ERA: Speak Up and Support New Efforts to Pass the Equal Rights Amendment with Heartful Art by Raphaella Vaisseau

In 1923, Alice Paul authored the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Amazingly, it remains unpassed to this day.

According to a July 24, 2014 Ms. Magazine blog post by Stephanie Hallett, new legislation has been proposed by two US Congresswomen, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jackie Speier (D-CA), to finally get this thing passed.

The text of the ERA consists of 24 words: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Click here to purchase Raphaella's version of the ERA as an 11x14 poster on Etsy. To support your activism on this issue, volume discounts and smaller versions of this artwork are available. Mail copies to your congressional representatives and ask them to support this important legislation.

Share this news with your friends. Join the congresswomen, Ellie Smeal (Feminist Majority President and publisher of Ms.), Terry O'Neill (NOW President), and other leaders and activists in stepping up.

Speak out. The time is now. Pass the ERA.
-Raphaella Vaisseau

SFWOW - San Francisco Women on the Web

I joined San Francisco Women on the Web in 1999 when I still lived in Ashland, Oregon. Being hooked up to SFWOW made me feel that I was on the leading edge and I craved that connection as I read threads and participated in conversations with other members. At that time, I had just secured a domain for my company - www.heartfulart.com (then a one-page collage of my multifaceted artistic creations). A year later I moved to Marin County, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Connecting with tech-savvy women who were exploring and crafting this new world of the web was exciting and educational. I attended a few meetings for web design and marketing and my mind expanded exponentially. The San Francisco Bay Area is a big, spread out place and I had an old, beat up car so driving to Silicon Valley, Oakland and Berkeley from Marin by myself at night to have coffee and chat with tech women didn't happen very often. Then, when I opened my Heartful Art Gallery in Sausalito in 2001, I put all my eggs in that one basket and drifted away from the SFWOW network. Eight years later, I now live and create art on the central gulf coast of Florida. Still, my love of technology and my fascination with the web continues. Thinking today of my commitment to blog on Ada Lovelace Day to honor women in technology, I remembered the women of SFWOW. I honor and thank them for being. The SFWOW nonprofit now has over 1,300 members. Bravo!

Ada Lovelace Day - Pledge to Honor Women in Technology on March 24, 2009

I took the pledge along with 1,500 other people as of now. More information here. Join us.

clipped from anitaborg.org Ada Lovelace Day is the brainchild of Suw Charman-Anderson, a London-based social media consultant and digital rights activist. Recognizing that women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, she issued a challenge: “I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same.” — Suw Charman-Anderson