Western Roots

When I personally think about nonviolence, my mind drifts to thoughts of foreign countries and cultures, of people in far off places practices nonviolence, and how America should be more like these foreigners. However what I often forget is there have been an substantial amount of nonviolent movement in the western world that have shaped society as we know it today.
In class this Thursday we watch a documentary about the woman's rights movement. The film talked about how these brave women would stand for days sometimes even months in front of the White House and the Capital building, nonviolently sending there message to the law makers with picket lines and picket signs. The women of the movement used parades through the streets of America to inform and rally support for their cause. They would carry banners and sing slogans about the oppression President Wilson was placing on the women by not giving them the right to vote. These women fought with their words by creatively making the nation aware of the unfair treatment they were receiving, and that they were not going to stand for it anymore.
It took years and years of campaigning, marching, picketing, rallying, and much more to achieve their final goal. However the women of the west did it with out violence. Even when they were faced with violence, such as unlawfully being thrown in jail, or the police letting crowds throw things at them, they gracefully accepted what was being handed to them, and answered back with more nonviolent reaction, such as informing the public of what was being done to them. Being a woman I can especially appreciate what they went through to gives us such a fundamental right. However whether you can relate to the women of the movement or not everyone can clearly see that they were brilliant citizens who truly used nonviolence to achieve what they deserved.