VIDEO: “Your Voice, Your Vote” by Martha Burk, featured on Suffrage Wagon Bookshelf on Vimeo.

“Your Voice, Your Vote” by Martha Burk is a must-have reference for the modern voter. Any book that features the 1848 Seneca Falls women’s rights convention in the first chapter has my attention from the start. Burk makes it clear that the past, present and future are all related. If this seems like common sense, it’s worth repeating. More often than not, the foundations of today’s struggles for equality and human rights are forgotten or marginalized.

No matter what you’re interested in, Burk has a chapter on the subject that includes an overview and action guide. The book’s subhead “The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Power, Politics, and the Change We Need” puts the topic of voting rights in perspective and where American women stand on a long list of issues. What’s at stake in 2015 and 2016 elections is at the top of the list.

Women have the advantage today in terms of numbers at the polling place. How does this translate to putting the nation’s policymakers’ feet to the fire? Well, that’s a different matter. Burk spares no words when it comes to the economy, taxes, Social Security, health care, reproductive rights, violence against women, education, child care, long-term care, lesbian and gay civil rights, global women’s issues, and more. And it all adds up to the utter importance of modern women voters being informed and taking action through the electoral process.

The author drives home the point that American women have no rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. This is what’s behind all the legislation intended to strip women of rights and liberties, she emphasizes. And so there’s a national campaign to revive the Equal Rights Amendment underway at the local, state and national levels.

Order Martha Burk’s book, and make it your business to support the ERA, a guarantee that Susan B. Anthony herself visualized. It’s worth saying this again: the book, “Your Voice, Your Vote” by Martha Burk is the missing ingredient when it comes to linking our past with the present and future. The potential needs to be realized and Burk tells us how. She also has a syndicated interview program, “Equal Time,” that’s excellent. Treat yourself during Women’s History Month in March.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS: The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial has moved forward in its campaign to raise money for the national suffragist memorial. Check out the video and news.

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