I’ve formed a political action committee the goal of which is to eradicate gender discrimination and inequality. Our first undertaking is the Team Uterati Wiki Project and will involve compiling a complete custom-built database of the 1100+ anti-choice bills that have popped up in states across the country. We are already underway — the Alabama wiki page will give you a taste of what we are doing. Once complete (in July, hopefully) we will use the resulting information to target women-friendly candidates for our support, and to organize on-the-ground activism and GOTV efforts.
Here is our press release:
May 7, 2012 – People Organizing for Women’s Rights (POWR) was created with the goal of uniting women across the nation to encourage passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, Imani Gandy, president of POWR, announced today.
“Most people don’t know that it is not unconstitutional to deny women equality under the law. But, as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently pointed out to us, the Constitution does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex,” said Ms. Gandy.
“This is why we are seeing a flood of bills come out of state legislatures attacking women. This is why we have to struggle to protect what progress we have made every time election season rolls around. This is why it is still legal to pay women less than men, to discriminate against mothers seeking jobs, and restrict the availability of health care services for women. This is why our bodies become political footballs and bargaining chips whenever other issues are raised. Women are tired of this. We want better for the daughters of America, and we mean to give it to them,” Ms. Gandy added.
About POWR
People Organizing for Women’s Rights (POWR), the first national political action committee (PAC) which leverages social media and other social action tools to combat gender discrimination and inequality at the state and federal level.
Team Uterati (“TeamU”) is a broad-based online community initiative which maintains a complete database of crowd-sourced legislative and other information regarding reproductive rights and women’s health issues nationwide.
The Team Uterati Wiki Project (“TeamU Wiki”) is a community-driven social action tool used by grassroots and netroots activists to combat the ongoing Republican infringement of women’s human rights, and it can also be used by the media to report upon such efforts. The website allows visitors to view legislation state-by-state, including the status of the legislation, its relevance, authors and sponsors, related activism and any organizations involved, giving unprecedented ease of access and transparency to empower ordinary citizens who are interested in this issue.
Together, TeamU and the TeamU Wiki comprise the first major undertaking of People Organizing for Women’s Rights (POWR), and can be found at http://www.teamuterati.com. You can download a PDF version of the TeamU Project Plan by clicking here. More information about POWR can be found at: http://www.powr-pac.org.
###
Contact:
Imani Gandy
[email protected]
@AngryBlackLady
(310) 927-2508—
Click here for a downloadable version of this press release.
POWR-PAC Formed to Unite Ladies Nationwide, Pass the ERA
Please take a look at our Project Plan.
Cheers!
Short Bus Bully
This is dope. Makes my day brighter. Keep kicking ass.
PurpleGirl
Best wishes to kick some ass real hard.
tybee
give ’em hell. :)
Violet
Wow. Awesome.
General Stuck
Nothing gets the attention of country club dicks, like assemblies of pissed off women folk with a cause and the key to paradise.
It’s how Filipino women finally got their men to stop killing each other in endless war making. Sex, it’s better than politics.
Just Some Fuckhead
OMG, sooo big.
*bites lower lip*
Cato
Pass the ERA?
Bwahahahahahah! Aaaahahahahahahah!
Did I step into a time machine that took me to 1977?
Cato
What’s next, campaigning for a nuclear freeze? Ahahahahahahah! “Pass the ERA”…should I break out the disco LPs?
Ash Can
Excellent, Imani. I hope the project succeeds beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
chopper
@Cato:
your posts are much better if you say them in the voice of Comic Book Guy.
General Stuck
No, you stepped on yer own dick, and hollered LIBERALS
Xecky Gilchrist
@Cato: Did I step into a time machine that took me to 1977?
No, 1980 was just a time machine that took us all to 1950. We’re juuust starting to catch up again.
History didn’t end just because wingnuts wanted it to. These issues aren’t settled.
Piefilter.
Cato
Carter/Mondale ’80!!! Nuclear Freeze!!11!!oneEleventy
Xecky Gilchrist
…but it is nice to know that wingnuts are so forward-looking they won’t try to, you know, act like the Civil Rights act isn’t a done deal.
Culture of Truth
The ERA was still an issue in the 1980s. To impress a girl Alex Keaton argued for it on Family Ties.
Donald G
@Cato:
UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH!!!!
VICTORY!!!!!
Martin
POWR-PAC is weak in a world full of SUPER PACs. You need SUPR-POWR-PAC. Or maybe POWR-SUPR-PAC.
And don’t give up on the ERA. The 27th amendment was proposed in Sept 1789 and not ratified until 1992.
You probably know this but others may not, the Corwin Amendment is also still pending ratification, which would make it illegal to abolish slavery. We need a campaign to put it on state ballots along with these gay marriage and personhood amendments, along with ‘Proposed by Congressman Thomas Corwin ( R)’ prominently displayed.
