Back in the day, women did not have as many rights as we do today. One of the rights that we have today is that we can vote. Only men were allowed and in 1897, a group of women wanted to change this. The group of women were called the Suffragettes.
Millicent Fawcett founded the National of Women's Suffrage. The word "suffrage" means the right to vote. Millicent did not believe in violence and protested with patience and logical arguements. In 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst. They were tired of being patience and started using violence to get what they wanted.
The Suffragettes thought it was important to speak up about what they thought was right. Melinda needed to speak up about what happened. They fought for what was right and were victorious in the end. At the end of Speak, Melinda fought Andy Evans and spoke up. In that way, Melinda was like the Suffragettes and shows it's important to speak up.