We all know that talking about politics is a taboo subject, we should keep our opinions and political preferences to ourselves. One question I do know comes up a lot is the “are you going to vote?” question. At least among my community, this question is always being asked. Something I hear more often than not, is that some of the young people in my community are deciding to take a seat and not vote this election year. I feel like many young people take the right to vote for granted. In the past two presidential elections only half of young adults voted and that’s a fact.
Voting hasn’t always been a right that older people or non-white Americans had. It hasn’t always been a given for women. When the ratification of the 19th amendment happened on August 1920, that’s when everything changed for women and we were now eligible to vote. So why I’m I mentioning the 19th amendment, well because there are actually women that are alive today who were born before this amendment that gave women eligibility to vote.
Fast-forward ninety-six years, these women have reached another historical moment, they now can cast a ballot for the first female president! Not only are they 96 years young but these ladies are extremely excited for this moment in time.
So there’s this website that has gone viral and it’s called, “I waited 96 years!” This site basically started thanks to Facebook! We know that if you post something that will make you say “Awwww.” You’re probably getting a good amount of likes and shares. Sarah Benor, posted a Facebook photo of her 98-year-old grandmother, Estelle L. Schultz. The caption under the picture said “Estelle L. Schultz, who was born two years before women had the right to vote, marked her absentee ballot for the first female president, Hillary Clinton.” Of course this picture went viral and Sarah, decided to make a project out of it and that’s how the site, I waited 96 years! Happened.
I waited 96 years! Is taking submissions from other women who were born around the same time her grandmother was. If you do the math right, all the women being featured on the site are 96 years old and up. So far the site has been able to gather up 43 women and it features their stories on the subject, not only are they inspiring, but oh god they are adorable!
Here's what some these women had to say:
Katherine Blood Hoffman, 102
Lung Hsin Wu, 98
Margaret Thompson, 100
I waited 96 years! calls these women" Witnesses to a century of history, these voters are an essential reminder of our nation’s possibilities as we strive to form a more perfect union." If they don't melt your heart and make you think twice then you have no soul.... in all seriousness though.
Imagine that you were born during a time where your voice didn’t matter. To them, being able to vote in 2016, especially for Hillary Clinton, is a HUGE deal! To these women, voting for the democratic candidate, Clinton, is validating everything that women have fought over the last century!
Not only do I find this story to be inspiring, it reminds me how lucky I am to have the right to vote. America has been my home since the age of six and America’s future is important to me. For these women, this moment in time is just proof that all movements’ for women’s equality have actually mattered are now victories!
At this point everyone knows, or should know how important this election is. I just hope that my fellow young people, especially young ladies out there, snap out of it and vote. Just remember this hasn’t always been a given for us, now let’s make it count and don’t fuck it up, okay?!