Chyron HR
@Cato:
The best part is, Romney’s dumb enough to let himself get caught on tape saying this.
Cato
The 27th Amendment didn’t have a deadline written into it. The ERA did. It expired in 1982. It would have to be passed by 2/3 of Congress again. Good luck with that.
The Other Chuck
@Martin: Corwin was a Whig, which was ultimately wiped out as a party by the grown-ups in the Republican Party. Considering the history of the Democratic party during that period, you probably don’t want to go there.
rikryah
go ABL!!!
ABL
@Martin: It’s a superPAC. I just haven’t filed the 501c4 paperwork yet. So, you know… I don’t want any anonymous donors writing me million dollar checks just yet. :)
Steve
@Cato: Which members of Congress are opposed to women having equality under the law? I’d love to have a record vote on that, ideally just before the November election.
Corner Store Operator
Not a fan of your posts, so normally don’t read them. I say that so you know where I’m coming from with this:
Thank goodness you are doing this and best of luck. We need more of this type of real action from political bloggers/writers and you are setting a great example.
ABL
There’s legislation in the House (H.J.Res 47 introduced in March 2011) and the Senate (S.J.Res. 39 introduced in March 2012) that would revoke the expiration deadline. If it’s revoked, we only need 3 states to ratify. 15 states have not ratified: Ala, Ariz, Ark, Fla, Ga, Ill, La, Miss, Mo, Nev, NC, Okla, SC, Utah, and Va. 5 of those 15 have not ratified but already have similar state level protection: Fla, Ill, La, Utah, & Va.
I had no idea that we were that close until I researched it. Basically, if we can hold the Senate, we have a shot. I have no illusions about this being easy. My mom scoffed at me when I mentioned it. (She was very bra-burny in the 70s.). But nothing ventured, nothing gained. It’s not impossible. And, at a minimum, the wiki database will be worth the price of admission, so to speak. 1100 bills at your fingertips!
-ABL
Scott S.
Never understood why the ERA had a deadline when none of the others did. Was it just URGH, MANS HATE WOOMANS or was there a legit rationale?
Mark S.
@Steve:
They’d demagogue the shit our of it: unisex bathrooms, mommy getting drafted into the army, Bobo wondering if it would make flirting unconstitutional, etc.
ABL 2.0
@Corner Store Operator: thanks. i appreciate it.
RedKitten
SO glad to see that the idea of gender equality is so entertaining to you.
Soonergrunt
@RedKitten: That’s usually the case with “men” who are afraid of vaginas.
Martin
@ABL: Yea for SUPR-POWR-PAC! UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH! VICTORY!
And my understanding on the ERA was that the court never ruled on the extensions and the last extension didn’t have an expiration date, so it may still be active. That sticks in my head from school – some aside from one of my profs.
Valdivia
love the name. love the idea. congrats ABL and thanks for kicking ass and taking names.
General Stuck
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Probly for the best.
Water balloon
Is this intentionally referencing the kid superhero group from the 80’s?
RedKitten
@Cato: Oh, and by the way, sweetpea, there are a LOT of people out there who are a LOT smarter than you, who actually are working very hard towards nuclear disarmament. And they’ve accomplished more than YOU will ever accomplish in your pitiful excuse for a life.
So laugh it up, Chuckles, while the grown-ups actually try to accomplish something worthwhile.
Sophist
Starting small and working your way up, I see.
Litlebritdifrnt
I can haz an open thread please, I heard something on the radio this evening that just left me gobsmacked. KTHNXBAI
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: well you already did an ot so might as well share.
Xenos
This is amazingly cool! Reviving the ERA is the greatest idea in years. Almost nobody under 50 can even understand what the problem was with it. And just introduce those bills every damn year until it is passed. You win both coming and going.
ETA: also, “Mina Hong, Advisor”. Why not just list her as Rusty Pitchfork Procurement Officer?
RK
Quest for equality or career move?
JPL
Since I’m not shy on OT’s ..I’ll mention that Joe’s comment on gay marriage is not news. PBS newshour waited until 22 minutes in to mention it, Brian Williams mentioned it at 7 minutes in. Sorry..CIA stops terrorist attack, a planner of the Cole bombing is dead, Sarkozy was defeated and neo nazi’s gained seats in Greece.. Excuse me but why is Joe news..
Romney wants an amendment to the constitution about gays so I guess he thinks the constitution legalizes gays.
geg6
You go grrrrl. RAWR!
I’m no wealthy donor, but if you need volunteers, I’m in for whatever I can do. The ERA was one of the issues that drew me to politics in an emotional way as opposed to my more academic interest prior to the losing endgame of that episode of my youth. If it can be revived, I’ll go to the barricades for it.
