We Are Woman Rally

After a week of organizing pictures and video (not to mention getting sidetracked by the many "knowledge" bombs dropped on us this week by various members of the GOP), I finally have some coverage of the 8/18/12 We Are Woman Rally in Washington, DC. 

The mission of the rally was simple: demand an Equal Rights Amendment for women in the Constitution. The proposed ERA, first written in 1923, is the following:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Before you look at all the awesome pictures and videos from the rally, here is some history on the ERA, provided by equalrightsamendment.org:

"The ERA was introduced into every session of Congress between 1923 and 1972, when it was passed and sent to the states for ratification. The seven-year time limit in the ERA's proposing clause was extended by Congress to June 30, 1982, but at the deadline, the ERA had been ratified by 35 states, leaving it three states short of the 38 required for ratification. It has been reintroduced into every Congress since that time.

In the 110th Congress (2007 - 2008), the Equal Rights Amendment has been introduced as S.J. Res. 10 (Sen. Edward Kennedy, MA, lead sponsor) and H.J. Res. 40 (Rep. Carolyn Maloney, NY, lead sponsor). These bills impose no deadline on the ratification process in their proposing clauses. The ERA Task Force of the National Council of Women's Organizations supports these bills and urges groups and individuals to advocate for more co-sponsors and passage."

This history should humiliate each and every American who is not actively working toward the passage of such a fair, simple, and common-sense amendment. This is not politically divisive, or at least, it shouldn't be. It does not propose an increase in taxes. It does not declare gender or class or religious war. It does not proclaim women superior to men, nor does it promote the supposed goals of feminism declared by Pat Robertson, who described the feminist movement as "a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." That little gem will never cease to make me chuckle, and the delusions of an out of touch, over the hill, megalomaniac somehow do not seem to appear in the ERA. For all the success Pat Robertson has had in making predictions, maybe he should join the psychic hotline. Sorry, Pat, better luck next time. 

Can we all please pause for just a second to imagine Pat Robertson on a late night infomercial with Miss Cleo? If only I had paid more attention in my witchcraft class at the Hogwarts School of Feminism, maybe I would be able to magic such a delight upon us. 

Back to the ERA. As I explained in my last post, only 35 states have ratified the ERA, while the male version was passed 12 amendments and 142 years ago. I am not sure what we are still waiting for, and I welcome a rational explanation from anyone who can offer one. By failing to ratify the ERA, we are directly failing 50.7% of the population and indirectly failing the other 49.3%.

Now, for the fun stuff. Below are my pictures from the rally as well as 2 videos of speakers: Soraya Chemaly (feminist blogger for the Huffington Post) and Rev. Charles McKenzie (from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition). I highly recommend watching both--Ms. Chemaly delivered the same thoughtful, intelligent take on women and feminism that we have come to expect from her writing. Rev. McKenzie literally gave me goosebumps and made me wonder if I was watching the reincarnation of Dr. King. Enjoy!

Photo Gallery:

Rev. McKenzie:

Soraya Chemaly: