Sunday, May 16, 2010

Get back up, dust self off and continue…


I don’t know ‘bout you, but a sistah needs some Mavis Staples singing We Shall Not Be Moved right now (click here for a listen).

Gawd, I love this song.

Shall we?

We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
Union is behind us
We shall not be moved
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved


The 2010 Session of the Missouri Legislature has ended.

Legislators passed an abortion restriction bill, an ethically challenged ethics reform bill…they cut funding to all manner of programs and services…and they sent to the August ballot an unenforceable measure to allow Missouri voters to decide whether to opt out of federal health care reform.

The Missouri legislature failed to pass a single jobs bill…a bitch suspects that multiple days spent pandering to sovereignty supporters and crafting legislation to insult and oppress women ate up a lot of time.

Sigh.

This was a rough one…but we who fight for social justice shall not be moved.

We're fighting for our freedom
We’re fighting for our freedom
We shall not be moved
Like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
Fighting for our children
We shall not be moved
We're fighting for our children
We shall not be moved
Like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
Black and white together
We shall not be moved
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved


I listened to the end of the session Friday, logged off my computer and made myself a stiff as hell vodka cran.

I was disgusted and tired as hell of this bullshit.

But I woke up yesterday and reminded myself that they call this a struggle for a reason.

We didn’t lose the war this session…maybe a battle or two, but certainly not the war.

Reproductive justice advocates did not walk away from this session empty handed – expedited partner therapy, which allows doctors to write a prescription for a person’s partner too when a person is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI), passed and will be law.  As a resident of St. Louis city, where STI rates are some of the highest in the nation, this is an awesome legislative win that will have a positive impact on my community.

A fluff of the Afro to all who worked so hard for years to make expedited partner therapy (EPT) a reality!

Ohhh
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
Well now
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved
Ohhh
We shall not be moved
We shall not be moved
Like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved


This bitch is preparing for what's next…for the work yet to be done.

And the truth is still true…regardless of the lies and misinformation spewed under the dome in Jefferson City.

Our cause is just.

There is no true freedom without reproductive justice.

And we shall not be moved.

Onward!

***logs off grooving to Mavis and refueling my activist soul***

6 comments:

J.Go said...

Dude, the tears literally welled when I first heard what they'd done. Between this and Okahoma's recent bullshit (my home state), it makes me despair of a woman's future.

So thanks for this awesome post and reminding us that we still have plenty of fight left, and this is just an unfortunate roadblock on the path to reproductive justice! =D

CeCe said...

Keep your hear up and keep fighting!

Every victory is just a sign that the next is around the corner.

Anonymous said...

It is hard to understand how something like this could pass. What a waste of time and money. I guess when you can't figure out how to really make a difference you reach for the smoke, the mirror, and the drum, and start in on something that has nothing to do with anything. This law is one of those moments for the legislators. It is not going to make a difference in unemployment, crime, environmental issues..... and so on. They have no answers for the things that really matter so they lazily fall back on reproductive rights, or wrongs in their case. This is a prime example of laziness and lack of vision. It is frustrating because there is so much real work that needs to be done and these bozos are wasting time.

JoyMama said...

Thank you for this. The struggle must go on, will go on.

Reminds me also that "Every NO is one step closer to a YES."

(P.S. Somewhere in that legislative mess, didn't I hear that MO did manage to pass some semblance of an insurance mandate for autism treatment coverage, for kids at least?)

Shark-Fu said...

Hi Joy!

Yes, the Autism Insurance Bill finally passed and is headed to the Governor.

There were a lot of NOs before we finally got to that YES...

Nat said...

Very true, it's a struggle. And we shall not be moved... and I 'll try not to take it to heart when I look at what the supposedly elected evil overlords try to pull fast ones on human rights and on reproductive ones...

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