At the end of the trip last week, I’d ask asked my companions what stood out for them in Hooligans and Convicts. Inspiring was the term they’d most often used to describe the play.
One standout was a scene describing the use of hunger strikes by imprisoned suffrage activists and the forced feedings was particularly well done. It was not presented gratuitously or graphically, but both made clear the political logic of the protest and the horror of force feeding. The latter has a special resonance with me, going back to a surgery nearly a decade and a half ago. In my case the purpose was not nutrition so there were no dubious meals to face, but believe me when I say that even in a cooperative and caring environment having a tube down one’s throat is no picnic. In her case, she judged that the British authorities would let her weaken but not die in custody, and then seek to re-arrest her once she gained sufficient strength.
My companions also raised the nature of the disagreements amongst the civil rights leaders. Their efforts were united at the Seneca Falls convention, but as depicted, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wanted Frederick Douglass to delay or oppose the 15th amendment unless women were included in the expansion of the franchise, where he naturally cited the urgency for the African American community and in this portrayal noted that while white women could at least hope to influence partners, women in Black families had no representation whatsoever. Later the 19th amendment passes without provisions against poll taxes and measures to preclude Black women and alongside President Wilson’s backsliding on race. The play addresses this by telling some of the story of Mary Church Terrell and others that fought to make sure all female citizens could vote. The messiness and partial victories are important for an honest depiction of history, and I think they do help ground the nature of progress and show the way people kept fighting even when their part of a broader coalition was neglected.
The debates and speeches excerpted also brought a fresh appreciation of the incisive and clever responses and statements made by the women as they were challenged and told to keep their place. One particular way I feel inspired is to want to engage more with the primary sources and learn more of the figures myself and to bring a similar mindset when facing the challenging problems both within our nation and abroad.
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