I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Author: Sheila Morris

  • while I breathe, I hope – can I get an amen, sisters?

    while I breathe, I hope – can I get an amen, sisters?


    ticket never used – ERA defeated in South Carolina

    In 1972 the United States Senate approved the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification. The following is the gist of the amendment according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

    “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

    Despite the best efforts of many women (and a few men, too), the state of South Carolina failed to become one of the thirty-eight states needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment by the 1979 deadline (later moved to 1982) that was approved in 1972 by the SC House of Representatives in a unanimous vote but blocked in the state Senate primarily through the deception of the most powerful Senator Marion Gressette who advised supporters they had his yes vote if they wouldn’t create chaos in the state with their protests. Led by the South Carolina Coalition for the ERA organized in 1973, attorney Malissa Burnette who was president of the newly formed Columbia Chapter of the National Organization for Women, two women from the national leadership of NOW sent to South Carolina to help with lobbying in the Senate in 1977, activists relied on the word of Senator Gressette who ultimately voted against ratification to block the amendment.

    Virginia became the 38th. state to ratify the ERA in 2020, but unfortunately the deadlines for ratification were long gone, and today controversy remains in Congress over whether they can change the deadline to accommodate the Virginia vote.

    When Pretty and I toured the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D. C. in 2003, we saw this quote of his that best expresses my social justice activism over the last fifty years:

    “We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.”

    While we breathe, we hope. Can I get an amen, sisters?

    Onward.

  • what have you done today to make you feel proud?

    what have you done today to make you feel proud?


    writer Dottie Ashley did groundbreaking reporting

    in The State newspaper on December 10, 1989

    Four years later co-founders Freddie Mullis, Dan Burch, Jeff Plachta and I returned home from the March on Washington in April of 1993 with a vision shared by many members of the queer community that South Carolina deserved a seat at the table with our brothers and sisters on the west and east coasts who were motivated to make a collective economic impact that would effect positive changes for justice, inclusion, and prosperity for everyone. We were ready to organize, and the Guild was formed to focus on these economic issues, to work alongside the already functioning Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, to create a safe space to gather socially outside the bars – a revolutionary concept in South Carolina at the time.

    First business meeting of the Guild in September, 1993

    The first Palmetto State Business newsletter published by the Guild featured a photo of co-founders Dan Burch (l) and Jeff Plachta (r) with James Carville at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in Columbia.

    Guild members marching in Pride Parade in Columbia

    Growing yellow with age in a folder in my office was this typed note from a 40 year old woman in Florence, South Carolina who wrote to us in the first year we began our meetings:

    I became aware of your organization via your Internet website…I would very much like to join your organization and look forward to meeting other members from the various businesses and professions represented in your organization. Would you please send me information as well as an application for membership so that I may join the Business Guild? I think it is wonderful that the Gay/Lesbian community of S. C. has a Business Guild. Thank you…

    British soul singer Heather Small’s lyrical question what have you done today to make you feel “Proud” is one we must answer for ourselves not only in the queer community but also as a country. I feel proud of the Guild that touched the lives of so many people during its nearly thirty year history. The torch was passed to a new generation of Americans according to President John Kennedy in the early 1960s, but our generation probably wasn’t what he hoped we would be. With our last breaths, however, we have the opportunity to make ourselves feel proud again.

    Onward.

  • one lesbian’s journey for a simple matter of justice (part 1)

    one lesbian’s journey for a simple matter of justice (part 1)


    30 years later we remain people you know and like

    thanks to Pretty for taking these pictures

    (we were there with different partners and friends – she saved pictures)

    When I left Columbia, South Carolina in April of 1993 to drive to Washington, D. C. with my partner and two gay friends to participate in a weekend known as the 1993 March for Gay, Lesbian and Bi Equal Rights, I had no idea my life would be changed forever by the events I took part in. Change was in the air – I could feel a seismic shift from my personal shame and fear to a collective sense of pride as I walked with the South Carolina delegation in the middle of this mass of humanity that championed a cause I had needed since I was a child growing up in the piney woods of rural southeast Texas, thinking I was the only one with feelings I dared not express. At forty seven years of age I felt a sense of belonging, a feeling that this wave of a million people marching for a simple matter of justice had finally brought me home.

    the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on display that weekend –

    next to the Washington Monument

    Onward.

  • what do Ella, Leora and Jimmy Carter have in common?

    what do Ella, Leora and Jimmy Carter have in common?


    And the answer is October 1st. is their birthday.

    former President Jimmy Carter is 99 years old today

    my Texas sister Leora has an age number, but hers is unlisted

    our granddaughter Ella is four years old today

    Each person I celebrate today with faith and hope that the next generations will have the opportunities to continue their journeys toward destinations of personal joy, public service, and commitment to equal justice for all.

    Happy Birthday to Ella, Leora and Mr. President!

  • Pretty gets extra credit for trying


    Picture this scene. Pretty was working in her large warehouse full of antique empire treasures for the final hour of what had already been a trying day when a couple appeared in the doorway and asked her if they could look around for a few minutes. She said sure but she had to leave to pick up her dog from the vet by 6 o’clock. When they walked past her, Pretty noticed the middle aged man wore a red maga cap. She was surprised and thought about asking them to leave, she told me later. Instead, she decided to try to have a reasonable conversation with people who had different political positions.

    What she learned was the couple traveled to every rally – they had gone to one in Summerville, South Carolina last week and were on their way to Iowa for a rally there. When she asked what attracted them to the ex-president, the man responded with the usual make America great slogan. When pressed further, he went on to tell a story about Mr. Trump’s being the son of the late WWII General George Patton who had been told by the Illuminati to give this son to the Trump family that would make him a billionaire who would become president of the United States and make America great again. He showed Pretty a picture of Patton and Trump with a comment about the obvious family resemblance.

    At this point Pretty realized a sensible conversation was out of the question so she told the couple she really needed to close the warehouse to pick up her dog. On the way out, the man turned to Pretty and said my name is Joe, and this is my friend Nancy; this won’t be the last time you hear our names.

    ****************

    I give Pretty credit for trying to reach across the political spectrum, but I’m sure the Illuminati must be disappointed in her refusal to play along with the conspiracy theories of the other side. As for me, I’ve got nothing except a fear for the future of the republic.