AM~Erica's Yellow Sash Revolution

So anyway...

We have entered full on election season. The nasty attack ads are out, as well as the claws of those on the right AND on the left.

Today, there has been a BIG push to get registered to vote. This is awesome! Not only are there paper forms, you can also do it online (with a touchscreen device), and you can now do it on Snapchat!

Really, it couldn't be easier.

Now, if you are choosing to pass it up because you don't want to get picked for jury duty, just know that your name is already in the barrel when you get a driver's license, state ID, or even own property such as land. Not using your voice to try to make a difference just so you don't have to MAYBE get called for jury duty is actually a very pompous thing to do.

So everyone who will be 18 by election day should take this moment to get registered!

Now that this is covered, I want to address the lady voters.

*****

Hi, fella Lady Voters!

Are you registered to vote? I sure hope so. Because I want you to to join me in a revolution!

Now, as in many revolutions, there is background to this. So let's get some women's herstory going on so you can find out what we can do.

Back in Victorian times, there was the push to get women votes. In the suffrage movement, there was a rise of suffragettes who fought for their right to vote! Literally fought!

Women were beaten, spat upon, and arrested during their protests to get a vote.

The suffragettes across the pond used the colors of purple, green & white to make their statement. Banners, sashes, signs - all promoting getting the right to vote.

The American suffragettes had much of the same statement, but they used yellow/gold with purple & white. The main color tended to be yellow. And this brings me to the revolution.

There is a large push for getting more registered voters. It appears there were 60 million eligible citizens that did not register for the last election. For so long you could only have paper copies of the registration form. I mean, you could find it online, but you could only print it out, fill it out & either mail it in or take it to the public library or election office on your own. Since then, you can now register online as long as you are using a touchscreen device (so you can write your signature). As of this week, you can now register to vote on Snapchat! It's that easy!

Once you have done that, here's the plan, ladies:

Find & wear a yellow sash. Thick yellow ribbon that proves the point that you are a registered American voter who happens to be female.

I kind of pointed it out in my previous blog post about voting. But I'm going to bring up some of the ways again.

1. Go hardcore, old school, Edwardian suffragette! Big Merry Widow hat, maybe with yellow somewhere on there. A maxi skirt or dress that is yellow, or has yellow, and some sensible shoes.

B. Even though women had already gotten the right to vote, we had to prove our worth more when having to step up in the work force during WWII. Rosie the Riveter is the mascot for these women, and tended to be in a red scarf. I propose showing the same strength in outfitting, just in yellow!

III. Dress as a 20's flapper in a lot of yellow. A drop-waist dress, so t-strap Mary Jane shoes and a yellow cloche hat. Especially since it was 1920 when we got the right to vote!

𝚫. Not ALL females could vote in the 20's - as a matter of fact, not EVERYONE could vote by then. It wasn't until the 60's until our colored brothers & sisters could vote. Remember the Selma march - and dress in yellow along those kinds of lines.

If nothing else, dress in yellow. Wear the sash.

Now, on the sash, you can add letters in purple to say "Votes for Women" or even "I Vote"/"iVote"; maybe "Female Voter" or something like "Voted." You can even put "Yellow Sash Revolution."

When you go vote, on voting day or as absentee, be sure to get a selfie of sorts with your voting sticker, maybe even in front of the voting sign.

~ Do NOT include your ballot!

~ Do NOT get your selfie IN the polling place!

~ Do NOT show others entering or exiting the polling place!

Be smart about your photo, include tagging it with #YellowSashRevolution on social media, and let's get the women back into the suffragette spirit of meaning business when we use our right, privilege & voice to vote!

So, who's in? Share the info, and let's get word out to our sister suffragettes!

Remember, it doesn't matter what party you vote for or are a part of, as long as we make it a Woman Suffragette Party on Super Tuesday!

Let's make a difference, let's make a mark!
GO VOTE! REGISTER TODAY!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica's Suffragette Revival Revolution

So anyway...

Not sure if you remember, but it was almost a year ago when I REGISTERED TO VOTE. And it feels great being able to walk into my polling place to use my voice on a ballot.

Jump ahead to June of this year...
Because of some life changes, we bought a house! YAY! Which also meant a move! BOO! But the move is an exciting one for our family. We didn't move far, but it was a move nonetheless.

One of the biggest pains of moving is the having to change your address on EV-ER-Y-THING! UGH! However, since I started voting again, I was NOT going to let another move prevent me from voting again. One of the earliest things I did was to go change my address on my registration.

Now the system acted really weird after I did it, so I went to do it again just to make sure. I was told that my info had already been changed. So, I left it.

With all of the annoying & intrusive election ads (the attack ads included), I was researching the candidates for this primary to see which color koolaid ballot I would vote on (UGH! I hate being forced into a koolaid avenue!) along with the local questions.

Eventually a couple of voter registration reminder cards came in the mail. However, they were for the previous residents. Hmmmm...

