Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

[third in the series] 

Women had few legal rights in early U.S. history. Single women could serve as guardians, sue and be sued and act as executors of estates, but little else, including the right to vote. Married women, under the British laws of “coverture” which remained in place after the revolution, could not own property, control their own money, sign legal documents, or vote. In both instances, men represented women in these affairs. Despite Abigail Adams urging her husband and future President, John Adams, to “Remember the Ladies,” in establishing the new government, he responded, “We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.”

Adams wasn’t the only prominent woman early on advocating for women's rights. The 1772 book by enslaved poet Phillis Wheatly challenged the narrative that blacks and women were inferior to men. “On the Equality of Sexes” by Judith Sargent Murray and “The Vindication of the Rights of Women” by Mary Wollstoncraft were other early writings affirming that women were human beings, not property, deserving of basic rights. A century later, Susan B. Anthony stated, “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. Suffragette Mary Livermore, noted: “Above the titles of wife and mother, which, although dear, are transitory and accidental, there is the title human being, which precedes and out-ranks every other.”

The Abolitionist Movement was the spark for the century-long Women’s Right Movement. Women began to speak out publicly against slavery despite discrimination in male-led abolitionist organizations. More radical abolitionists in the 1830s demanded the immediate end to slavery and women’s rights split with those simply calling for a more gradual end to slavery. Women gained valuable experience in organizing, speaking and writing. The refusal to seat and hear from Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, two staunch abolitionists and women’s rights advocates at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, was a major factor in the eventual creation of a separate women’s rights movement.

A cultural shift toward women’s rights was underway. 

At Move to Amend, we believe that creativity is a powerful tool for change. The arts —poetry, music, visual art, and literature — have always been integral to every social movement in this country and beyond. From the resistance of past generations to today’s battles against corporate rule, artists have led the charge in inspiring others to stand up for justice, equity, sustainability and democracy. 

The fight against corporate personhood and the corrupting influence of money in politics is deeply connected to the power of art. Through various forms of expression, we aim to expose the impact of big money in elections and corporate influence on our democratic processes. Whether through songs, films, poetry, or literature, artists are helping to shine a light on the dangers of corporate rule, and how it affects every aspect of our lives.

We’ve begun assembling an “art collection” of poems, music, literature, and films. This list is just the beginning. 

To mark World Poetry Day, below are two poems from Move to Amend supporters, plus a poetic song on the corrupting influence of money in politics.

Miami Valley Today
March 1, 2025

By Deb Hogshead

Guest columnist

January 21 was the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a ruling that opened the floodgates of big money into political campaigns. At the Troy City Council meeting that night, I made a statement explaining why we need to close those floodgates and end the misguided doctrine that a corporation is a person with the same inherent, inalienable constitutional rights as you and me.

Since then, we’ve seen two very significant things happen.

First, we’ve seen how $288 million can buy a seat in the White House and a platform to speak from the Oval Office.

Second, we’ve seen the We the People Amendment get re-introduced in Congress as House Joint Resolution 54. The proposed amendment requires the regulation of campaign spending and makes clear that constitutional rights belong to natural persons only.

Greg Coleridge, national co-director of Move to Amend, will discuss corporate money in politics at 6 p.m. March 26 at Birchard Public Library, according to an announcement.

Coleridge said a record $20 billion was spent on the 2024 presidential campaign, with much of it coming from billionaires and corporations.

“Proposed corporate regulatory cuts, billionaire tax cuts and cuts to federal programs relied on by middle and lower-income people are simply the predictable results of a rigged political system,” Coleridge said.

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

[second in the series] 

                                                    - William Myers

Chattel slavery, the system where people are treated as property by being bought, sold, and owned, goes back thousands of years and across “civilizations.” It has often been seen as an unavoidable aspect of human history, where the powerful few force labor upon others.

Enslaved Africans first arrived on the North American continent to present day St. Augustine, FL in the mid 16th century. About 450,000 enslaved Africans ended up being transported to North America.

The actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by billionaire Elon Musk, has been among the most controversial of any following its creations by executive order. Exposing and resisting several major actions of DOGE is important. These include the multiple conflicts of interest between Musk and DOGE’s agency targets; efforts to gut agencies (e.g, USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Education Department and EPA), and cutting federal spending of DEI programs, National Institute of Health biomedical research and federal workers. On the horizon are eliminating scores of so-called “inefficient” federal regulations that hinder corporations.

