Conversations with a Suffragist September 18 & 19
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"Conversations with a Suffragist," two live performances featuring Megan Burnett, will be presented at the Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks at 3 p.m. on Wednesday September 18 and at the Box Factory for the Arts in St. Joseph at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday September 19. The performances are in celebration of 100 years of women's right to vote.
Tickets are $10 in advance, or $12 at the door, with limited seating for students at $5. VIP seating at $15 per ticket will be available for the Box Factory performance only. To purchase tickets online, visit the specific venue's website: vickerstheatre.com or boxfactoryforthearts.org. Or you can call
Judy Scully at 773-677-2528.
In her one-woman show, Burnett brings to life Mattie Griffith Browne, a 19th century Kentucky suffragist, abolitionist, and author. Born in Owensboro, KY to a slave-holding family, Browne was determined to free the slaves she inherited from her parents. As an adult, she wrote "Autobiography of a Female Slave" to raise money to free those slaves. She then turned her activism to suffragism and worked to obtain the right to vote for all citizens.
Burnett shares the basis for her portrayal of this little-known woman in the suffragette movement:
Mattie Griffith Browne continued to reinvent herself, regardless of the thoughts and pressures of others or society. She petitioned politicians to end slavery. She sought the right to vote for women as well as all freed slaves. She inspired respect from men and women working in the abolitionist and suffragist movements with her moral and patriotic convictions. She was a true agent of social change, and she is someone I have come to admire.
M
egan Burnett is the Theatre Program Director and Assistant Professor of theatre at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. She has taught acting and voice for Folger Shakespeare Library, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, University of Louisville, Eastern Kentucky University, Alice Lloyd College, and Spalding University.
Burnett will conduct a post-show discussion following each performance. For more information on Megan Burnett's performances, contact Judy Scully at
[email protected]
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If you already have tickets to "Conversations with a Suffragist," thank you! We sold more than 60 of them at LWVBCC's annual dinner meeting on June 12. That's a good start, but we need to sell 140 more. So spread the word about this live performance to your friends and family to help
make this an event that LWVBCC indeed can be proud of.
-- Judy Scully and Judy Sokolowski
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National Voter Registration Day
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LWVBCC will be one of many community organi-zations nationwide participating in National Voter Registration Day on September 24.
Thanks to amendments to the Michigan Constitution approved by voters last November, we now face fewer impediments to registration and voting than in the past. Nonetheless, that first step-registering-opens the door to full participation of the democratic process.
If you are interested in helping register voters on September 24, please contact LWVBCC voter services coordinator Mike McCaffrey:
[email protected].
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LWVBCC Book Group Meeting
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The next gathering of the LWVBCC book group will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, August 12 at the home of Emelie Shroder. This will be a planning session-with focus on selecting books for the coming months.
Please put the date on your calendar now and then, by at least Thursday August 8, either text (773-612-7411) or email Emelie ([email protected]) to let her know you plan to attend.
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LWVBCC Member on Splendid Table: "Limiting Food Waste"
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On May 31, LWVBCC member Abra Berens was featured on NPR's long-running cooking show, The Splendid Table.
With plenty of laughs along the way, Abra went through the host's refrigerator, offering tips on how to use food creatively rather than tossing it out because it may be past its prime.
Here's a link to a video of the show on YouTube.
Or you can listen to it online on NPR: episode 685 of The Splendid Table.
Abra also recently published a new cookbook:
Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables. That's a good subject for this time of year in Southwest Michigan. So thanks, Abra, for addressing subjects that are good for our environment and good for us.
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SCOTUS on Gerrymandering
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"The districting plans at issue here are highly partisan, by any measure," the U.S. Supreme Court observed on June 28 in Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek. Nonetheless, the Court, in a 5-4 decision, held that "partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts." Accordingly, it vacated the opinions of the lower courts (in North Carolina and Maryland) and remanded to dismiss the cases for lack of jurisdiction.
"Our conclusion does not condone excessive partisan gerrymandering," the Court said, noting that states "are actively addressing the issue on a number of fronts," specifically including Michigan voters' passing of an amendment to our state Constitution last November that puts future responsibility for redistricting in the hands of an independent commission.
That redistricting will come after the 2020 census. But the current gerrymandered map will remain in place for the 2020 election because the 6th Circuit's favorable decision in LWV Michigan et al v Benson on April 25 cannot be implemented in light of this decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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LWVBCC: Contact Us
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P.O. Box 1032
Niles, MI 49120
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