T he struggle for equal rights in America is as old as our country and beyond. Throughout our history, fear in the guise of “tradition” has prompted our state and federal legislatures to hold tight to old views of privilege and power by passing laws to inhibit the rights of select groups and enhance the benefits of others. This practice of legislative favoritism has prompted a variety of protests by the disenfranchised, while the perceived-disaffected-majority too often perpetuated violence on their minority “oppressors.”

These biased laws sought—and some continue to seek—to limit our people’s rights to: citizenship, emancipation, education, marriage, healthcare, freedom of movement, and/or liberty from gender, race, social, economic, and voting rights discrimination.

In spite of all of that, our country has made progress, though not enough to rise to the level of a protective guarantee of equal rights that can be achieved through an Amendment to the United States Constitution. Many have tried and more continue to work for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment—first introduced in Congress in 1923 by U.S. Representative Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. (nephew of Susan B. Anthony) and written by suffrage pioneer Alice Paul.

This artwork captures the essence of one type of peaceful protest during the 1960s and 1970s.