By Madelynn Bland —
The Women’s Center hosted an educational event in the Red Barn to both celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and to educate on the women’s suffrage movement.
Jamieca Jones, a Program Coordinator with the U of L Women’s Center talked about how there are still difficulties voting today.
“There are still people to this very day who are facing barriers to voting. We will talk a bit about the suffrage history here in Louisville and nationally but I really wanted to branch out and say ‘Hey, what is the cost of a vote to you’ because sometimes it costs more for others,” she said.
Representatives of many cultures and groups that still have barriers when it comes to election day educated the audience about their struggles.
Former professor Shameka Parrish-Wright said Kentucky has the most incarcerated women in the United States and yet has some of the hardest processes to get people voting again once they’re out of the system.
They also spoke on the many issues Latinx people face when voting like language barriers and a lack of translators and their ID’s being rejected.
Finn Depriest, a work study student for the Women’s Center, said the seminar’s purpose was to broaden people’s understanding that the 19th amendment doesn’t encompass all women. On such a diverse campus, it is especially important for all students to realize the large amount of groups that still struggle to vote.
The Engage Lead Serve Board will be hosting more events through September with the hope that more women, and students in general, will understand the power of their vote and will make their voices heard loud and clear in the upcoming elections.
Graphic by Alexis Simon / The Louisville Cardinal
