Nearing the end of a momentos Summer 2020

John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era, Dies at 80 (on July 17, 2020)

Images of his beating at Selma shocked the nation and led to swift passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He was later called the conscience of the Congress.

More than a half-century later, after the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Mr. Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against police killings of Black people and, more broadly, against systemic racism in many corners of society. He saw those protests as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness (pancreatic cancer) had left him to watch from the sidelines. He was instrumental in passing the Voting Rights act of 1965.

Former President Barack Obama, said in his eulogy at the funeral of John Lewis — ("he was the first of the Freedom Riders, head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, youngest speaker at the March on Washington, leader of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Member of Congress representing the people of this state (Georgia) and this district for 33 years, mentor to young people, including me at the time, until his final day on this Earth — that he not only embraced that responsibility, but he made it his life’s work."

"(The Apostle) James wrote to the believers, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

"It is a great honor to be back in Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to pay my respects to perhaps his finest disciple — an American whose faith was tested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance — John Robert Lewis."

(for the full eulogy see: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/us/politics/john-lewis-funeral-barack-obama.html

(That this could be said of all of us as we face trials, including the challenges, repercussions, losses of this pandemic, racial violence or personal tragedies)

Lewis was instrumental in passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The fifteenth amendment to the U.S. constitution, ratifies Feb. 3,1870, prohibited any denial by nation or state of the right to vote (to males) on the basis of color, race, previous condition of servitude, but as we all know there was much obstruction, though illegal: literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation.

Many feel a new voting rights act is overdue. John Lewis discusses in June, 2020

Women also fought hard for the right to vote. In 1893, women in New Zealand could vote in parliamentary elections. Finland (then part of Russia) won universal and equal suffrage in 1906. 
The women below were arrested in 1917, at a college student protest in front of the White House. Lou Henry Hoover, Stanford University class of 1898, was a leader. She and others had voted in California state elections of 1914. She wished her A.B. in geology stood for "a boy", as so many opportunities were unavailable to women.

Women  (with a million signatures) protest in NYC in 1917
After a half century of effort and agitation, American women were given the right to vote, nationally, in 1920, with 19th amendment. However, male and female Native Americans could vote only in 1924, and Asian Americans in 1952.
It seems that war influenced voting and other rights for women in several countries:
Denmark & Iceland (1915); Russia (1917); Germany and U.K. (photo below, 1918)
Japan and France (1944); India: (1947). Some other voting rights for women gained: Brazil (1932); Turkey (1934); Greece (1952); Mexico and China (1953); Egypt (1956); Honduras(1955); Switzerland (1971); Iraq (1980); and finally Saudi Arabian women in 2015.

Centennial Celebration of Women's Suffrage: One (Wo)man, One Vote

 August 18 marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified, extending the right to vote to women in the U.S. The work was decades in the making, thanks in part to the dedication and perseverance of women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Paul. 

 

It is our right, duty, and privilege to vote responsibly and to allow and encourage all our fellow citizens to do so.

We all have women in our lives we honor, most are considered just ordinary, but what life is really ordinary?

 I was pleased to celebrate my Aunt Julie's 91st birthday with 3 of her 4 children, my cousins, their spouses and one grand-daughter in cousin Doug's garden in Napa, CA. (social distancing by households!). She has made the most of those years, among her many activities raising a wonderful family!

We all miss our grandparents' big beautiful home at Stanford (now the historical home belongs to the university and has been re-landscaped) where we cousins, aunts and uncles, kids, grand kids spent so many happy occasions, especially Thanksgiving. Aunt Julie was born in Switzerland while her father was on sabbatical, but this was her home. I also lived my first few years here.

Despite the lingering, even increasing Covid pandemic, I'm grateful for walks, bike rides, and small hikes at the baylands and Palo Alto's Foothills Park. Everything is dry, as we rarely get even one drop of rain from May to November.

Manzanita and madrone are abundant red-barked trees. 

The white line the other side of the bay is salt!

The park is rich in redwoods, oaks, cedar, madrone, bay, deodora, and other trees. Baby lizards and snakes, fish and birds enjoy the trails, as do we humans.

Picnic tables, bbq's and playgrounds are off limits still.

Schools throughout the U.S. (and the world) are debating the possibility/ wisdom of at-school versus online distance learning, or some modification. Palo Alto education will be online at all levels, at least this fall. All alternatives are challenging for teachers, kids and parents (especially those working from home). Let's wear masks and social distance and get this pandemic over with!

My best discovery of the week is the cello music of Croatian Stjepan Hauser. It is absolutely heavenly music...brings tears to my eyes. So many beautiful concerts. A tribute to the human spirit during these pandemic times.https://www.instagram.com/hausercello
https://www.facebook.com/hauserofficial  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4UrPsHO3g

How lucky we are to have the technology and many generous individuals and organizations that allow us during these challenging times to be inspired and entertained. Take advantage of the music, films, podcasts, etc. available to us!

I know this corona virus cannot last forever. If we learn the lessons of our requested/required sacrifices, discipline, and meet challenges with faith, goodwill and wisdom, we will have progressed as individuals and communities. Somehow we can recover our jobs, our education, our health. A big thank you to all who dedicate themselves to our well-being.