Ashland and Richland counties certainly aren't the first places you think of when you consider where a progressive candidate, who strongly advocates for women's rights, would have support, as both have voted heavily red in the past. But on a beautiful Sunday in north central Ohio, some truly empowered women gathered in two meetings in adjacent counties to talk about women's issues, commemorate the 160th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, and collectively devote their time and energy towards the candidacy of Barack.
Both forums were marked by their intimacy--by the opportunity for women to speak honestly about how they feel about the issues at hand, the election, and what they think they must do to move forward in the name of women.
In the picture from Ashland above, Louise, second from left, listens to Nikki talk, along with her daughter (next to her), Sandy (on the left), and Mary (second from right). Louise shared the story about how she wasn't very involved in the primary, but her son's enthusiasm for Barack drew her in for the general election.
Here, Kelly talks while Jean listens. Like a few of the women in attendance at these meetings, Jean was a Hillary-turned-Barack supporter. She spoke about how, being a butcher, in what is thought of as a "man's profession," she had to work hard to get equal pay as her male counterparts.
One town over, in Mansfield, in a spacious office, Field Director Jackie kicked off the meeting by telling her personal story and what this election means to her as a woman. Like in Ashland, those present watched a video, shared their own stories, and asked questions about what they could do to help the campaign.
Among those in attendance were Barbara and Emily, whose families' joint political involvement goes back generations. Barbara also was for Hillary in the primary, but has already started to canvas for Barack. Similarly, Carol, second from the far end, was initially resistant to doing voter contact, but has now become one of the staples of the volunteer effort in the area. Local Field Organizer Katie told about how Carol held a house party a couple weeks ago, and since then every single person who attended her meeting has come in to canvas for Barack. Talk about a success ratio!
And here is a shot from a Women to Women meeting in Alliance, OH.
And what better alliance is there than the one between Barack and strong, empowered, politically active women?
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