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Dorothy Day's anarchism is the antidote to disappointing political system
Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. (CNS photo/courtesy Milwaukee Journal)
Brian Terrell | Apr. 19, 2016
"When one mentions Dorothy Day, one thinks automatically of the Catholic Worker Movement, the religious organization that she founded to help alleviate poverty and injustice. But few people know that Dorothy Day was also a committed suffragist who endured torture and mistreatment at the hands of the jailors in Occoquan Prison in Virginia after being arrested for picketing the White House." So said the Long Island Woman Suffrage Association when they proclaimed her "Suffragist of the Month."
Her arrest in 1917 with suffragists outside the White House and the brutal treatment she and others endured at the Occoquan workhouse -- it is reported that for her noncompliance Day was lifted and slammed down over an iron bench -- was a turning point in her own life as much as it was a turning point in the struggle for women's suffrage.
After the women went on a hunger strike of 10 days, President Woodrow Wilson personally ordered their release and subsequently announced his support for the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, which was passed by Congress less than two years later.
In recent years, the heroism and sacrifice of these courageous women have been featured in documentary films, books and countless articles. Their memories are especially invoked during the run ups to presidential elections to encourage voter turnout. One article from 2012, "Lucy Burns, A Look at a Catholic American Suffragette," by Michele Stopera Freyhauf, cites Day's contributions to the struggle and insists that "it is imperative for all women to make their voices heard this year by casting a vote. To turn a blind eye to these issues diminishes the sacrifices our foremothers made for us. To not cast a vote takes away your voice, makes you a silent bystander."
http://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/dorothy-days-anarchism-antidote-disappointing-political-system
http://www.catholicworker.org/
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Dorothy Day's anarchism is the antidote to disappointing political system (Original Post)
rug
Apr 2016
OP
mmonk
(52,589 posts)1. Her grand daughter recently spoke at my
church, St Francis of Assisi in Raleigh.
rug
(82,333 posts)2. I understand she grew up close to the Catholic Worker Movement.
Sounds like a good event to be at.
mmonk
(52,589 posts)3. There is a video of it. I'll try to find it and post it.
rug
(82,333 posts)4. I look forward to it.
Thanks!
I wish my parish had a Justice and Peace Office.