Celebrating 101 years of women voting
The American Association of University Women is celebrating Women’s Equality Day 2021, 101 years of women voting on Thursday, Aug. 26.
Women’s Equality Day marks the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Thousands of Women and their allies worked for decades to make that day in 1920 possible. The right to vote was a great step in women gaining equality…many of today’s elected leaders are sticking up for women and their rights. Because Hawaii was not yet a state, it could not vote for or against the 19th Amendment. On Aug. 18, 2020, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, making women’s suffrage legal in the United States. Hawaiian women became enfranchised along with their mainland sisters when the 19th Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution in August 1920. Hawaii sent a symbolic “ratification star” to the National Women’s Party in celebration.
AAUW have been empowering women since 1881, even before they could vote in the United States.
It is vitally important that we all commemorate this anniversary of Women’s right to vote and we ask citizens to take a moment to reflect that expanding the “right to vote” is fundamental for democracy.
Rosemarie Muller
Vice President League of Women Voters Hawaii and Director LWV Hawaii County AAUW Hawaii Public Policy
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Help appreciated
As many know, this pandemic has led to an increased desire to have more quality time outdoors with family and friends. This is a statewide issue, and we have seen this firsthand here at the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park, commonly referred to as OTEC. This is especially true at our Wawaloli Beach Park where for the past six months or so we have seen significantly increased numbers of the public using the beach park. At times it has been overwhelming, and we have tripled the number of staff hours dedicated to keeping the park and bathrooms clean and still cannot keep up.
State. Rep. Nicole Lowen recently arranged a meeting with Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth, Deputy Managing Director Bobby Command, and senior representatives from the Hawaii Police Department and state Department of Land and Natural Resources. I want to publicly thank them all for taking the time to discuss what can be done and coming up with a workable solution.
Most people want to abide by the rules and want to protect our resources, but they need someone to help them do that. In this regard, we have put up numerous new signs explaining the rules for our beach park. In addition, Roth agreed to have the police assign their officers to do a daily drive through at Wawaloli beach park to monitor the situation.
The results have been dramatic! We used to have gatherings of over 100 people, and this is no longer the case. Recently, we picked up two truckloads of trash one morning and last week we only had one-half truckload of rubbish. The Keahole Center for Sustainability has also arranged for student volunteers to do beach clean-ups. It just goes to show how much can be accomplished when we all care and work together to protect our precious natural resources. A big shout out to Lowen or Roth for their help and leadership!
Gregory Barbour
Executive Director
Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park
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