I'll admit it, I learned a lot of political science watching Saturday morning cartoons. I was addicted to Schoolhouse Rock and the ones on government were my favorites. I can still recite the preamble to the Constitution. Those cartoons may explain why I majored in Political Science in college. One was my very favorite. Yes, even as a child I was a bit of a feminist and so my favorite was one called "Sufferin' for Suffrage". It still amazes me today.
This year we have an historic election. We will either have the first African-American President (because his father was African and his mother American) or the first female Vice President (because she has two X chromosomes.) But what has always amazed me is that African-American men have have the right to vote in this country longer than women of any race. Fifty years before women got the right to vote.
My paternal grandmother was in that first generation of women who got to vote (she turned 18 in 1921). She told me her father told her she had to be a Republican and told her how she needed to vote. But anyone who knew my Grandma Charlotte would tell you that nobody told her what to do. So she said "Yes, Father" and then voted the way she wanted to once she got inside the polling booth. I come from a long line of independent women (Charlotte's mother sold cakes in a section of the general store in Madera, California at the turn of the century. Hmm, maybe that's where my baking skills come from.) Thanks to the suffragettes who came before her, I too will get my turn in the polling booth. So to honor our historic past, present and future, here is my favorite Schoolhouse Rock. (Next week we'll learn to not drown our food!)
1 comment:
Oh man! I hadn't thought about Schoolhouse Rock in AGES. I don't recall the suffragettes one, though. But it was fun to watch now. And I, too, learned the preamble during Saturday morning cartoons. That was one of my favorites. I also liked "I'm Just a Bill on Capitol Hill." But my all time favorite was Conjuntion Junction. Ever since I saw that one as a kid and right up to the present time, the chorus of that one pops into my head at random moments. The preamble one does too, sometimes, but not as often as the conjunction one.
I guess they've stopped showing that anymore. It's a shame. They really were informative and kids had fun with it. They had math ones, too, didn't they? They should bring something like that back. Kids are sponges. Make it fun and they'll learn anything.
Anyway, thanks for a fun trip down Memory Lane!
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