People protest against President Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5, 2025. Drew Angerer/AFP 

At the root of DOGE’s mission, however, is to not simply reduce government size or even loot public spending (i.e. Musk has received billions in federal subsidies for Tesla, as well as tens of billions more in government contracts and programs). The ultimate goal of Musk/DOGE and reactionary right technocrats accomplices is the replacement of “democratic” government with a corporate state.

Over 2000 Move to Amend supporters like you called or emailed  Congressional offices around the 15th Anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision urging them to become an original co-sponsor of the We the People Amendment.

The initiative, calling for ending “corporate personhood” and “money spent in elections equals free speech," will be introduced in the next month Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Another 19 Congressional offices were personally visited by MTA supporters – in many cases during extreme weather conditions. 

The calls, emails and visits could not be more timely as we are witnessing in real time the beginnings of the returns billionaires and corporations are receiving for their political investments to the Trump campaign – everything from cabinet and ambassador appointments to efforts to gut government regulatory protections that protect our health, safety and environment.

Your involvement in pushing for systemic change is all the more important at the same time that we help resist the daily threats to peoples and communities. Only systemic change like the We the People Amendment solves systemic political and economic problems that we face.

If you didn’t before, click on the image to watch Rep. Jayapal’s message of support for the We the People Amendment.

Watch the recording by clicking on the image

Wednesday, January 28, 2025

The history of social movements in the United States (and many other nations) involves changing structures/systems and the culture. The two are inextricably linked. No significant just and/or democratic change happens without a mass movement. That can only be created when people support and take action organizing for fundamental change in laws, institutions, and/or constitutions.

Preceding and operating in tandem with systemic change is cultural change – the creation of a collective desire and belief that fundamental change is needed, possible, realistic, and, finally, inevitable. Cultural change also includes shared vision, values and actions that represent an alternative to those currently in charge. 

Cleveland.com | January 29, 2025

FILE - The Supreme Court in Washington, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) AP

Dayton Daily News | January 21, 2025

Heather Sturgill is a resident of Troy, OH and volunteers with the local “Move to Amend.” (CONTRIBUTED)

January 21 marks 15 years since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which equated corporate political spending with free speech and reinforced the notion of “corporate personhood”. This ruling has had profound impacts, granting corporations outsized influence over our political landscape. Recent events underscore the dangers of equating corporate rights with individual rights, particularly when such actions undermine public welfare.

News articles about ByteDance, being forced to sell TikTok over national security issues underscores these risks. But TikTok isn’t the only foreign owned company in the US. According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, as of January 2023, 252 Chinese companies were listed on the top three U.S. stock exchanges. This figure excludes smaller private businesses and companies with over 50% foreign-owned stockholders.

PRESS RELEASE

For release on January 21, 2025

Contacts: Greg Coleridge, [email protected], 216-255-21840 | Cole Bennett, [email protected], 404-783-1362

Reversing Citizens United isn’t enough
National group calls for “Legalizing Democracy” by abolishing “corporate personhood” and money defined as free speech on 15th anniversary of Supreme Court decision

Move to Amend is calling for an intensive congressional and grassroots effort to pass a constitutional amendment to end corporate constitutional rights and the doctrine that money spent in elections equals free speech.

The group, a national coalition of hundreds of endorsing organizations and over one half-million supporters, was launched on January 21, 2010; the same day that the Supreme Court ruled on the Citizens United v FEC decision that expanded the constitutional rights of corporations and wealthy individuals to spend money to influence elections. The ruling, widely regarded as one of the most detrimental rulings in American history, has resulted in an unprecedented flood of special interest money from corporate entities and the ultra-wealthy into political campaigns, fundamentally altering the landscape of U.S. elections and politics.

