What's in a Vote?

This weekend I saw Suffs at The Music Box in New York. Final events of the Summer Olympics in Paris – also live – included track and field relay races. Suffs is about women’s suffrage in the U.S. It is not comprehensive, of course, as it took many years before women of color in all states could vote. It was an intense, uphill battle for any females to legally vote in this country.       

Why did I think about relay events from my seat in the back of a dark theater? I was struck by the importance of the hand-off in group achievement. There were moments in the musical when heroes of the movement admitted their exhaustion. There were differences of opinion and conflicts in the face of an incredibly powerful opponent. I was reminded of the volunteers, patient organizations, certain policy-makers and individuals who spend incredible amounts of their time and energy working for access to necessary drugs in our era of monopolies and dizzying profits. 

Passing the baton happens in seconds, or years, or decades. We give each generation or teammate or fellow advocate their time to take it further. I want to honor all efforts for this access. It is very much like the right to vote. Depending on your illness or circumstance, it is about the right to breathe, to digest food, to not be in crushing pain, to move, to fight infection, to stop bleeding, to stop deadly allergic reactions.

I was pleased that Shaina Taub, creator of the musical, performed in the role of Alice Paul when I attended on August 10. A Broadway performance does not guarantee the cast for that night. This is part of the thrill. No live performance is identical.  

We cannot take our freedoms or accessibility for granted. We must contribute to the momentum for progress when we can, and to hand over decision-making when it makes sense. 

Cropped image is from the Suffs playbill cover.