The 34th Annual Women’s History Month Film Series
Our Vote: Women Who Fight for Our Rights
These extraordinary women pushed society to think bigger, change unfair norms and regulations, overcome barriers, break glass ceilings, and move forward.
This year’s Film Series focuses on women’s political power and what it takes to achieve it. Each film is followed by a guest speaker, who will discuss the film in the context of women’s social-justice advocacy, democratic processes, and laws which advance women’s political access nationally and worldwide.
Part of the OUR VOTE: History. Advocacy. Justice initiative currently taking place across the University of Delaware campus—commemorating the impact of suffrage and the fight to break down the barriers of access to political power.
Mondays, February 24 to March 23, 2020
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
004 Kirkbride Hall
February 24: Chisholm ‘72: Unbought and Unbossed
Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American congresswoman in 1968. Four years later, she became the first major-party black candidate—and second woman ever—to make a bid for the U.S. presidency.
Speaker: Cheryl Hicks, Department of Africana Studies and History, University of Delaware
March 2: Knock Down the House
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vielela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin had no political background or corporate money, but in 2018 they all challenged powerful male incumbents in Congress. Running together, as part of a rising movement, four ordinary women found the courage to do something extraordinary.
Speaker: Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, Delaware State Senate District 3
March 9: Sisters of ‘77
Twenty thousand politically engaged people gathered in Houston, Texas in 1977 for the first federally funded National Women’s Conference to end discrimination against women and fight for their equal rights. Resolutions on everything from sex discrimination to abortion on demand was debated and voted on over four feverish days.
Speaker: Erin Cassese, Department of Political Science, University of Delaware
March 16: They Dared
A history of Arab women who were tireless advocates and major activists for reform in their countries. Sharing a common goal of advancing gender equality and women’s rights, many of them persisted despite numerous social, cultural and political obstacles.
Speaker: They Dare Filmaker May Rihani, George and Lisa Zakhem Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace, University of Maryland
March 23: Councilwoman
Facing skeptics who say she doesn’t have the education to govern and the power of corporate interests who take a stand against her fight for a $15/hourly wage in the City, Carmen Castillo, a Dominican hotel housekeeper, ran for city council of Providence, R.I. She has to manage her day job cleaning hotel rooms while advocating for low-income workers as a rookie politician.
Speaker: Madinah Wilson, policy analyst at the Biden Institute and candidate for Delaware State Representative
This year’s series is co-sponsored by the University of Delaware departments of Africana Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Criminal Justice, Women & Gender Studies and the Islamic Studies Program; the Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events (CAPE); the Center for Black Culture; and the Library, Museums & Press.
All films are free and open to the public.
