Like many middle school students, Grace Akkara had never thought too much about the U.S. Constitution. But last year, her seventh-grade English class found out that the historic document doesn’t explicitly guarantee women’s equality. Grace, now 13, couldn’t believe it. “I was shocked,” she says. “It really bothered us.”
That’s when the students learned about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed addition to the Constitution that calls for equal treatment of both men and women. The ERA was originally drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923. But nearly 100 years later, the amendment still hasn’t been ratified.
Inspired by Paul, Grace and five of her classmates decided to take up the fight. The students at Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts, started discussing how they could promote the ERA. In the past year, they’ve created a petition on change.org urging states to ratify the amendment. They’ve also met with local politicians, including Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston.
The girls call themselves the Yellow Roses, after a symbol of the women’s rights movement of the 1920s. They say they’re inspired by previous generations of activists who stood up for what they believed in.
“We want to make a difference,” says Grace. “It’s crazy that women don’t have equal rights in 2017.”
Like many middle school students, Grace Akkara had never thought too much about the U.S. Constitution. But last year, her seventh-grade English class found out that the historic document doesn’t explicitly guarantee women’s equality. Grace, now 13, couldn’t believe it. “I was shocked,” she says. “It really bothered us.”
That’s when the students learned about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). That is a proposed addition to the Constitution. It calls for equal treatment of both men and women. The ERA was originally drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923. But nearly 100 years later, the amendment still hasn’t been ratified.
Grace and five of her classmates decided to take up the fight. The students attend Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts. They started discussing how they could promote the ERA. In the past year, they’ve created a petition on change.org urging states to ratify the amendment. They’ve also met with local politicians, including Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston.
The girls call themselves the Yellow Roses. The group is named after a symbol of the women’s rights movement of the 1920s. They say they’re inspired by previous generations of activists who stood up for what they believed in.
“We want to make a difference,” says Grace. “It’s crazy that women don’t have equal rights in 2017.”