Standing Strong in Austin

Okay, I am about to burst to be at the High Noon Rally in Austin today.  Just learned that two friends-members of the SC Democratic Women's Council are there and sending photos.

As you may know, this rally came about after Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis pulled off an old-timey filibuster last week, speaking —on topic, no food or bathroom breaks, no leaning on or even touching the podium—for 11 hours.  The topic was the complex, comprehensive "anti-abortion" bill that was about to pass.  She ran the clock out and the bill died; however,  the intellectual giant of a governor of the Lone Star State called the Legislature back to meet in special session today for the purpose of passing the bill.  So, women from all around are rallying to protest.

 


(Thanks to Rollyn Carlson for sharing the photos with the SCDWC!)

 

 Senator Wendy Davis and her hot pink running shoes are likely to show up in Women's Studies curricula around the country before long.   She embodies the reason, intelligence, determination and stamina all women possess.  ALL women.  And the ways we use those things are as different as our unique personalities.  It would be a mistake to think that we are not all "in this" just because we express ourselves differently.  We are IN this fight.  I feel it in my solar plexus.  In my gut. I can feel the energy in the photos.  And this, my friends, is happening in Texas!  I lived there for three years, and it's a man's world on some serious steroids.  Many men there are "all hat and no cattle" but they certainly don't see themselves that way.  They're right proud of being manly men.  Or their sad notion of what that means.   The "lone star"— and it should be gold — should be enshrined in Austin.  The Lone Star City.  That's where much of the reasonable, creative, progressive, intellectual population seems to be concentrated.   (A word to non-Austin Lefties:  Please don't be insulted.  I live in South Carolina, for goodness sake.  I'm not proud of the current and recent government here, nor do I respect the antiquated attitudes of many of my fellow citizens.  You are not alone.  We can love our states and still feel that way.)

 

  Seeing the raised umbrella in the photo above, I imagine rain is falling, but it won't dampen the spirits of the women there.  And the fact that the rest of us aren't there won't dampen our determination to do whatever we can, wherever we can and however we can to make our voices heard.  We won't allow our hard-won reproductive rights to be infringed upon.  In our nation's capitol, the Republican-majority Congress has done its damndest to restrict women's health choices ever since a weepy Speaker Boehner gaveled the House to order on Day 1.  Instead of working on legislation that might lead to job creation or voting for the President's proposals to increase jobs, they became obsessive about limiting women's access to health care.  They were in a mad frenzy to shut down Planned Parenthood, primary health care provider for a huge number of women who otherwise would not have health screenings, family planning counseling, and basic care.   And, yes, a place to have a pregnancy safely and legally terminated if necessary.

 

 

 

And State Legislatures are following suit.  Did you know that in twenty-four states—almost half— the Legislative and Executive branches of government are Republican-majority?  Yep, House, Senate, and the Governor's office!  If that's not a reason to become more vocal and more involved in general, I don't know what is.  And, very important:  It's one more reason we need to rally for restoration of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  Since the Court's ruling last week, all sorts of voter suppression efforts have been launched.  Some within an hour of the ruling. There are no longer protections in place to challenge or halt unfair practices leading to voter suppression.  (Some talking head pointed out that anyone can initiate a lawsuit.  The "conservative" who said that knew good and well that litigation is cost-prohibitive for most people, and federal intervention is still badly needed.)   We need to be activists on this important issue as well as women's rights— for so many reasons.  One of the practical ones is that the Republicans are drawing district lines left and right (mostly right) to assure they will gain or continue their majorities in state governments.  And in Congress.  We can write off any gains in 2014 if Section 5 isn't reinstated in some form ASAP.

 

So, let's rally, march, visit our legislators until they are sick of us, write letters to editors, speak up in conversations, and stand with our sisters and brothers in other states as our support is needed.  And it's always good to have a crowd, don't you think?  Most of all, let's remember this:  The easiest way to lose our power is believing we have no power.  We do have power.  Let's use it wisely, well and often in the days ahead.