Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance
It's Time to Write Women Into the Constitution!
1. ELIGIBILITY: Any Individual Member or designated representative of Lead Organizations who is in good standing according to the Bylaws, (Article IV, Section 5. – GOOD STANDING) may be eligible to be nominated for election as an Officer or Director of the Board. This means the member must meet all membership eligibility requirements and be duly registered by the Alliance.
We call them the committees where bills are sent to die. Hundreds of bills are sitting in these committees, including the bills to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Call these committee members and tell them to vote in favor of moving the bill out for a floor vote!
HB8, NC Adopt ERA is in the House Rules Committee.
August 26th is typically when we commemorate the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That was the date it was formally published to the Bill of Rights in 1920. However, we recognize that simply achieving the right to vote was not enough to ensure that women have equal protection under the Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1923, and is still not part of the Bill of Rights, even after Virginia became the 38th and final necessary state to ratify in January, 2020. That’s why we’re calling this August 26th Women’s (IN)Equality Day!
Several members of the ERA-NC Alliance attended the ongoing protest at the U.S. Department of Justice to encourage Attorney General Merrick Garland to remove former AG Bill Barr’s memo blocking the national archivist from publishing the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Here are a few photos from our days standing sentinel at the DOJ:
ERA-NC Alliance to stand vigil June 29-30 in D.C.
to protest AG Garland’s inaction on women’s rights
Washington, D.C. — Frustrated by Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden’s inaction on the long-awaited Equal Rights Amendment, members of the ERA-NC Alliance will stand vigil June 29 and 30 as Silent Sentinels outside the Department of Justice in protest. National organizers Equal Means Equal, which began the vigil June 10, have vowed to continue until Garland and Biden act on the ERA. Advocates nationwide have joined the vigil.
Garland has failed to order National Archivist David Ferriero to accept Virginia’s ratification of the ERA and to publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The ERA-NC Alliance is celebrating the bipartisan U.S. House vote today at 1:58 p.m. on House Joint Resolution 17 to lift the arbitrary time limit on the Equal Rights Amendment. The final vote was 222 to 204, with four Republicans and 218 Democrats voting yes. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to take up the companion bill, Senate Joint Resolution 1.
It’s precinct meeting time! Here is a non-partisan resolution in support of North Carolina’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment for you to use this to introduce at your precinct meetings toward getting the Equal Rights Amendment into your party’s platform. You can also download the resolution here.
A Resolution Calling for Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (2022)
WHEREAS, women, who constitute over 51% of the population of North Carolina (N.C.), play an essential and irreplaceable role in society, contributing to our economy and advancing our nation in both public and private realms; and
March is Women’s History Month – or as we like to call it, Women’s Herstory Month. This year, 100+ years after women won the right to vote, the ERA-NC Alliance is hopeful to finally see the ERA published as the 28th Amendment. And it took a lot of women, and men, many years to make this happen. In honor of Women’s Herstory Month, the Alliance would like to honor those N.C. women who made a difference in YOUR life – whether as an equality warrior or a teacher or an activist or even your BFF – whoever they are, you want the world to know they made a positive difference in your life. We plan to post their photos – or their names – on our Facebook, Instagram and right here on our website throughout March for a small donation. Suggested donation is $28 in honor of the 28th Amendment. Your donation will fund our efforts towards ratification in NC.
Join us on February 16th at 12:30 to learn about the inequities facing N.C. women, particularly women of color, both before and during the pandemic. The presentation by Executive Director, Mary Williams Stover, will focus on the research by the N.C. Council for Women highlighting the income, health issues and political participation inequality that has plagued N.C. women as well as their challenges during the pandemic. After the presentation, there will be a short Q & A featuring Mary Williams Stover, Adrienne Spinner and Sadie Blue as well as representatives from the ERA-NC Alliance.
Bills have been filed in both the House and Senate on January 27th for the state to ratify the amendment!
HOUSE BILL 8: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/H8
SENATE BILL 15: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/S15
Please call or email your legislators right away! There’s a very short window for them to co-sponsor the bill: just 24 hours in the Senate and 48 in the House.