Take Local Action on the 15th Anniversary of Citizens United

ASK: Urge your Congressperson to co-sponsor the We the People Amendment when its introduced in the 119th Session of Congress (HJR54 in 118 Congressional Session)

ACTION: Visit the office of your Congressperson on Tuesday, January 21. Hold a brief action outside holding signs and/or handing out fliers before going into the office to deliver a letter urging them to co-sponsor and, if possible, meet with local staff to share your views

____

• Dear Colleague Letter from Rep. Jayapal 
  
• Talking Points for 15th Anniversary of Citizens United Action
• Instructions for Taking Local Action at Congressional Offices on January 21
• Draft Letter to Local Office of U.S. Representative -- download, edit and print
• Local Press Release Citizens United v FEC 15th Anniversary -- download, edit and email to local press contacts
• Form: Citizens United 15th Anniversary Lobbying Survey 
• Special Message from Rep. Jayapal on the importance of the We the People Amendment

https://youtu.be/fdoAZB-BbIE

Project 2025, as envisioned by the Heritage Foundation and supporters in the incoming Trump Administration, calls for concentrating the executive branch under the complete control of the U.S. president. Its extreme reactionary policy recommendations in the 900-page plan address nearly every aspect of American life. At much greater risk are basic civil liberties, the rule of law, separation of powers, separation of church and state and other threats to the U.S. Constitution.

We have our own Project 2025

It’s a plan with one primary goal: to increase our efforts to build a powerful and authentically inclusive and democratic people’s movement for an authentic democracy – for the very first time. It’s a movement that must be independent from the influence of billionaires, corporations, big foundations, political parties and government. 

2024 has been a major challenge for Move to Amend with all the attention, energy and resources directed toward the November election. However, your continued interest, direct involvement and financial support allowed us to continue focusing on the systemic goal of ending the corrupting, unjust and environmental catastrophic effects of undue corporate power by amending the Constitution to establish that only human beings, not corporations, are constitutional “persons” and that money raised and spent in elections is not free speech and can be regulated. 

Hi, Thom Hartmann here, author and progressive political commentator. Many of you know me from the #1 rated progressive nationally syndicated radio show, the Thom Hartmann Program.

I'm also a long time supporter of Move to Amend!
Please join with me in supporting their work to end corporate personhood and get big money out of politics.

This effort is more important than ever before. We will witness in 2025 much more blatant and intense schemes to capture the government and culture by corporations and billionaires to increase their power and profit. Resistance to single corporate assaults to individuals, communities and the environment will be important going forward in what will be a climate of attacks on marginalized groups and mass uprisings of people’s movements, and the increasingly corrupt and unjust neoliberal/conservative establishment that I report on daily. 

However, equally, if not more, important, will be widening and deepening educating and mobilizing toward fundamental solutions like the We the People Amendment that increase people power over corporate power and the corrupting influence of money in politics.

by Racine County Eye Staff November 30th, 2023

By Hina Suzuki, THE BADGER PROJECT

If you agree that corporations should not have the same rights as people, and money is not protected speech, this amendment is for you.

The “We the People” Amendment would specify that the rights laid out in the U.S. Constitution are for individual human beings and not for groups of people, such as corporations and labor unions. It also limits political spending and requires all political contributions and expenditures to be publicly disclosed.

Amendment aims to ‘get big money out of politics’

Wisconsin United to Amend, which describes itself as a grassroots, cross-partisan citizens group, has been working for its passage in the state since its founding in 2010.

If you already voted or will tomorrow, you know that elections involve boxes. It may be the box where you drop your ballot outside a Board of Elections headquarters. It might be the 3-sided box stand where you place your ballot to vote in private. Or it could be the secure receptacle where your completed ballot is transported from your voting location to the country Board of Elections for tabulation.

But there’s still another box that involves elections, actually more like the winners of elections. That’s the ever diminishing space elected officials face on all sides to govern, especially if their goal is to genuinely serve the public interest and to ensure a livable natural world. 

The U.S. Constitution boxes in the actions of public officials and, for that matter, all of us. It delineates the extent of our democratic space, rights and responsibilities. Its size has expanded when many Constitutional Amendments like abolishing slavery and the poll tax and granting women the right to vote were passed following broad peoples’ movements. The box has also been enlarged following Constitutional interpretations by the Supreme Court.

But other Supreme Court interpretations have vastly decreased our democratic space – the box that was never was very large to begin with since We the People have never included all the people.

Many of those interpretations involved Supreme Court rulings affirming the power and rights of corporations over the power and rights of citizens and workers. Following each Supreme Court decision, our democratic space contracted. The democratic box became smaller.