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(Photo courtesy Miami Dade College)
Miami Dade College (MDC) will illuminate its National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd., with the colors white, yellow and purple — the hues representative of the Women’s Suffrage Movement — at sunset on Wednesday, Aug. 26, in commemoration of 100 years of this historic milestone.
The Freedom Tower illumination is part of an initiative led by the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women, an advisory board to the county commission, county administration and the public at large about issues pertaining to the status of women. Established in 1971, the commission also advocates for women in the community and strives to improve their quality of life.
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on Aug 18, 1920 after a long struggle known as the Women’s Suffrage Movement, prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex.
Initially introduced in Congress in 1878, the amendment remained a controversial issue for more than 40 years, during which the women’s rights movement became strongly militant, conducting campaigns, demonstrations for congressional passage, and ratification by the states. This political action, reinforced by the service of women in industry during World War I, resulted in the adoption of the amendment.
While the 19th Amendment technically granted all women the right to vote, many sectors of the community, including people of Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian descend, often were denied citizenship, which prevented women from those ethnic groups from casting their vote. The struggle continues to this day with many Black women still facing significant challenges with disenfranchisement methods, such as poll taxes and literacy tests.
