As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, a new civic initiative is inviting Americans to help imagine what constitutional rights should define the nation’s next 250 years.
A new online public platform—The People’s Bill of Rights 250—invites Americans to propose, discuss and vote on ideas they believe belong in the Constitution. As the U.S. marks 250 years, the bold, interactive project asks Americans not only to reflect on the nation’s founding, but to help shape its future.
The nonpartisan organization The People and executive director Katie Fahey, alongside a coalition of civic, advocacy and cultural leaders, spearheaded the People’s Bill of Rights 250. It invites Americans to answer a simple question: What freedoms, rights and protections should every person in the country be guaranteed over the next 250 years?
Organizers say the most popular ideas will ultimately be presented to Congress as potential constitutional amendments.
“Amending the Constitution requires both legitimacy and public trust. Under Article V, amendments can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of Congress or through a convention called by two-thirds of the states, and must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states. While this process was designed to allow change, it has often kept constitutional renewal out of reach of everyday people. The People’s Bill of Rights 250 seeks to bridge that gap by creating a clear, democratic pathway for the public to deliberate, shape, and collectively endorse new constitutional rights – before they ever reach Congress or the states.”
For Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys, one of the initiative’s most visible champions, the project emerged from a realization that many Americans share: Equal rights are not guaranteed in America.
Keys is not alone: The vast majority of Americans mistakenly believe the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)—which would prohibit discrimination “on account of sex,” including against people of all genders—is already part of the U.S. Constitution. In reality, even though the ERA has has fulfilled the constitutional requirements for ratification (including being ratified by 38 states, the number required under Article V of the Constitution), its legal status remains the subject of ongoing political and legal debate.
After learning about the ERA’s legal limbo, Keys recalled thinking, “I feel like I should have known that!” That moment sparked a broader question about what else the Constitution has yet to guarantee.
The amendment could strengthen protections for abortion rights, reproductive healthcare, immigrant rights and gender equality under the law, according to ERA advocates, including Ting Ting Cheng, director of Columbia Law School’s ERA Project.
The campaign’s message—“Not red, not blue, just you”—reflects its emphasis on bringing together Americans across political and ideological divides. Keys says the movement is an opportunity to restore public ownership of democracy, rather than focus on partisan politics.
“People are losing faith in politics and institutions,” she said during a recent virtual briefing on the platform’s mission. “There is this chance to move beyond outrage and into authorship.”
As Keys explains, the effort “must be truly representative of the entire country,” requiring engagement with communities that “don’t all think 100 percent the same thing.”
A Diverse Alliance Behind People’s Bill of Rights 250
By asking ordinary people to imagine what is missing from the Constitution, the People’s Bill of Rights 250 hopes to transform civic participation from a spectator sport into a collaborative act of constitutional authorship.
Although The People’s Fahey is leading the project, its reach is amplified by a broad coalition of civic, advocacy and cultural organizations. Many of the partners have long histories of advancing women’s equality, constitutional rights and gender justice, including advocacy related to the proposed federal Equal Rights Amendment as well as efforts to strengthen and defend equal rights protections at the state level—“all with the theme of women’s leadership or fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment,” Fahey says of the coalition behind the effort.
One of the initiative’s biggest partners is the ERA Coalition, made up of more than 300 partner organizations across the United States, representing 80 million people. The ERA Coalition’s network includes local, state, national and international organizations, like Fame Currency, a philanthropic and humanitarian organization founded by Leigh Blake that aligns celebrity influence, pop culture and media with pressing global social issues, and She Should Run, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding the talent pool of women running for public office in the U.S., among others.
The virtual briefing earlier this month was a joint effort by the ERA Coalition and partner RepresentWomen, a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes systemic reforms and institutional changes to achieve gender-balanced representation in elected and appointed government offices.
“The need for structural reform has never been greater,” said RepresentWomen’s programs and partnerships manager Tamaya Dennard.
This is part of why singer-songwriter Keys decided to become involved in the project. “We need to have big, audacious ideas.”
How to Get Involved With the Mission
Americans are encouraged to vote and share their own ideas at the People’s Bill of Rights 250’s website. To participate, users must first create an account. A zip code is required to sign up to ensure that only Americans are voting and sharing ideas. However, the site allows for anonymous voting.
While some of the proposed ideas may be similar, it is the wording of each idea that really matters.
In the virtual briefing, Fahey said the People’s Bill of Rights 250 wants people to submit their own ideas so that the organization can learn the “words that resonate with [people]” and “help [them] feel seen.”
This is because when a person shares their own idea, they emphasize the points that matter most to them.
After creating an idea, users can also share it on social media.
Once voting ends, the People’s Bill of Rights will host a small live conversation to decide which ideas resonate the most with voters. The strongest ideas will be written as potential amendments and posted back on the site for another round of voting. If 70 percent or more of the voters support a proposed amendment, then the amendment will be brought to Washington, D.C.
Once in D.C., the People’s Bill of Rights 250 will begin its lobbying campaign to get the proposed amendments into the Constitution.
Under Article V of the Constitution, there are two ways to initiate the amendment adoption process:
- Congress can initiate the constitutional process.
- A Convention of States can convene, in which every state sends representatives to discuss, debate and rewrite the proposed amendments. Congress then must vote on the amendments. If two-thirds of Congress vote to adopt an amendment, then it is up to the states. Thirty-eight states must vote to ratify the amendments before they can officially become part of the Constitution.
To be clear, it can be a long and challenging process to ratify an amendment—as we have seen with the ERA.
Whether or not any of the proposed amendments ultimately become part of the Constitution, the People’s Bill of Rights 250 represents something increasingly rare in American public life: an invitation for American citizens to help shape the national conversation about rights, equality and democracy.
At a time when many Americans feel disconnected from their local and national government, the People’s Bill of Rights 250 asks a crucial question: How can the nation’s founding ideals be expanded to better serve everyone?
For supporters, the People’s Bill of Rights 250 is one possible answer—a step toward a Constitution that more fully reflects the voices, experiences and aspirations of the people it is meant to protect.
Keys said it best when addressing how this coalition is aiming to have a positive impact on the status of equality in America: “We’re talking about amending the Constitution, and in the process, we’re going to amend ourselves.”
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A note from Ms. editors: We want to hear from you for The Majority, a new campaign collecting stories about how reproductive freedom has enabled readers to build the lives they want and need. Poll after poll shows a majority of Americans support reproductive healthcare access. Yet public debate overlooks the lives shaped by abortion access, contraception, IVF, miscarriage care, maternal healthcare or comprehensive sex education—countless women who chose to pursue an education, have children, not have children, protect their health and chart their own future. Add your voice and complete the sentence: “Access to reproductive choices gave me the freedom to….” Together, these stories will help show not only why reproductive freedom remains a majority value, but also what it makes possible.
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