RATIFIED – Review by Loren King
Kudos to directors Deborah Riley Draper and Sabaah Folayan for bringing, with vitality and a razor sharp perspective, 100 years of history up to the present and making it fascinating, relevant and, yes, infuriating. Ratified succinctly traces the the birth of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the year 1924 through gains and losses, always with a focus on the pivotal but, unsurprisingly, neglected role unfailingly played by women of color.
The bipartisan momentum of the 1970s shifted and fell apart in the ‘80s with the rise of Phyllis Schlafly and the radical right; the misinformation and fear mongering that is depicted in eye-opening archival footage holds up a mirror to today’s concerning circumsances. After presenting its instructive retrospective, the film trains a lens on the contemporary fight in Virginia to make it, after a long and acrimonious struggle, the 38th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
The documentary gives voice to some of the dogged leaders in that years-long effort, including the indefatigable local organizer Kati Hornung; the eloquent and fierce Virginia state delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy; and Virginia congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, among others.
Ratified is many things in its relatively short running time: a valuable historical primer that should serve as a teaching tool; a look at in-the-trenches grassroots political activism at work; and a shout out to the courageous and determined women, particularly Black women, who walk the talk, then and now. It’s everything an issue-oriented, social justice film should be — and, by the way, it’s supremely entertaining and inspiring.
