What an eventful summer! It’s a season that ushered in ADAPT protests, losing a dear friend, being part of exciting projects, writing articles as an extension of my advocacy, wild and unprecedented weather with massive flooding and fires in parts of the nation here in the states and around the globe, and receiving word about an upcoming honor in the fall. “Boring” is a foreign and remote concept right now. While I have some time to catch my breath and since my poor blog has been a bit neglected a quick check-in and update is warranted.
I will also be celebrating a milestone birthday when I turn *45* at the end of the month. I am tickled and then recall the last time I actually had a birthday party; it was way back when I turned 14! Like *wow*…when high top fades, feathered haircuts, and “painted on jeans” reigned supreme. When among my biggest hopes were to fill out my hips in dope clothing and making sure my braces stayed food free when flashing my train-track smile. May or may not have included snagging slightly older cuties to cut a rug with too…oh how the priorities change ever so slightly over time. Shoulder-bouncing to some other beats at the moment.
Presently, I’m looking forward to an upcoming exciting interview, talk more about that later. Also, keeping my eye on pesky bills like #HR620 which threatens to weaken ADA protections and give business owners more power on taking their sweet time remedying access complaints and violations. This infuriates me and fuels my drive to somehow make sure this does not succeed as it is so counterproductive to the goal of gaining greater accessibility to local businesses. I’ve written about this endeavor most recently here.
Another is the #GrahamCassidy bill which is basically yet another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act aka “Obamacare.” It would give states more funding control over programs like Medicaid however the astronomical surcharges would be the death knell for many Black and Brown women with chronic health conditions like asthma, congestive heart failure, diabetes, breast cancer, etc living at the intersection of poverty and disproportionately experience healthcare disparities.
Bearing both bills in mind, I know what I’ll be including on my to-do list this week which is contacting my representatives in Congress to make sure they do *not* support either one of the bills. Will you join me? You can find your elected officials here.
Next question is when will we catch a break from what feels like a relentless battering ram of assault on quality of life areas and overall sensibilities? ‘Cause I’m tired y’all and it ain’t from dancing, from trying to dodge disrespectful bills.