April Young Bennett – Ask a Suffragist

April Young Bennett – Ask a Suffragist

Aired Wednesday, 29 May 2019, 8:00 PM ET

Tuesday, June 4th, will mark the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment, which was ratified on August 18th, 1920, granted women (but not all women) the right to vote. This right was called “women’s suffrage.” It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1965 that all women, including African American women in many parts of the south and many indigenous women, finally achieved this right. Today, nearly 200 years after women began speaking out for equality, we still find a society where many women are struggling for their rights, are often met with sexism and misogyny and still find the proverbial “glass ceiling” inhibiting their full pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Are their lessons that women of the 21st century can learn from the original suffragists of the 19th century? Can examining their struggle offer new inspiration for today’s women and also open the hearts and minds of men?

My guest this week on Destination Unlimited, April Young Bennett, did just that. April Young Bennett began studying the lives of suffragists to inform her own activism. As Communications Director for Voices for Utah Children, she worked within nationwide networks of advocates for changes to state and federal policies affecting children and parents such as pay equity, healthcare, education and juvenile justice. April Young Bennett was a founding organizer and spokesperson for the activist group Ordain Women, which has been featured in respected news outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Ordain Women collaborates with the Women’s Ordination Conference (Catholic), Ordain Women Now (Lutheran), Women of the Wall (Jewish), the Parliament of World Religions Women’s Task Force and other networks of religious feminists. April produces and hosts the Religious Feminism Podcast, which provides a forum for feminists across a variety of faith communities and secular feminist organizations to learn about each other and work together toward common goals. She blogs about Mormon feminism at the-exponent.com, which averages 40,000 unique visitors per month. She joins me this week to discuss her new book, Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from America’s First Feminists.