**MOST POLITICIANS THINK WOMEN SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD. IN THE LAST ELECTION 22 MILLION WOMEN AGREED. THIS YEAR MAKE THEM LISTEN…VOTE!**

The Equal Rights Amendment is NOT in the U.S. Constitution. The Trump administration wants to make sure it doesn’t get in the Constitution and has filed asking the Federal Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Nevada, Illinois and Virginia to force U.S. archivist David Ferriero “to carry out his statutory duty of recognizing the complete and final adoption” of the ERA as the 28th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss the case.

When, in 1972, Congress passed the ERA after 49 years of debate, it set a 7-year deadline for ratification by the necessary 38 states. Bowing to public pressure a 3-year extension was voted by Congress. 92% of the 38 states had ratified when the extension ran out in 1982.

While attempts have been on-going in Congress to eliminate the deadline, the campaign for ratification has continued. In 2017 Nevada became the 36th state to ratify; in 2018 Illinois ratified; and early this year Virginia ratified the ERA.

Now Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is leading the lawsuit in DC. In his statement of condemnation against the Trump administration he said, “Donald Trump is telling the women of America that, after 231 years, they should just sit down and wait even longer for equal treatment under the Constitution. It’s wrong, it’s offensive, and it’s shameful. If the Trump administration opposes a Constitutional guarantee of equality for women, then they should just say so rather than hiding behind process and trying to throw the issue into (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell’s hands.”

These few words- “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United State or by any state on account of sex” - will mean that sex will be given the same scrutiny under the law as race, religion or national origin. It is justice long over-due.

No doubt the Trump administration is hoping you won’t be paying attention while our lives are in such turmoil during the pandemic and the constant attention being paid to the elections. However, it is urgent we not be fooled yet again by these tactics.

I was painting the exterior of a cabin the other day with my daughters. We had been working on it all day and had gotten just one side done. We were hot, tired and really just over it already. The younger daughter was high on the ladder finishing up the last bit of white trim at the top and was thrilled when she was done and said it was time to quit. I stood back and said it looked pretty good, not perfect but good. The older daughter, who was way more invested with the outcome, was sitting on the ground looking up and said hold up, from here it looks terrible...you missed this, slopped paint there, some areas are uneven, etc. Little sister didn't care. She said from where she was, high up on top, everything looked beautiful. It wasn't her problem if things looked crappy from down there. I got closer, looked at it from both of their viewpoints. I really wanted to quit too and it wasn't my house after all. But, in the end I said it wasn't right. Things could be better. Let's fix the things that are wrong even though it doesn't affect me personally. We should always try to do the right thing and do our best.
Then I thought that's a great example of life, isn't it? Depending on where you are located, or your position, things can look a lot different. When you are high on top everything looks beautiful ...no work to be done here. When you are at the bottom you can clearly see all that is missing, messy, and just downright wrong. When you are in the middle, I challenge you to step back. Take a look at things from all perspectives, roll up your sleeves, and work on the areas that need change - even when it's not your house.

While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world, you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.
That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.
Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland, and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters, and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.
Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.
Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.
You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.
Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

By John Lewis
Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral. July 30, 2020