HARD WON, NOT DONE: VOTING MATTERS
Montpelier State House Lawn
by League of Women Voters of Vermont
Featuring Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award author of The Hemingses of Monticello, An American Family. Gordon-Reed's work, described by the Harvard Gazette, "…has reframed the historical dialogue about slavery and enslaved peoples in the United States by enhancing America's understanding of race in the Colonial era."
A law professor and historian, Gordon-Reed grew up in the racially segregated town of Conroe, Texas, and was the first child to integrate the town's all-white schools. Her new book "On Juneteenth" examines the legacy of slavery and the struggles that remain to achieve racial equality.
Gordon-Reed's talk, Voting in Texas—156 Years of Struggle, will explore what happened after Black Texans got the right to vote on Juneteenth 1865, the denial of those rights during the South's period of redemption, and the fight for voting rights that still exists today.
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hard-won-not-done-voting-matters-tickets-164168184459?aff=ebdssbeac
SPECIAL GUESTS
EVENT MC: Mia Schultz, President of Rutland Area NAACP, the second-largest branch in New England. Mia is an educator, organizer, and problem-solver who is dedicated to working toward equity and inclusion in Vermont.
Speaker Melody Mackin (nee Walker Brook) addressing Native American Voting Rights. Former chair and vice chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, Walker was selected as one of USA Today's Most Influential Women of the Century in Vermont last year to commemorate the 19th Amendment Centennial Celebration.
Students Hussein Amuri and Tyler Hedding share their thoughts about voting rights as they read personal essays on the subject. Hussein, an immigrant and refugee, justifies why non-citizen voting should be adopted by every city in this country. Tyler supports passage of The For The People Act, a voting rights and government ethics bill currently stalled in Congress.
Nicole Nelson, Indie musician and recording artist. Crowned by the Burlington Free Press as "The Voice of Vermont," Nicole has received national acclaim. She founded the Vermont chapter of the Resistance Revival Chorus in response to ongoing racial injustices.
Cynthia Cagle, Latina artist and muralist. Watch the creation of Cynthia's latest work, a Voting Matters painting, as it comes to life during the event. Cynthia is known for exploring narratives of her Chicana identity through the use of many mediums, such as graphite, oil, acrylics, watercolors, chalks, clay, charcoal and ink.
Book Reading and Signing: Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier. 12:30 p.m.
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