Y’all, my Afro is featured in The New York Times!
Check it out.
I was interviewed about the Missouri Democratic Party’s
platform drama earlier this year. I served on the platform committee and, after
a prolife Dem added template language from Democrats for Life to nullify the
pro-choice section of the platform, I worked with fellow committee members to
right that wrong. Anyhoo, the Times wanted to revisit the whole thing and I
damn sure wasn’t going to let a prolife Dem spout nonsense unchallenged.
The article is solid.
The podcast is slanted, and it seems
that they want to cast the prolife Dem as a victim and all the rest of us as unreasonable.
Thus, this post!
***pause … crack knuckles … continue***
After the disaster of 2016, I made several promises to
myself.
First, that I am not going to organize to get back to where
we’ve already been.
Second, as a Black woman who is part of the most reliable
voting block on the left, I will either be respected and heard as such or I
will take action to hold those accountable who fail to do so.
And finally, that I will not take strategic advice from
groups of folk who haven’t refreshed their strategy in damn near ten years.
Wait.
I also pledged to wear leggings as often as possible,
because this sistah requires comfort in these troubled times.
Blink.
So, I approached my service on the platform committee with
all those things in mind.
Shall we?
Things I wish I’d thought to say during the interview …
Access to abortion is not some insignificant wedge issue
that politicians can chose whether or not to champion based on how they think
their district feels about it. Reproductive
healthcare is key to every single progressive issue Democratic claim to
champion, so failing to support the full spectrum of services indicates a fundamental
lack of understanding how policy works.
There can be no economic justice without reproductive
justice. The ability to control whether or not you get pregnant, whether to
carry a pregnancy to term, and the spacing between children is a big fucking
deal. It means the difference between being able to make ends meet or not,
being able to get an advanced degree or attend college/training or not. For
some people, it is the difference between life or death. I’m passionate about access because IT FUCKING MATTERS.
Folk can’t claim to be pro-worker and support policies that
would allow employers to block coverage for reproductive healthcare.
Dems can’t claim to be working to lift folk out of poverty and
support policies that ban abortion coverage for poor women and defund programs
that make it easier to afford birth control.
You can’t claim to stand with Black women and then dismiss
our leadership, ignore our demands, and support policies that promote
reproductive oppression.
And you can’t say a platform is pro-choice if it includes
language stating that the party will welcome people who do not support abortion
access and see their presence as a strength.
In conclusion …
As I said earlier in this post, I am not organizing to return
to where we have already been. I regret almost every compromise I’ve made over
the years on core progressive policy. They didn’t result in wins, they just slowed
down losing.
In our new reality we have the opportunity to build
something better that is informed by the fuck-ups of the past. I’m here for
that. I’ll work hard on that.
What I’m not going to do is quietly sit back and watch folk
perpetuate abortion stigma while pushing an appeasement strategy that is surrender
by another name.
Toodles.
7 comments:
“You have to believe in something in order for somebody to believe in you. You can’t be such a watered-down thing.”
This.
Like Blue Gal says, as Democrats, we need to lead with our values.
The compromising away of those values is how they win, not just on the specific issues, but on the whole Overton window placement that decides whether we get heard at all.
Thank you for fighting this fight. As a white man in California, it can sometimes feel like the front lines are a long way away from me, but I've been around for long enough to know better by now.
And congratulations on the NYT article. They need a whole lot more content like you and your writing, and a bit less of the conservative old white men sector, in my opinion.
-Doug in Oakland
Brilliant, as always.
The 'fro and the politics remain righteous. Love from the Chi!
*slow clap* thank you for your work!
Thank you! And welcome back! I missed having someone articulate my thoughts as well as you do.
The same people who want to get rid of choice and be pro life are also pro war WTF!
How does that work? They want to force people(ie read white women('cause they could really care less about the rest of folk) to have babies because they think they are being overtaken by all the brown folk. But then they don't want to take care of those kids once they are here. And...... they will send folks to war to kill at the drop of a hat. Why doesn't pro life cover starting un-willable wars? Been fighting Jihad since March 2002. Is at war throughout the world. Why doesn't anyone ask them this question?
So nice to read the Angry Black Lady once again. I love this post. You are absolutely right. We must have a total platform that supports every aspect of lifting up the people of America. No more compromise like the dems have been doing for 30 years. I'm sick of seeing no progress. We need to either progress or die pushing forward!
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