DAY THREE
ALICE PAUL
Alice Stokes Paul was born in 1885 in Paulsdale, New Jersey. She first learned about the suffragist movement from her mother who was a part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After earning a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907, Paul continued her studies in Birmingham, England.
It was here that Paul transitioned into a militant suffragist. Paul was often arrested for her political demonstrations where she would lead hunger strikes in prison to protest their improper treatment. Upon her return to America in 1910, she brought a host of new strategies for political change along. Paul intended on holding President Wilson and the Democratic party responsible for women’s continued disenfranchisement and worked hard to delegitimize his actions.
Finally, on August 18, 1920, the 19thAmendment was passed which granted women the right to vote. Still, Alice Paul was not satisfied. She continued her battle for equality and authored the “Lucretia Mott Amendment” or the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment was featured in every congress session from 1923 until its passing in 1972. Without Alice Paul’s dedication to equality between men and women, the world as we know it would look a lot different.
ANGELA DAVIS
Angela Davis was born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. She lived in the “Dynamite Hill” neighborhood which was plagued by bombings from white people trying to forcefully intimidate the black families living there to move out. At Brandeis University in Massachusetts, Davis was one of three black students in her class. There, she studied French and philosophy which eventually took her to France and Germany before she pursued postgraduate work at the University of California, San Diego.
Angela Davis has been known as a radical feminist, activist, member of the Communist Party USA, anti-Vietnam protester, and associate of the Black Panther Party. Her insightful and barrier breaking writing and speaking creates mixed reactions which often put her in danger. In 1970, Davis was arrested for purchasing a firearm that was used to kill a prison guard in the Soledad prison. She was immediately labelled as a dangerous terrorist and held in solitary confinement upon her arrest. After a 16-month incarceration with lots of pressure from the public, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Davis was released on bail.
Now, Davis continues her political activist work by speaking all over the world and releasing several books on the state of prisons in the United States. She refers to herself as an abolitionist rather than prison reformer to put the focus on the racial injustice that is ever-present in the American justice system. Her work continues to be important as it was in the 1960s and ‘70s as it is now.
LUCY HICKS ANDERSON
Lucy Hicks Anderson was born in 1886 in Waddy, Kentucky. She was originally known as Tobias Lawson but was vocal from an early age that she identified as female. Her parents followed her doctors’ advice to let her live as a woman and she soon became known as Lucy.
At age 20, Lucy married her first husband, Clarence Hick, and moved west to California. After her divorce, she had saved up enough money to buy a boarding house which was a front for a brothel which also sold illegal liquor during prohibition.
In 1945, Lucy was tried for perjury on the basis that she had lied about her anatomical sex on her marriage license and was impersonating a woman. Since same-sex marriage was illegal at the time, Lucy was found guilty despite the fact that Lucy was a woman despite not being assigned so at birth. Her sentence was 10 years of probation and not being allowed to wear women’s clothing.
Lucy worked to advocate for transgender rights as safely as she could as an African-American transgender woman during a time when transgender was a foreign concept to many. As Lucy said herself in court: “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, acted just like what I am, a woman.”Her fight for marriage rights and living in her truth impacted the future for transgender rights today.
MARLEY DIAS
Marley Dias was born in 2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At age 11, Dias became frustrated with her mandatory school readings and their focus on white boys as protagonists. She wondered where the books about black girls were. Instead of waiting for someone to create the change, Dias started a book drive in 2015 called #1000BlackGirlBooks to bring attention to literature that featured black female protagonists. She collected over 9000 books in the first few months, many of which were sent to a book drive in Jamaica.
Her project gained so much attention that young Dias was able to publish her own book, entitled Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! in 2018 at age 13. She continues to inspire young women all over the world today. As she says it herself: "Innovation comes from, one, acknowledging yourself; two, studying and understanding the problem and three, finding a solution…It’s a typical adventure in a hero story, which I now live today."