Ellington

Unita Blackwell, internationally known voting rights activist and the state's first black female mayor, will headline a women's voter registration rally at the State Capitol Thursday, August 26--the 84th anniversary of women's right to vote. The event, scheduled for 11:30 in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, highlights a nation-wide effort to honor women who sacrificed for the right to vote in the early twentieth century and in the 1960s.

" We also hope to dramatize the immense political power women in this state and country hold," says JoAnne Prichard Morris, a rally organizer.

"In the 2000 presidential election, 22 million women in this country were not registered and did not to vote in the presidential election; in Mississippi only slightly more than one-half of all registered voters actually voted," Morris explains.

Humorist Joyce Thompson Isaacs will kick off the rally with a comedic performance as Ann Richards, former governor of Texas.

Others featured on the program are Tougaloo President, Beverly Hogan; State Senator Alice Hardin; women's rights activists Cora Norma and Cecilia Reese Bullock, and attorney Constance Slaughter-Harvey.

Applications and assistance for voter registration will be available.

Women for Kerry-Edwards are sponsoring the rally. They will provide educational materials on state and national women's issues.