SEIU 1021 Women’s Solidarity Committee to host film screening of “Amend: The Fight for America” series
Amend: The Fight for America is a 2021 documentary series starring Will Smith, Bryan Stevenson, and Larry Wilmore. It covers the legacy of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and explores the history of discrimination and activism for equality in the United States.
When the United States was created, the ideals of freedom and equality did not apply to everyone. Amend: The Fight for America tells the stories of the brave Americans who fought to right the country’s wrongs and enshrined the values we hold most dear in the Constitution — with liberty and justice for all.
“Episode 4: Control” centers on second-wave feminism and the women’s liberation movement. Beginning in the 1960s, women appealed to evolving interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment to achieve equality and control their destinies.
“The issues that women and female-presenting people fought for in the 60s and 70s are still ongoing,” said Cynthia Landry, chair of the SEIU 1021 Women’s Solidarity Committee. “In fact—albeit in horrific ways—the issues facing women and bodily autonomy is more at threat now. After a decades-long coordinated strategic assault on women’s rights by right-wing extremists, Roe v. Wade was overturned by an unelected conservative court in a six-to-three decision. That decision last year is a blatant attack on reproductive freedom and directly opposes the people’s will. And we know it will be felt even more acutely for women of color, low-income individuals, young people, those in rural communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and others who already face higher barriers to care.”
Recent attacks on women’s rights heavily influenced the decision to host a film screening on the issue. The Women’s Solidarity Committee advocates gender equality within the union and at the workplace. Committee members educate union members and employers about gender equality and women’s fair treatment and ensure that women’s concerns are included in all aspects of union work, including contract bargaining, workplace rights, healthcare benefits, and political action.