Women, It's Time to Get The Job Done!!!

If you are not paying attention to the ERA, start right now.

A statue called “Women of Change” in Seneca Falls, NY shows Laura Cornelius King (an indigenous woman), Harriet Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright (a “very dangerous woman”) and Sojourner Truth.

Yesterday I was sitting on my couch finishing up my afternoon iced tea (and the NYT Crossword puzzle TBH) when my cell phone rang with an unknown number. The chances of me answering a mystery call is super slim. I get so many stupid calls at all hours of the day and evening. But something made me pick it up…

“Hello?”

“Is this Maria Rodale?”

“Yes,” I answered very suspiciously.

“This is Cori Bush.” I immediately burst into tears.

“The REAL Cori Bush?” She seemed as surprised as I was when she laughed and said “Yes.” Cori Bush, in case you aren’t familiar with her, is a congresswoman from Missouri. She was featured in the documentary Knock Down The House and is an illustrious member of the “Squad.” Not the fake Fox News squad that Republicans are trying to copy that’s filled with blond white ladies, but the true original squad created by four female congresswomen: AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar. Cori Bush is a tough and intelligent woman whom I respect and admire.

I knew right away she was “dialing for dollars” as my friend Congresswoman Susan Wild calls it. Politicians are given huge dollar amounts they need to raise on a regular basis. But she also wanted to talk to me about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the Centennial Convention hosted by Generation Ratify this weekend in Seneca Falls. The Equal Rights Amendment– which states that Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex– was proposed in Seneca Falls one hundred years ago this week and while it has been ratified by the necessary 38 states, it still hasn’t been officially published in the US Constitution. Groups are meeting this week to commemorate the work done and to light up a strategy to get it over the finish line. 

I cried even more because my daughter Maya Rodale has made it one of her life missions to get the ERA passed and she is at the conference this weekend right now. She’s even writing a book about the whole scandalous history of how American women have fought for the vote, making it part fact, part fiction and 100% fun and fascinating. I’ve read a first draft of the early chapters and it’s amazing.

Maya and I have spent many, many conversations over our 41 years together sharing readings, documentaries, strange facts and deeply informed insights about women’s issues, women’s rights and women in general. Although she is by far the expert in the ERA history and legal issues (follow her on Instagram to stay on top of things.)

But here is one thing we both know for sure…there is a long, bitter history in the women’s rights movement between white women and other white women, and white women and black women. Between heterosexual women and queer folks too. WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES! Ladies, it is TIME to put aside our petty grievances and resentments and Get This ERA IN THE CONSTITUTION!

Remember: No matter what color or political party or religion or sexual orientation you are, you are fully human and deserving of equal rights under the law. The Equal Rights Amendment is to enshrine those rights in the US Constitution. There has never been a more critical time in history for women to demand equal rights.

Look, there is not a single woman alive in the world today who doesn’t know how to get things done. We are the invisible hand of capitalism. We are the glue of our families. We cook. We clean. We do the laundry. We do the gross stuff that no one else wants to do. We pay our taxes. We vote (THANKS TO GENERATIONS OF SUFFRAGISTS WHO MET 175 YEARS AGO IN SENECA FALLS). We even serve in the military and on the front lines. We deserve equal rights under the law!!!!!!

Suffice it to say, I gave Cori Bush a nice donation. And I gave her Maya’s contact info to connect at the Convention. I can’t wait to hear how it goes. Pay attention to it!

Yesterday when I told Maya about the call from Cori (she cried, too), she said, “I’ve been studying the photos of the women from Seneca Falls for years and I can’t wait to be a part of this.” This weekend she will have the chance to be in the official photo documenting this convention. And her own daughters (one of whom is named Seneca) will be able to see and remember and be proud of their Mom for doing what she could on their behalf.

When women were fighting for the right to vote, one of the biggest obstacles was women’s own indifference. It’s time to pay attention! This is what we can do. We can show up. We can vote. We can unite around a common cause — our cause.

Our causes are intertwined with everything we care about. At the first convention at Seneca Falls 175 years ago, one attendee was Eunice Newton Foote. She was the first scientist to discover that excess carbon in the atmosphere would warm the climate. This week, while the women are meeting again, is the hottest week around the world in recorded history. Maybe our grandmothers and grandmothers grandmothers are trying to tell us something. It’s time for women to speak and be heard. All our futures depend on us paying attention and taking action.

Thank you to all the women in Seneca Falls this weekend: Cori, Ayanna, Maya and all the young people who are part of Generation Ratify.

I believe in you.

I support you.

And I’m grateful to you.

Now…Get this job done!

Here’s what you can do: Pressure Joe Biden to direct the archivist to publish the ERA. Call the White House. Write letters. Post on social media. Tag

POTUS

. Raise awareness about the ERA. Read about it. Talk to your friends. Call your reps in Congress! There is legislation pending in Congress now (thanks to Cori and Ayanna) that will reaffirm the ratification of the ERA. Call your reps and tell them you want them to support H.J. Res. 25. Every Thing You Do Makes A Difference! Never forget that.