Find Your Voice

A Reflection by Patricia L. Woehrlen

Recently, I suffered a loss of my voice, and in particular, my singing voice. When I sang in a choir, I occasionally experienced hoarseness and laryngitis. When my voice came back, I would joke, “my voice showed up.” In this recent bout, my voice has still not come back. Even trying to sing a few words will bring on coughing. And, since one of my favorite things to do is to sing, this loss has caused dismay and sadness.

As I have worked through this situation—having no voice, having some voice, getting to the point of being able to sing a few notes again—it has made me think about the different ways that we use our voice. And I found another consequence of losing my voice, that I could not make myself heard. Hannah Arendt put it this way:

In acting and speaking, [human beings] show who they are, reveal actively their unique personal identities and thus make their appearance in the human world, while their physical identities appear without any activity of their own in the unique shape of the body and sound of the voice. This disclosure of “who” in contradistinction to “what” somebody is—his qualities, gifts, talents, and shortcomings, which he may display or hide—is implicit in everything somebody says and does.

― Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

We use our voices to talk and to sing. We also use our voices to discuss, to argue, to communicate and bond with others. And for some, their voice is in their hands and face. We may join our voices with others or we may be the lone voice in the wilderness. Ultimately, it is with our voices that we strive to set limits--to declare this far, and no farther, to announce ourselves to the world, to proclaim what we believe. 

Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “public sphere,” as the place where words and deeds are placed before others, where decisions are made which determine how we shall live with each other is particularly relevant to the world that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others found themselves in

 In the 1800s, these women faced a world where they were treated as second class citizens. They could own nothing; they could not even claim rights to their children; and they could not vote. They could not make themselves heard or seen.

These women looked at their world and said no; this is not right. In essence they crashed the public sphere, the political sphere, so that they could enter the arena where decisions are made, particularly those that impacted themselves. Susan B. Anthony’s forceful words, “Forget conventionalisms; forget what the world thinks of you stepping out of your place; think your best thoughts, speak your best words, work your best works, looking to your own conscience for approval” were an invitation to women to enter public realm, to make themselves heard and seen. 

Voting is an activity that occurs in the public sphere. It is one of the citizenry’s principal methods of having their voices heard. Moreover, the rights of all are only protected to the extent that all have the right to vote. When Susan B. Anthony took the unheard step of voting in a presidential election, she was stepping into the public sphere.  Her actions and words took courage. She was arrested and given a fine, albeit one she did not pay. Anthony, Stanton and the other suffragettes knew they had to act without regard to public opinion.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton put it this way: “The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls[b2] .”. Susan B. Anthony and the other suffragettes faced scorn and contempt. 

We too cannot let fear rule us. The struggle for equality, for inclusion, is ongoing. The moment any person steps into the public sphere, they face the possibility of derision, anger, name-calling, hate, violence. Yet, throughout the country and the world, individuals are making their voices heard—in public protests, in meeting halls with state and congressional representatives, in running for open seats in Congress, in the courts, in social media, and even in newsletters.

Susan B. Anthony and her colleagues found that building community—joining with others for a common purpose—was the best way to build support for establishing women’s right to vote. Anthony, Cady Stanton and the others also realized that their strength and their power rested in the organizations they built. We too must find ways to build community, not only with the neighbor next door, but also the people around the world. As we find solidarity, allyship, community with others, our voices become stronger and louder.

As our foremothers have taught us, we must not be silent, we must make ourselves heard. And we must take a stand with and in our communities. Pachamama Alliance co-founder Lynne Twist stated: “When you take a stand, it actually does shift the whole universe and unexpected, unpredictable things happen.”

So, I commend you to this task: Find the words that only you can say. Find your community. Find your voice.