As we approach the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is time to take a look an how one of the biggest constituencies of the U.S. population has fared since the founding of the Republic.

On Thursday, July 2, Joy of Resistance will be taking a look at this history -- and the latest fight to get women's rights finally represented in the U.S. Constitution. This would mean a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing Equal Rights for women -- the Equal Rights Amendment, which has already been ratified by the requisite 38 states, to be published and implemented.

We'll start with the letter that Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams who was taking part in deliberations to set up a Constitution for the new Republic in 1776. John Adams was dismissive of the concerns of his wife and no women took part in drafting the Constitution or were considered to be voting citizens (only white property owning men, many of them slaveholders.

Then we'll journey to Seneca Falls in 1848, where women put forth their set of grievances and their demands--which included the vote. We'll play a dramatic reading of their statement -- the Declaration of Sentiments.

Then we'll talk about the great generations-long struggle to obtain the vote -- and once won, the proposal by heroic suffragist Alice Paul that an amendment to Constitution cement women's rights -- The Equal Rights Amendment, which we are still struggling to have recognized.

Our guests will be:

Jean Sweeney, who founded and leads the National ERA Publication Task Force, a national initiative dedicated to securing publication and structural enforcement of the fully ratified ERA. She is the creator of Until Women Are Equal campaign to make history by reading the Women’s Declaration of Independence on every street corner on July 4th 2026.

Coline Jenkins,

Great-great Granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Founder & President, Elizabeth Cady Stanton Trust and Vice President, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund, now in Central Park and she is involved in inspiring awareness and pride in women's history.

We will be speaking about the current campaign for women to read the Women's Declaration of Independence in public spaces throughout the country, both this July 4 and on other women's holidays, such as Women's Equality Day. We'll also read the Declaration and play music dedicated to the ERA and women's rights.


ON THIS INDEPENDENCE DAY WOMEN ARE STILL NOT IN THE CONSTITUTION

WOMEN'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

When, in the course of human events,
it becomes necessary for one-half of the people
to call a nation back to its own truths,
we declare the causes which compel us to speak.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all persons are created equal;
that women are persons;
and that government exists to secure these truths—
not to delay or deny them.

The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in stone.
Yet they have never applied fully to women,
because women have never had full legal equality
under the United States Constitution.

Although the Fourteenth Amendment promised equal protection,
it has never been applied equally to women.

And although the Equal Rights Amendment—
ratified in 2020—establishes equality,
it has not been implemented.

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Women bring forth life,
sustain families,
serve their communities
and defend this nation.

To deny them constitutional equality
is to deny their dignity, humanity and rights.
Yet courts apply a lesser standard—
Intermediate Scrutiny—
to laws that discriminate on the basis of sex,
allowing inequality to continue.

The highest standard, Strict Scrutiny,
remains unavailable to women.

As a result women are denied economic equality,
equal protection under the law and security
against violence and exploitation.

These injustices are not accidental—
they are legally authorized.

We declare:
women are equal citizens of this Republic.
Equality must be clear in law
and in its enforcement.

We call upon the people to demand:
the full implementation and enforcement
of the Equal Rights Amendment—
by all courts,
and all government officials.

A nation that treats women unequally
cannot be a democracy.

Therefore, we declare:
the Equal Rights Amendment is part of the Constitution.
It is the law.

Women will no longer accept inequality.
We demand equality now—
nothing more, nothing less.

In the spirit of 1776, the Declaration of Sentiments of 1848 and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in 2020,

The Women's Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in 2026 by the National ERA Publication Task Force.