The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women’s constitutional right to vote. But how far have we really come?
The answer, according to law professor and constitutional law expert Julie C. Suk, is “so close and yet so very far.” Join the discussion on our Facebook page as Maryana F. Iskander (CEO, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator) and Sara Berliner (Founder, Vote Like a Mother) interview Suk about her new book, We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment.
After the adoption and ratification of the 19th Amendment, a bold group of women proposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA was adopted by Congress nearly 50 years later, but failed to achieve ratification by the requisite number of states before the deadline. And now, 38 years later, Virginia became the final state needed to ratify the amendment.
Why did the ERA take so long? Is it too late to add it to the Constitution? And what could it do for women?
In We the Women, Suk follows the rise of the ERA and details why constitutional change is still needed today. Despite significant gains, the fight for women’s equality has forgotten the needs of working mothers and their children. Using fascinating cases throughout history, Suk explains hot-button issues such as pregnancy discrimination, violence against women, reproductive freedom, and the gender wage gap, while offering tools for revolution.
Join us at 12:00 p.m. EST today for an eye-opening conversation about not only the issues surrounding the ERA but also the stories of the women who shaped it.
