League of Women Voters of White Plains Celebrates Harriet Tubman with Voter Registration Drives
As the city of White Plains plays hosts the inspiring statue Harriet Tubman: The Journey to Freedom, we are proud to announce that the League of Women Voters of White Plains, the NAACP of White Plains/Greenburgh, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority will partner on a series of voter registration/voter education drives.
Register to vote, pick up a form to request an absentee ballot, get a calendar of important election dates, check your voter registration, and, with the recent redistricting you’ll be able to find out your New York State senate and assembly districts and your U.S. Congressional District. We urge you to look for our tables and volunteers at the following White Plains events.
- Saturday May 21 prior to an outdoor movie presentation of Harriet on Court Street.
- Saturday June 11 during the Juneteenth Parade along Mamaroneck Avenue and during the Juneteenth Fair on Court Street.
- Wednesday June 22 prior to an outdoor Tribute to Harriet Tubman music concert on Renaissance Plaza.
The mission of the League of Women Voters is to promote VOTING by every eligible person. The League believes “Every Vote Counts.” Your Vote matters.
League of Women Voters of White Plains president, Stephen Cohen, said, “It is a privilege and honor for us to come together to commemorate the life of Harriet Tubman during this critical time for Voting.”
For further information contact: Stephen Cohen, lwvwp.president [at] gmail.com (subject: Question%20about%20Tubman%20Voter%20Registration%20Drives)
Harriet Tubman and the Struggle for Universal Suffrage—the Tie That Binds
What lessons can we, people in communities near and far, learn from the life of Harriet Tubman (born 1822) in 2022 to make life fairer for all of us?
From her enslavement to her freedom; from segregation to ‘conductor of the Underground Railroad’ leading enslaved people to freedom.
From prohibitions to learning to read, to delivering powerful speeches to advance the rights of the disenfranchised, in the South, in Seneca Falls and, Auburn New York where she settled; to soldier-spy in the U.S. Union Army, and more.
Harriet Tubman and her family were enslaved at birth. They suffered the trauma of this imposed condition. Harriet escaped. Later, she fled farther North to Canada. Wanting to free other enslaved people, she returned South several times to lead a least 140 of them on the ‘underground railroad’ to that country.
Around this time, the Suffrage Movement was gaining traction.
Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both suffragettes, and Frederick Douglass, who fled enslavement and became an influential orator for abolitionist causes, and Harriet Tubman were all working to promote Voting Rights—for women, and for previously enslaved people.
Harriet understood that Suffrage was key to freedom. So, she purposely joined the women’s movement which was struggling, and fighting for Women’s Right to Vote. She reasoned that freedom, meant freedom in every sphere of life, e.g., economic power, education, and Voting Rights.
