BRITT KENNERLY

Kennerly: Women On 20s campaign arrives at White House

Britt Kennerly FLORIDA TODAY

Earlier this year, I wrote about the Women On 20s movement, a campaign to replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with an influential American woman.

I was proud that FLORIDA TODAY was among the first U.S. publications to share word about the online-based project, and that we got some positive feedback.

But as you well know, countless Americans don't like change unless it's the coin kind. And though Jackson hated the central banking system, was not a fan of paper currency and probably would jump off that bill if he could, feedback was swift, here and nationwide.

One man did not like the idea of a "little girl" telling FLORIDA TODAY readers we need a woman on currency and that "Andrew Jackson was no more a slave owner than a lot of people back then." Since I hadn't brought up Jackson being a slave owner, and I am not a little girl, I did not call the man back.

In our Facebook comment section, another man, along with snide comments, insulted my hair. In my defense, on the day that picture was taken, I had just come in out of the heat and told a photographer that a picture had to be taken for a column I'd written. Believe me, I've looked worse.

As the campaign progressed, naysayers chimed in about how there was no need to replace Jackson because women were already on coins that flopped. I admit, I became disheartened.

It got to a point where, when I read national stories about the vote, I eschewed comment sections rather than subject myself to messages tinged with racism, misogynism and flat-out hate.

I recalled asking Susan Ades Stone, Women on 20s' executive director, what it says about the state of gender equality that in 2015, such a campaign would be necessary.

"Well over 100 years ago when Susan B. Anthony said, 'The day may be approaching when the whole world will recognize woman as the equal of man,' could she have imagined that here we'd be in 2015 America, still paying women 77 cents on the dollar with bills bearing only men's faces? I don't think so," Ades Stone said.

But week by week, happily, positive remarks came in from around the globe. TV interviews featured young women for whom the idea that a woman can't do, well, anything, is foreign. I got energized again.

A slate of 15 famed women was narrowed to four finalists. More than 600,000 votes came in over 10 weeks, with abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman ultimately taking top honors. Tubman slid past first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights icon Rosa Parks and Wilma Mankiller, the first female Cherokee chief.

Then, on May 12, Women On 20s presented a petition to President Obama, asking him to instruct Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew to exercise his authority and make the change. The goal is to get a woman on the $20 bill by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.

The president and Lew could make this happen without congressional approval. That's exciting, because if it were up to Congress to decide if a woman graced paper money, we'd likely be using cyberfunds embedded in chips in our fingernails before it reached consensus.

The folks at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, my former home, are charged up, too.

"We're very excited to see that Harriet Tubman was selected as the possible new face of the $20 bill," said Susan Redman-Rengstorf, vice president of institutional advancement.

"The legacy of Harriet Tubman, in abolition and civil rights, has inspired generations of Americans. We believe that this honor will continue the ongoing conversation to educate and inspire women to follow in her footsteps and be advocates for freedom and equality everywhere."

An incredible, anti-slavery activist on bills used daily, rather than a man who is the face of the Indian Removal Act of 1830? Count me in.

You can join the virtual march to the White House with me, to share your thoughts with the president, by clicking here. Send tweets to @POTUS with the hashtag #DearMrPresident. Or keep up with the progress at WomenOn20s.org, too.

Oh, and so we're clear, I still haven't gotten a new photo of myself for this column.

I could, at any time.

But right now, I'd rather do whatever I can to see that Harriet Tubman's face goes on that $20 bill.

And maybe I'll just keep the old one to remind me of what's really important.

Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @bybrittkennerly or at Facebook.com/bybrittkennerly.