Steve
@Mark S.: I look forward to having these Phyllis Schlafly arguments all over again. It would not be an electoral winner for the bad guys.
General Stuck
I see no reason why it can’t be both.
metalgirl
Fabulous news!! I hope a link to donate will appear on the BJ front page :) Let us know how we can help! The war on contraception, legal abortion, and Planned Parenthood has really woken up a lot of women who otherwise aren’t interested in politics. This is great timing for your group and for this issue!
NancyDarling
ABL. I don’t know if anyone has linked to this, but it needs to go viral. It is a black NC pastor speaking out against the awful same-sex law that NC is voting on tomorrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ywImcNViPtc
Anne Laurie
Good for you, ABL (or Ms. Gandy, if you prefer).
Litlebritdifrnt
@JPL: Okay I will. One of our candidates for Lt. Gov. was on the radio and he is trying to get an extremely stupid law overturned. Here in NC some private companies, for instance all of the NASCAR teams, get all of their NC sales taxes for the year refunded. On everything they buy. NC Schools do not get the same perk. So the taxpayers are paying to fund the schools and then when the schools buy copy paper they have to pay sales tax on it which goes back to the State Government. How stupid is that? If private companies can qualify to have all their sales taxes refunded then why the hell shouldn’t schools? In fact why the hell are schools not exempt from paying sales taxes in the first place?
The Sailor
@Cato: “Reagan, contrary to his image as a champion of the bomb, was a nuclear abolitionist”
So fuck your revisionist history.
+++++++++++++
Go, go ABL!
The Other Chuck
@Litlebritdifrnt: Why the hell is NASCAR getting its sales tax refunded? Can we call that the “Shitkicker Kickback”?
General Stuck
RIP – George Lindsey, Goober Pyle
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: So that is why Atlanta doesn’t have the NASCAR museum..hahahahaha..
I can’t believe that we didn’t pay them to not pay sales tax.
Gypsy howell
Fan-fuckin-tastic ABL. I’m in. It’s on my FB page now. What can we do?
FlipYrWhig
@General Stuck: If Obama doesn’t make a statement about it, it proves he’s a reverse racist.
Patricia Kayden
Good for ABL. Wonder if the Democratic party would include this as one of its platforms.
jefft452
@Cato: “The 27th Amendment didn’t have a deadline written into it. The ERA did. It expired in 1982”
Please cite the enumerated power in the Constitution that allows Congress to put a time limit on a State’s right to ratify Constitutional Amendments
Or is that only for things Congress does that wingnuts don’t like
Rome Again
ABL I tried to join up on Team Uterati’s Arizona page, but, I’m NOT giving anyone my Facebook Log-in. How can we join without compromising that information? I join a lot of things that I don’t give out my password for. I’m not going to do it now. I really want to join. This needs to be remedied.
Evolving Deep Southerner
Yay, ABL’s thing! You go, girl!
OK, now can we have a new thread please?
JPL
OT There are so many folks whose knowledge of the law are more than mine, so help me out… Romney wants an amendment for marriage between a man and a woman….does that mean our constitution already allows marriage for same-sex and if that is so, why isn’t isn’t he condemned? Enquiring minds want to know? Can Romney be tried for treason??
Calming Influence
I’ve always been a big supporter of the women-folk, but this REALLY makes me want to be part of the team!
I’ll put it this way: it’s not very often that I’ve wished I had a uterus. Whatever, I’ll help as much as I can while carting around my non-uterusian equipage…
ABL
@Rome Again: You can register the old-fashioned way! https://balloon-juice.com/2012/05/07/powr-pac-formed-to-unite-ladies-nationwide-pass-the-era/#comment-3237884
ABL
Whoops! http://www.teamuterati.com/wiki/tiki-register.php
My brain is tired.
ABL
@Calming Influence: We don’t discriminate! That’s why we have a mustachioed uterus! We’ve already got plenty of men who are serving as state chapter leaders.
asiangrrlMN
@Xenos: I APPROVE!
::bangs gavel and waves rusty pitchfork™ in the air::
This is gonna be huge, laydeeees and gentlemen.
Joseph Nobles
@Cato: The ERA actually had a 1979 expiration date written into it, but that was extended three years by a less-than-two-thirds vote of Congress.
So all Congress would have to do is pass another extension. But thanks for playing!
Suezboo
Dear ABL
Personal stuff : I was a founder member of the Cape Town feminists back in the 70s and for many years in the ANC Womens League. We had/have official standing in the party and a women’s caucus. Without our constant presence and assertive/aggressive voice, I doubt that our Constitution would include explicit clauses against discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation.
Have we legalised sexism away? Puh-leeze. It’s bad.Has anti-racism legislation done away with racism in SA or USA? Puh-leeze.
The point is having legal recourse against its worst effects.Right on, sister.Solidarity.