PRESS RELEASE

What:                        ERA March to the US Capitol

Why:                          To Promote the Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

When:                        8:00 am – 5:00 pm Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Where:                      St. Stephen and the Incarnation 1525 Newton Street, Washington DC, to the Upper Senate Area, National Mall, Washington DC

Contact:                    Ms. Helene de Boissiere Swanson, Co-Founder – Katrina’s Dream,  <415-233-2048>  mailto:helene@katrinasdream.org

Website:                    https://www.katrinasdream.org/era/dc-era-blessing-walk-and-rally/

WOMEN’S RIGHTS SUPPORTERS TO MARCH TO THE US CAPITOL

The Herstoric March on Women’s Equality Day will start at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, following the 8 a.m. blessing of the walkers by Bishop Joe Morris Doss, retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, many will accompany Helene de Boissiere Swanson for the final four miles of this 7,000 mile spiritual pilgrimage to the U.S. Capitol to promote the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. The four-mile route passing the White House and on to the Upper Senate Park at National Mall where feminists and human rights activists will hold a press conference, and then rally for the ERA.

A statement from the Presiding Bishop and Primate Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA) will be read at the Press Conference.

The day following the march and rally several groups in conjunction with Katrina’s Dream are coordinating a lobbying effort to call upon senators and representative to co-sponsor S.J. Res 15 and H.J. Res 51 respectively.

 Background

Swanson, an aspirant for the priesthood of the Church of North India, co-founded Katrina’s Dream in memory of her late mother-in-law, the Rev. Katrina Martha Van Alstyne Welles Swanson. Katrina was one of the 11 women irregularly ordained to the priesthood in 1974, becoming the U.S. Episcopal Church’s first female priests. When the ERA failed to be ratified by the necessary 38 states, Katrina began to recite the Pledge of Allegiance “with Liberty and Justice for SOME!” When questioned “Why ‘some”? she would reply, “Because the ERA was voted down, retired women are more likely to live in poverty than men.”

The 15 non-ratifying states, in the order Swanson has walked through them, are Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Katrina’s Dream is active in working with the homeless, developing sustainable practices, prison law reform, education in Botswana, developing programs in India, and the full inclusion of women in all areas of life.

For more media links on the pilgrimage please click here.