Following the Lead of Mary Eliza Church Terrell

In this Women’s History month, we honor suffragette and civil rights activist Mary Eliza Church Terrell, who used her passion and talent to stand up to injustice. She believed in ending racial discrimination by lifting up the black community through education, work, and community activism. Her belief in the expansion of voting rights led to her activity in suffrage organizations like the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

Mary Church Terrell was an incredibly brave woman who dedicated her life to woman’s suffrage. She led the women of Howard University’s Delta Sigma Theta Sorority at a NAWSA rally in 1913 and picketed the Wilson White House with members of the National Women’s Party. Terrell showed that our strength comes from our work with others and our dedication to making sure no one is left behind.

Terrell sought to raise black voices in the women’s suffrage movement. She was one a just a few African American women allowed at attended NAWSA meetings and in 1898 gave an address called “The Progress of Colored Women” to call for NAWSA to flight for black women. She set an incredible example to hold each other accountable, and reminds us that working together with progressive movements makes us more successful.

Terrell’s work to advocate for the advancement of everyone and her dedication to the idea that if one of us succeeds, we all succeed, reminds us to lift up one another. Rideshare2Vote strives to carry on that mission of equality through the work we do to expand voter access and to support all marginalized communities.