I did the right thing & sent those cards back to the election board, but then I got concerned about my own registration. In, Missouri, as long as you are registered by the 4th Wednesday before the next election, you should be fine. I gave plenty of time!

Finally, since I heard NOTHING, I looked up my registration. To my great disappointment, my registration didn't get changed as originally thought. Grrrrr....

I tried my registration again, even though it took this time, I was very frustrated. I should be able to vote at MY polling place, in MY community. Even if it's a new place, I want to step up & make a difference where I'm getting settled. So I knew I would probably have to fight for my vote.

As I put out some feelers, in my angst, I was reminded of provisional ballots. I looked into it for Missouri, and check the definition & rights. I was hoping that this would be a last resort, because I wanted my vote counted!

So I began to devise a plan:  I thought back to nearly a year ago when I paid homage to suffragettes who fought so hard for women to be able to vote. Remember when I went digging into my costumes & hats to recreate an Edwardian suffragette to celebrate the women's vote?

Well, that look really appears to mean business. So I wanted to use that bit of history...or HERstory...to make it known that I planned to vote.

I went digging, went matching, tried pairing different combos together until I found what I thought would work, and then I prepared myself for my own personal march.

Just to show I was serious, I put selfie of it on social media to tell folks I was on may way to try to vote.

Then, I took a deep breath, grabbed some info I thought I might need, went with a plan in mind, and nervously headed over to my polling place.

I'm going to be honest, I was incredibly nervous. I watched people sauntering in & out of the space. Here I was, dressed like it was 1914, a plan together, but didn't know how it would all turn out. After a few minutes of some deep breaths & pulling my confidence together, I marched in with a purpose.

After getting a few odd looks & some compliments on my hat, I went in & pleaded my case firmly. I let them know my registration didn't appear to take when I did it in June, but I'm in the system & should be OK to vote, I gave my photo ID along with a utility bill to prove residence. The gentleman who was helping me didn't really question - he just took my info, got onto his computer to make some changes, filled out a form with some extra info, then handed me my stuff to be able to move on through to vote!
I signed in, got my ballot demo, then had to choose my koolaid ballot (UGH!); I then took my ballot into the voting station & made my informed choices - even on a stupid koolaid ballot. I answered my community's questions to be voted on, too. I walked over, inserted my completed ballot into the machine to be counted, then got my sticker! (It's what we're there for anyway, right?)

You know what? This experience really got me thinking.
(I know, I know...scary, right?)
I am very tempted to dress this way for every election. Or something very strong in this sense. And I thought about how awesome it would be to revive history...or HERstory...by having as many women dress in some way to remind people of what the suffragettes before us paved the way for! Wouldn't that be amazing? So I had some thoughts:

1. Dress as an Edwardian-era suffragette.
Wear a maxi skirt/dress, a button up blouse of sorts, comfortable-yet-stylish shoes, a large & embellished hat &/or updo, and a long vest, jacket or cardigan. Add in something masculine like a tie, cuffs or vest. Wear brooches or pins with American flags, promoting votes for women, or for a statement of feminism. Maybe even a voting sash just for some extra visuals.

2. Think Rosie the Riveter.
Go in wearing overalls or a denim/chambray shirt. Add in some yellow. Wear a yellow or gold head scarf or bandana. Why yellow or gold instead of red? Stick with me, I'll explain. But WE CAN DO IT!

3. Wear yellow &/or gold.
The color of yellow (or gold) was the main color of the American suffragette movement, along with white & purple - but definitely the yellow! Combine the color with the above statements, or just punch your ballot wearing yellow.

4. Remember the voting rights of our black sisters.
This is where I'd tell you to dress within the 60's & 70's thinking of the power of the Selma march. Wear yellow in that fashion.

My fella-femmes, we cannot put off registering to vote, or even ignoring a vote. We cannot let our women who fought for this down. We need to remind people as to why we can vote! All women who are our American citizens. Through any era where we got to step up to the voting booth.


Watch or rewatch "Suffragette" & "Selma" as reminders. And let us not forget that the idea of any of us voting started somewhere & built from there! It was a hard-fought path, but we are here.

Now then, it brings me to something else -
I encourage women to be informed voters. Not blind koolaid drinking, not blindly following how our husband votes or how our parents vote...but this is about how YOU vote - how WE vote! We don't necessarily have to sing in unison, but use our voices as a chorus of political harmony. Many of us have different views from another, but we have to be informed in using our part to vote for not just us, but how it effects the future beyond us. It's beyond just making history to see a particular person in office, but instead how they will truly work in the office they run for. Will they do it effectively, and are they truly fit for the office?

I highly encourage each of us to take those quizzes that test your feelings on different issues against several candidates to see who you match up with. And it's a reminder that there's more than 2 candidates running for president in November. Find out where you fit, don't get mad at those frustrated with the flavor of koolaid they are used to drinking, and get informed - not enamored. This is important as we use our hard-earned votes. Not for celebrity, but for the people.

Now, go forth, and vote! There's 3 months to make a good & informed decision. If you are not yet registered, get on it! You can do it online! There's no excuse. Let's make a statement in our chorus of women's voices!

