““Suffragists in Los Angeles were holding a public rally. Police informed the women that ‘votes for women’ speeches were prohibited at the rally; to circumvent the ordinance, the suffragists set those suffrage speeches to music and sang their message instead. ”
Dear Friends,
It’s Women’s History Month!
The above quote appears in an article entitled “Music in the Women’s Suffrage Movement”. On June 15, 1911, the The New York Times published a story about suffragists in Los Angeles who were prohibited from giving illegal “votes for women” speeches, and about the creative way these tough-minded women got around it through music. It is fascinating and I urge you to check it out. It really does confirm what we know about the importance of music in any movement.
Many of my own political transformations, from the Civil Rights movement to the Vietnam war to the MeToo movement, have come about and been empowered by music. It’s also been my primary tool as I seek to touch hearts and minds through my songs. Music does heal. And music empowers.
There’s a lot going on in the next month or so for me. In addition to my regular Skagit Hospice patients each week. . .
Saturday, March 16: “Heartsongs: A ‘Her’storical Perspective”, led by Robin Bailey. I’ll be adding songs to this interactive workshop, at the YWCA in Bellingham.
Friday through Sunday, March 22 – 24: “Singtime Frolics”. This is a folk music camp, with lots of singing! I’ll be guest artist, with a mini-concert and two workshops. Registration by March 8th!
Saturday April 13th, at 7:00 PM: We’ll be doing a fundraiser for the Bellingham Food Bank. An interesting fact I learned today from a person at WECU, is that for every $10 you give to the Food Bank, you provide approximately $100 in food to someone in need.
I’ll be talking more about this in my next newsletter, but please mark Saturday, April 13th on your calendar. In addition to being a fundraiser, it’s also benefit/CD Release celebration and commemoration of my half century as a working musician. It’ll be a couple of hours of food, conversation, great music and lots of fun. I hope to see you there.
Since launching my new website on Christmas Day, we are constantly infusing it with new information, resources, and timely content! You can now get free, down-loadable, traditional Suffrage songs that were recorded by Kristin and me on the CD, “Failure is Impossible”. For a growing list of songs and resources about Suffrage and women’s history, please check out my “Celebrating Women’s Suffrage” page. Also, I’ve added a collection of beautiful new suffrage cards created by Meneese Wall. These are now available in our store.
May you find the song in your heart that needs singing. Failure is Impossible!
Linda