Media Statement the National Organization for Women:

Washington, D.C. – In honor of Black History Month, the National Organization for Women (NOW) is proud to present the Racial Justice Summit and Congressional Briefing: Addressing the Intersects of Gender, Health, Economics, Violence and Race, sponsored by U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Special guest speakers will cover topics including immigration rights, maternal mortality, voter suppression and economic justice. 

What: NOW’s Racial Justice Summit and Congressional Briefing
When: Monday, February 10, 2020; 9:00 am-5:00 pm Eastern
Where: U.S. Capitol Building- Rayburn House Office Building, Rooms 2044 & 2045 streamed live at: https://www.facebook.com/NationalNOW/
Who: Joining NOW President Toni Van Pelt and Vice President Christian F. Nunes are:

Invited Speakers 

U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, 

Recipient, NOW Award of Distinction for Intersectional Feminism   

U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids  

U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva 

U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley 

U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib 

U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters
 

Special Guest Speaker 

Dr. Gary L. Ford Jr., Author and Professor 

Panelists: 

Ashley Allison, The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights  

Barbara R. Arnwine, Transformative Justice Coalition

Amy Hinojosa, MANA, A National Latina Organization  

Marcia Johnson–Blanco, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Voting Rights Project  

Virginia Kase, League of Women Voters  

Ola Ojewumi, PPMW DC Advocates Council 

Kevin Powell, Author and Civil Rights Activist  

Dariely Rodriguez, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law 

Reyna Taylor, National Council for Behavioral Health 

Kenyette Tisha Barnes, Co-Founder of #MuteRKelly 

Additional Speakers to be Announced.  

  
Media: Due to limited space media RSVPs are requested, please contact press@now.org.                                                                                   

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Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary , press@now.org , 202-570-4745

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt and Vice President Christian F. Nunes:

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Each February, the National Organization for Women commemorates Black History Month to honor the lives of African Americans who have shaped our nation and its culture. Our country and our communities would not be the same without the efforts of people of color, who work tirelessly in the face of oppression.

African American women have been fierce advocates for gender equality for centuries, from suffragists Anna Julia Cooper and the founders of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to civil rights leaders Ida B. Wells and Sojourner Truth. In more recent years we’ve witnessed history as Nevada State Senator Pat Spearman kicked off the modern Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) movement and Virginia Delegates Jennifer D. Carroll Foy and Hala Ayala championed the ERA in Virginia, which just became the historic 38th state to ratify.

Thanks to these women and many others, progress has been made, but we must never underestimate the insidious racism that continues to plague our country in the form of discrimination in employment, health care, housing, the justice system and voting rights. That is why NOW is co-hosting our Racial Justice Summit with U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) on Feb.10th, which aims to create conversation about the intersection of gender, health, economics, violence and race.

Black History Month highlights the importance of intersectional feminism. Black lesbian civil rights activist and feminist Audre Lorde famously said, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are different from my own.” As firm believers of this approach to advocacy, NOW is committed to breaking down the barriers to gender and racial equality that have restricted women of color for centuries.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary , press@now.org , 202-570-4745

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – NOW applauds Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford for filing a civil rights suit against the Trump Administration to recognize that following Virginia’s historic vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the ERA is now the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.    

The suit argues that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has no authority over this matter and the Trump Administration cannot cling to language that appears in the 1972 preamble to the ERA that set an artificial timeline for passage.  As AG Herring pointed out, the 27th amendment was ratified by individual states beginning in 1789, and ratification was not completed until 1992. 

Women, including NOW’s dedicated grassroots activists, have long been working for constitutional equality, marching for equality and, as the most recent midterm elections showed so dramatically, voting for equality.  Donald Trump and William Barr are distorting our nation’s laws to suit their discriminatory and misogynist political agenda.    

They want to shred the Constitution.  Women want to make it stronger.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary , press@now.org , 202-570-4745