Thursday, September 25, 2014

Call of Duty

Young people, WAKE UP!

Hopefully, you are paying attention to what's going on right now in Colorado. What you might not know is that the efforts to control curriculum in Colorado are backed by Americans For Prosperity, a Conservative think-tank that is funded by the Koch Brothers.

Our access to comprehensive sex-education is under attack. Here in my state of North Carolina, the Conservative-controlled legislature has taken away the opportunity for 16 and 17 year olds to pre-register to vote, ended the tax deduction for 529 College Savings Plans, and made cuts to public education affecting both teachers and students.

Our environment is in dire need of protection and our President just addressed the United Nations saying, “We cannot condemn our children and their children to a future that is beyond their capacity to repair."

The Koch Brothers and their friends, through organizations like Americans for Prosperity and ALEC, come up with policies and model legislation and then these policies go on tour. This means that what you've seen happening in Colorado and with curriculum materials in Texas could soon be coming to a school near you. It means voting rights and opportunities in your state could be coming under attack if they are not already. It means that you could have a better chance of seeing fracking in your state than policies to protect your environment.

The Koch Brothers and their friends are counting on your continued complacency. They are counting on you being too absorbed in your new iPhone or the latest video game to bother to register a single voter. They are counting on you not talking to others about the issues and the candidates you support. They are counting on you to think calling out the absurd and crazy ideas some of their candidates support is "negativity" and they are counting on you to feel powerless, helpless, and hopeless in the face of our challenges.

The future of our nation is counting on you to stand up, speak up, and take action. Your fellow citizens are counting on you to fulfill the promise of the leaders who came before us. We are part of the vision they had for our country and we have the responsibility to honor their legacy.

From now through the upcoming midterms and beyond, we must be engaged. Our challenges will not be met in one election cycle. We must remain vigilant and active to send a clear message to the Koch Brothers and their friends that the future of the United States can not be bought and that young people will not be discouraged by their messages that disparage and attempt to dissuade us.

There is no challenge we face that we cannot overcome through the power of the people at the polls. It has always been the young people of this country who have helped move us forward. If we stop, progress stops. This is our choice. This is our charge. This is the real call of duty.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Don't Stop Believin'

So I don't know how this happened, but today I'm packing my suitcase and preparing to go speak at a rally in Washington DC with some really epic people at the We Are Woman Constitution Day Rally on Saturday the 13th.

Over the last few days, as many of us have been working to promote the rally and continue much needed fundraising, I've read a lot of comments, most of them very supportive and encouraging, some of them not. It's important that, as we move forward, we don't get caught up too much in the not.

There is a segment of the population whose only purpose in life is to be against things. The interwebs make this easy for them because anybody with a keyboard can find posts they disagree with and type words, no matter how badly spelled and grammatically incorrect.

Phyllis Schalfly and the women who agree with her should have the opportunity to be the kind of women they want to be. What they shouldn't have is the ability to impose their standards on the rest of us.

When one group decides based on their interpretation of one of the many religions that exist that we should all live according to their beliefs and it's apparently too much for them to deal with others making different choices, we have to let them know this is unacceptable.

It's the way in which we choose to make this known that's important.

I'm very excited about the We Are Woman rally and I'm so honored to have the opportunity to represent my state and my generation of women.

The best way you can support all the men and women involved in organizing and participating in this event, is to make a donation.
http://www.wearewoman.us/donate

Also, on Friday, Sept. 12th, the names of those who have pledged to vote for economic equality for all, the Equal Rights Amendment, and ballot access for all citizens will be delivered to our members of congress. Please make sure your name is on the list and that you ask your friends to add theirs too.
http://www.wearewoman.us/take-our-pledge

We will not be deterred. We will fight for the rights of our fellow citizens, even the ones we might not agree with sometimes. We won't blame others for our problems. We'll work for solutions.