Kevin Munoz

Since the 1900s, women had been denied the rightful act of having a role in voting and in society. In the last century, women have closed the gap between men and women obtaining a voice in this society. In my family, I am aware that my older sister has been voting and having a space in her community. 

Prior to voting, my older sister wasn't allowed to vote as she wasn't a permanent full resident yet since she wasn't born here. My sister would constantly travel across the border to visit her other side of the family. At one point, she was exhausted of the traveling she did, so she applied for residency. She knew it wouldn't be easy, so she worked hard to have a financially stable life to be able to get through it. My parents helped her out through the process. The rights that came with becoming a citizen weren't part of the plan for my sister. Her goal at the time was to get settled and begin a new life with fresh opportunities for success. For over 5 years, my parents struggled to maintain stability and help my sister out. Obviously, my childhood was affected and led to spending less for our family. Throughout all that, there was a constant fear for my sister, of getting her chance to become a citizen thrown down the drain with any mistake she committed. With the support of my parents and faith, my sister was eventually granted residency. Since that day, my sister has been voting and helping my parents pull through out of tough situations. We went from barely spending any money to wasting on more fast food, video games, and just spoiling me and my brothers. My sister's patience and determination has really shown. Up to current day, she resides in San Antonio, where she has built a life for her and the family she and her husband have created.

Over the generations, there has been several movements that have led to the current state of women's rights. There was a period where they were considered less valuable than a slave or even a homeless person. Changes had to be made, thus started the significant and revolutionary movement to acquire rights for a woman. In this situation, there's the courageous Harriet Tubman who was considered an American abolitionist and a political activist. Her actions are most famous for contributing to the escape of hundreds of slaves through the use of the underground railroad; she fought for the freedom and came to be an iconic role model for the people of future generations.

 Her birth name is Araminta Ross, but she changed it to Harriet later throughout her life. As far as her birth day goes, there has been several speculations due to the reason her gravestone cites 1815 as her birth year. However, other people believe she was born in 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Harriet was born into slavery in a plantation along with 6 other family members that were separated to different areas. Her mother served as a cook for the slave owners Joseph and Mary Pattinson Brodess. Mary married another plantation owner and merged the land they had which included the slaves. At the age of 5, an end was put to Harriet's childhood as she began to work as a babysitter. Every time the baby she would take care of cried, she would get whipped and severely hurt enough to mark the scars around her neck for life. Her childhood was full of punishments and constant work for an infant to indulge at such a young age. Time passed and Harriet grew up to marry a free black man in 1844 that went by the name of John Tubman. In 1849, Harriet overheard news of being sold, so one night she came to the decision she had to escape. With the help of a white woman who was a Quaker, she followed the North Star over night to avoid being captured and soon enough she made her way to Philadelphia.

For a year, Harriet worked to save up money and returned to Maryland for her siblings. Now, most people are influenced by their morals to act upon certain situations. As far as Harriet Tubman goes, she had been religious and was the roots of her determination to keep returning to Maryland to free the slaves and guide them to the North.  Every trip that she made had a different technique to avoid capture such as using the master's horse and buggy for the very first trips. Other methods included using drugs to keep a baby quiet and prevent noises from being startled. Furthermore, she would free slaves on a Saturday since runaways couldn't be placed on newspapers until the morning of that upcoming Monday. By 1860, Harriet had been known to have made 19 challenging returns to free slaves after slaves. Her heroic journeys gave her the nickname of “Moses” to her people. Nonetheless, Harriet continued to help the anti-slavery forces.

During the Civil War, Tubman was useful as a nurse, cook, spy and scout which contributed for the most part. With the experience she had acquired with the Underground Railroad, Tubman was able to aid because she knew the land more than others. She recruited a group of former slaves to hunt down rebel camps and report the movements of the opposing side. As a woman suffragette, Harriet helped impact the lives of other people to fight for their freedom and take the freedom and rights they deserve. With her contributions, she was aware of being a role model and setting an example of how a woman is no different than a man. Her influential actions had a meaningful sacrifice; this was the freedom and her life. She was selfless and as a result freed and had a role in ending slavery.

Overall, Harriet Tubman was the role model that future generations needed to fight for equality and rights. She was one of the building blocks to the current state of women and the end of slavery. As her gravestone states, “Servant of God, Well Done.”

Many people have reflected on the situation my sister endured. My reflection on all of this has been that I never realized the struggle for my older sister. All she wanted was to be able to live with her other family, and in the long process got the right to vote. She went from living in Mexico with a rough life, to entering a new atmosphere that presented her with endless possibilities of success. This has also made me realize that all over the United States, there are women that have struggled the same way, if not harder to obtain the same rights my sister was granted. They all want to make an improvement in their life, even if it takes a long time. In fact, anyone who is committed enough to helping and serving this country should be able to vote. You must speak up as the women did so a century ago. Every year, it is said that less people are voting, and this means that the United States isn't moving in the right direction. Fight for your rights, and vote because there are hundreds of people that wish they had the chance to do so.