new land that the First Australians were able to vote for the first time just 41 years ago. And an interchange from my childhood between my mother and a great-uncle on the situation in South Africa. My Mum had said something along the lines that Africans should be happy if they had a good employer and were well looked after. Uncle Rod made a forceful statement about the right to citizenship and to vote. And this from a man known more for his extreme piety than his social activism. In the 70s. Reflecting back it was probably one of the pivotal moments in my personal faith development.
And while we can and should dance, we need to remember all those women internationally who do not yet participate fully in the governance of their communities. Lamenting with the psalmist and with U2 - How long ...
1 comment:
Thanks for popping over to Homepaddock and leaving a comment.
It's good to celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage in its own right but also because there are still too many places where people don't have the right to vote.
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