Jackson Free Press

Women are definitely doing it for themselves as Nov. 2 draws closer. Despite resistance by the governor's office, Mississippi Women for John Kerry pulled together a crowd of about 200 women (and men, including former Gov. William Winter) to rally in the capitol rotunda on Aug. 26 at 11:30 a.m. The rally was held on the 84th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Beverly Wade Hogan, the first female president of Tougaloo College, was the mistress of ceremonies. "We could first vote in 1920, and now we are the vote," Hogan said, firing up the crowd.

The program began with some Democratic humor from Joyce Thompson Isaacs, a yellow rose from Texas who now lives in Madison. "Our candidate is a member of the VFW, but poor George does not qualify because Alabama is not considered a foreign territory," Isaacs, a friend of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, said to laughs. (Bush reportedly worked on a political campaign in Alabama when he was supposed to be serving in the Texas Air National Guard.) She explained what should be done on Election Day: "Consider our program as an exit plan; if we don't vote, though, nothing will happen." Isaacs asked the audience of by-then-riled-up women about the economy. "Do you remember the word 'surplus'? Do you now what a mess we are in now?"

Barbara Blackmon, last election's Democratic candidate for Mississippi lieutenant governor, compared the limited resources of the women fighting 84 years ago to the broadened scope of opportunities available to women today. "Today, ladies, you are welcome to go door to door and get people out to the polls, today you are welcome to register people to vote, and today you are welcome to do everything possible to help elect John Kerry," Blackmon said to cheers.

Sen. Gloria Williamson, D-Neshoba, stepped in for Sen. Alice Harden, D-Hinds, who was ill. Williamson said that there is a great demand for female legislators in Mississippi. "We need your voice here at the capitol. There are only four women in the Senate and 23 in the House of Representatives," she said.

As a part of the organizing committee for the event, Williamson said it was not easy to book the rally in the capitol. "First, after the committee reserved the rotunda, I went back (to Capitol staff) to confirm, and they said we had no reservation," she said. There were more complications when the group asked for a podium and a microphone. "We were told that we could not use the governor's podium because it would appear that the governor was endorsing the event," she said. Williamson said that the group should have been provided with a podium from the capitol but, instead, had to rent the items.

The keynote speaker was Unita Blackwell, the first African-American female mayor in the state. As she spoke and made jokes, the women seemed to hang onto every word. "Our candidate is a fine man, isn't he? And tall, handsome, but more than that he is intelligent. He has a mind. I am worried about the mind in the country now; it's confused," Blackwell said.

Blackwell, who has been a part of the political arena since the Civil Rights Movement, said that she has been a lot of places and can say with authority that the United States is the best country. "So we need to keep it that way by sending the boy (Bush) home. Now don't feel bad about it. If we are Christian people, it is only right that we help a child that is confused. We should help him find his way home," she said.

The civil rights heroine, who worked alongside the now-deceased Fannie Lou Hamer, also touched on the economy, saying that Bush should count his own money at home and stop messing up the country's money. "If the president don't fit your pocketbook, send him home," she said. She told the women to treat Bush like a candidate for a job and tell him "don't call us, we'll call you."

Rally organizer JoAnne Prichard Morris, a JFP editor and columnist, was thrilled with the turnout. "It is important for women and men that came [to the rally] yesterday to see that there are strong women working for the purpose of improving this country."