Violence Transformed 2020 Library Series

19th Amendment and America's Unfinished Business

The year 2020 is a presidential election year and a year that marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States – the Amendment that granted American women the right to vote. While both the Amendment and the suffrage movement that led to its passage are worthy of celebration and commemoration, the reality of who it failed to benefit and the struggles for social justice, racial equity and voting rights that have continued throughout our nation’s history are also worthy of recognition and discussion -- as are the barriers and blockades to equal voice which persist today as Americans again prepare to vote.

The works of art on display at the Egleston Square Branch represent a range of issues of concern both to socially engaged artists and to citizens throughout the land. We invite you to think about how these issues affect you and, if you have the right to vote in 2020, how they may affect the action you take when you exercise that right. Many people in this country are still disenfranchised – i.e. the poor, the homeless, and always, the marginalized. So...do you have the right to vote? Will you vote here to share your concerns? If so, please drop your message in the Violence Transformed Voting Box and in November 2020, make your wishes known!