QUEENS COLLEGE CELEBRATES WOMEN’S ACHIEVEMENTS
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 26-APRIL 1, 2021 17
BY BILL PARRY
Since she was elected to the
U.S. House of Representative
in 1993, Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney has immersed
herself in women’s issues.
As lead House sponsor
of the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) and author of the
Smithsonian Women’s History
Museum Act, which was
recently signed into law, Maloney
spoke on the House floor
Wednesday in celebration of
Women’s History Month.
She highlighted the ERA,
the forthcoming Smithsonian
Women’s History Museum,
and the achievements women
across the country have made
in the advancement of equality.
“In 1921 — exactly 100
years ago, just after ratifying
the 19th Amendment, the suffragists
set their sights on another
constitutional change.
The vote was not enough for
them; they knew we needed to
put gender equality into our
Constitution. And so, these
women — among them my
relative, Alice Paul — wrote
the Equal Rights Amendment,”
Maloney said. “It was
first introduced in Congress
in 1923, in celebration of the
75th Anniversary of the Seneca
Falls Convention, the first
women’s rights convention
in our country. It was introduced
in the House by Representative
Daniel Anthony,
nephew of the great suffragist
leader Susan B. Anthony,
to honor her work, as well
as the work of many others
like the great suffrage leader
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also
of New York.
“Today, during History
Month for Women, we honor
these women as constitution
makers, but verbal praise
alone is not enough,” she said.
“We must also carry out their
wishes. Because now — a full
100 years later— the Equal
Rights Amendment is still not
part of the U.S. Constitution.”
Later that day, the House
approved legislation to remove
the arbitrary deadline
imposed on the ERA.
“The suffragists knew
specific language was needed
in the Constitution in order
to achieve equality of rights
under the law. And they were
right,” Maloney said. “For
the last four generations,
feminists like myself and
all the like-minded men and
women here today have been
marching, lobbying, attempting
to win lawsuits and defeating
anti-ERA legislators.
And today, we say enough is
enough.”
Earlier this month, Maloney
announced a milestone
for the proposed Smithsonian
Women’s History Museum on
the National Mall. Lisa Sasaki
was appointed to serve
as the interim director of the
Smithsonian American Women’s
History Museum.
“After more than two
decades of working to pass
legislation establishing a
museum dedicated to American
women’s history, it was
finally signed into law in December,”
Maloney said. “It is
incredible to see the museum
begin to come to fruition,
and strong leadership will
be essential to its success. I
congratulate Lisa Sasaki on
her appointment and look forward
to working with her to
ensure that the museum has
the support from Congress
that it needs.”
Last fall, Maloney was
elected as permanent chair
of the House Committee on
Oversight and Reform, making
her the first woman ever
to take the gavel of the powerful
panel.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
In celebration of Women’s
History Month, Queens College
hosted a virtual panel
discussion on Monday, March
15, celebrating the achievements
and contributions of
women around the globe, and
the challenges they’re facing
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presented by the Queens
College Women and Gender
Studies Program, the Palmer
Women’s History Month symposium,
“Women, Advocacy,
and Activism in a Global Pandemic,”
featured four female
leaders from organizations
that highlighted women’s
labor, child care and education,
global advocacy for immigrant
communities, and
responses to increased domestic
violence.
Two Queens College alums
— Indrani Goradia, founder
of RAFT Cares, and Hetal Janai,
founder of SPEAKHIRE
— joined Jenny Brown, an
teacher/activist of the National
Women’s Liberation, and
Diana Moreno, director of the
New Immigrant Community
Empowerment (NICE) Center.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered
remarks encouraging
the women to continue using
their voices to make a profound
difference in the lives
of others, but particularly the
lives of women, as we come
out of the pandemic.
“Use your voices to encourage
people to do what’s right
— to step forward and get the
vaccine when it’s available to
them. I know in communities
of color there’s distrust and
worry, and I need all of you
to help us with that,” Hochul
said. “In the meantime, we
cannot lose sight of the fact
that women were hardest hit
by the pandemic.”
According to Hochul, prior
to the pandemic, women
were already on the front
lines working in hospitals,
pharmacies, grocery stores,
restaurants and making deliveries,
while bearing the
brunt of childcare — one of
many challenges that are still
being addressed today.
Brown, an organizer with
the National Women’s Liberation,
conducted a study in
2015 with a group of women.
She discovered that several
women who had one child
decided not to have any more
kids after factoring in the
cost, exhaustion and the difficulty
of working long hours
while staying on top of household
work and childcare. According
to Brown, other women
testified that they wanted
kids but it didn’t seem feasible
due to unreliable health
insurance or jobs that didn’t
have paid leave.
According to Brown, there
has been a demand for a system
of health care where one
is guaranteed coverage no
matter what, and a universal
child care system with a
unionized workforce with national
standards.
“We have a terrible situation
with paid leave in the
U.S. with only 12 weeks of unpaid
leave, and very few people
can take unpaid leave and
you can’t forgo a paycheck for
three months,” Brown said.
“Also, infant child care is
expensive and we’re proposing
a shorter workweek for
all workers and an extensive
mandated paid sick leave …
compared to Germany we
are working 10 extra weeks a
year.”
Speaking on the exploitative
working conditions in
particular for immigrant
workers, Diana Moreno, chief
of staff for the New Immigrant
Community Empowerment
(NICE) Center in Jackson
Heights, said there have
been constraints placed on
immigrants and labor, especially
amid the pandemic.
“In the past year, we have
transformed from being a
worker center to being a relief
and recovery center,”
Moreno said. “We have seen
a lot of members facing eviction,
folks going through
food insecurity or living in
cramped conditions where
COVID impacts the entire
household.”
Read more on QNS.com.
The “Women, Advocacy, and Activism in a Global Pandemic”
symposium featured four female panelists from organizations
that highlighted women’s labor, child care and education, global
advocacy for immigrant communities and responses to increased
domestic violence.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney celebrates Women’s History
Month. Photo courtesy of Maloney’s offi ce
Maloney celebrates Women’s
History Month in D.C.
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