Look at this! A line of women voters, in 1920, for their first presidential election in Minneapolis.

Look at this! First time black men AND women voters in 1965

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica is Rectifying a Grave Feminist Mistake

So anyway...

I honestly don't remember what made me think about this lately, but I began to re-research women's suffrage.

In my inadvertent quest to have outfitting for nearly every decade (apparently), I had not really looked into much of the 1910's. I was looking into the style & the events of the time. And I was super pulled into the women's suffrage movement.

Right now, I want to let you know that I do not live my life with politics in the forefront. Probably because so many folks have taken it to such extremes, it's been a turnoff for years. Just the ugly mudslinging of "human rights" folks & "Christian" folks. (Yes...I put those in quotation marks - neither "side" is acting like what they supposedly represent.) I'm also a realist; an optimistic realist, yet still a realist. I can see where there are positives of the ideals of both "sides", as well as the downfalls of the ideals of both "sides". Having it go all one way will never work for good.

I am so against the koolaid drinkers. They just absorb whatever they are told & just become parrots of what is put in front of them without larger research on their part. And that's an insult to parrots!

Don't forget, I'm all about this coming together thing, wanting both sides to meet in the center aisle, pour the red & blue koolaid into a great big vat & make a lovely purple color.

Purple politics is what I go by. And...I don't rub it in people's faces.

Sorry...got off on a bit of a tangent. I digress...

*ahem*

I'm going to make a confession right now. I need you to stick it out with me. OK?

As many of you know, I am a PASTOR'S WIFE. In United Methodism, the pastors are on an itinerant system & are appointed. Technically the appointment lasts year-to-year, but generally will be at least 3 years or so (can be longer - we're in our 6th year at our current church). Keep this in mind when I say that the pastors & their families tend to get moved fairly often, and generally to new communities, even in different parts of the state.

I'm incredibly right-brained (which should surprise no one), and I'm easily distracted by squirrels &/or shiny things. Plus, I'm a major procrastinator. So I forget to do major things sometimes because my brain wheels are turning & creating things in my head...I...well...just forget.

When I was 18, I registered to vote because I could. And I voted for a while, trying very hard to know what I was voting on. Like seriously considering.
Then my hubby answered a call to ministry & we began our journey into him being appointed to churches in the Missouri United Methodist itinerant system. When we started heading to new communities, registering to vote would slip my mind until it was literally time to vote. That wasn't enough time. I would get really frustrated with myself, vow to change that the next day, then my right brain would kick in...*sigh*

However, I realized this as I was looking back into women's suffrage.
I realized what these women went thru to get the right to vote. People! They were beaten, arrested, fined, spat upon, insulted. They went thru so much just to get a voice.

These wonderfully rebellious women who stood their ground, and spoke up, was a tremendous act to be able to fully claim their rights of citizenship! This is not well covered in schools or in conversation. I took for granted what fight was fought for me to have this right to use. And I'm embarrassed to say that...but I am. Because I'm human.

I won't be one of those people who will shame you if you don't vote...but you don't have the right to complain if you don't use your voice. I would complain about the complainers who use their 1st amendment right for major disrespect & personal attacks...but I also was careful to not complain where I didn't use my voice.

Today, as it turns out, is Women's Equality Day! We were given the right to VOTE on August 26, 1920! No wonder the flappers felt so liberated!

A greeting I got from Facebook for Women's Equality Day!

This is something amazing to celebrate! We are finally getting to a place where women are more respected. It's only taken 95 years or so.

And we've come a long way, baby. We are moms, business owners, CEO's, senators, part of congress, pastors, artists, speakers, respected journalists & writers, idealists, welders, mechanics, technicians, engineers, gamers, code writers, bakers, soldiers/sailors, pilots, doctors, nurses, presidents of boards, serving on boards...we are in so many positions of respect & authority these days. And? We can vote!

As I had to reread what we went thru to get to this point, my woman's heart swelled with pride. We are people. We are all people. We should all be treated as people.

And...if you are a citizen, I highly recommend getting registered to share your voice with your voting rights. Many fought way too hard for those of us, in the present, to not be doing so.

Although I didn't realize today was Women's Equality Day, until today, I felt the push to go ahead & finally get registered again. And I did it yesterday. Strangely, in that moment, I felt liberated!

I am an American citizen, and I am going to use my voting powers for good!

No, this doesn't mean I'm going to rub my thought process of politics in your faces as much as many of you do in mine...but I will continue to keep it real. I want to challenge many of you to think, to research, to actually look into the "other side" of your views. And then, know it's about the greater good of the people...not just you.

I am a woman, I am an American, and I am once again a voter. Hear me roar!!!

So this is a perfect day to encourage any of you who haven't yet to step up & register, too!

*UPDATE: My daughter registered to vote today! WOOT! Preparing to use her voice being an American citizen! Way to celebrate 95 years of women voting!

Oh! And?

HAPPY WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY!!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica