Voices in the Media

Lift every voice and sing.Lift every voice and sing. Lift every voice and sing. This is the song that Black Americans cry and rejoice to during our moments of tears, oppression and rejection. We are being plagued by two viruses in this country: COVID-19 and racism. To conclude, Black people are disproportionately affected by both. As we lift our voices, we are constantly left with a shhh to quiet our songs of freedom. The Declaration of Independence states three unalienable rights in which we are givenlife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Innocent Black Americans are dying from brutal murders at the hands of oppression. Where is our right to live? The system is set up for us to fail and for others to move ahead. Where is our liberty? Black people and black culture alike are shamed, mocked and used as a source of commodity. Where can we get this pursuit of happiness? We are tired. And we have been tired since our ancestors were forced against their will. Juneteenth should not

At Larkin street a crowd of women came in. They were on their way to the Women's Congress. All kinds and degrees of women. They filled hall and balcony; they stood against the walls, and, standing, filled the aisles. They were enthusiastic and hopeful and full of excitement. But the most striking thing about this woman's convention is the spirit of camaraderie it fosters. They have learned how to disagree without quarreling, and they are willing to admit that there are two sides to a question and an infinite number of points of view. So began an article about the California Women's  Congress on May 21, 1895 by Miriam Michelson, my great-great aunt and a prominent reporter for the San Francisco Call. Aunt Miriam and othergirl reporters of her day relentlessly kept the suffrage cause in the headlines, thereby both informing women about the movement and where they could go to gather with it, and emphasizing the importance of the giving women the right to vote. These brave f