BCVoices Inc.

Thanks to your support, BC Voices’ Stand UP, Speak OUT Docuseries just won two awards from the Depth of Field Film Festival.

Both Reproductive Rights – Know Your Rights and the Stand UP, Speak OUT Docuseries Intro, 200+Years: American Women Fight and Rise were awarded Best of Show – Social Issues – United States.

Thank you for helping to make these films possible.

Sincerely,
The BC Voices Team:
Katherine Brewster, President
Vicki Breitbart
Kathy Galvin
Rhonda Nunn
Susan Shapiro Metz
Carol Santaniello Spencer
Cheryl Weiner

Once again, Stand UP, Speak OUT is being honored by film festivals across the country. Reproductive Rights: Know Your Rights was named Best Documentary by the Tarzana International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in the country.

Our film was also named Best Women Empowerment Short by both the San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival and the Austin International Arthouse Festival, and received an Award of Excellence Special Mention from the Impact Docs Awards. The iWomanTV/New York Women in Film and Television Online Shorts Festival gave it the awards for Best Producing and Best Film Editing – Documentary, and it was recently screened at the Studio City International Film Festival.

Experienced filmmakers commended our selection of archival clips spotlighting little-known women who championed the rights of women of color. Festival viewers told us they were surprised by how much they didn’t know about the history of reproductive rights. Viewing our film strengthened their determination to vote for candidates who support women’s rights in this election season.

We invite you to join them by watching the film on our website and making a donation to BC Voices so we can continue our important work.

On February 3, 1870, the United States took a monumental step toward equality by ratifying the 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, declaring that the right to vote “𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑑… 𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟,𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒.”

Created to ensure newly freed African American men had the right to vote, the 15th Amendment 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕. Many states in the North and South, including Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, quickly circumvented the Constitution, passing laws to strip African American men of the right to vote, requiring things like poll taxes, literacy tests, and enacting grandfather clauses.

When women gained the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment, Jim Crow laws across Southern states prevented Black women from exercising their right to vote. The struggle for voting rights persisted, culminating in the 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟓, which sought to eliminate discriminatory voting practices.

Yet, challenges remain. The 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, leading to the implementation of restrictive voter ID laws in several states, including Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Wisconsin. For women, who often change their names upon marriage or divorce and may not change their voter registration records, these exact-match ID laws are particularly onerous.

Today, approximately 𝟐𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧t 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐃, compared to about 𝟏𝟏% 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥.

As we reflect on the 𝟏𝟓𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 of the 15th Amendment, it’s crucial to recognize that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬. Organizations like 𝑽𝒐𝒕𝒆𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 play a vital role in assisting voters who face challenges due to restrictive ID laws. By supporting such efforts, we honor the legacy of those who fought tirelessly for equality and ensure that 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝.

Learn more in Episode 2, Voting Rights, of our award-winning docuseries Stand UP, Speak OUT: The Personal Politics of Women’s Rights.