Misery and Glee

Below the Belt: A Biweekly Column by NOW President Kim Gandy

October 30, 2005

I hate to take glee at anyone's misery, but I'll admit being pleased that every day brings more dissension in conservative ranks and fresh possibilities for indictments of women's rights opponents in the Congress and over at the White House. Anything that distracts them from slashing our rights, cutting funds for human needs (and starting another war) makes me excited to read the newspaper again!

What with Frist's insider trading (apparently those "blind trusts" could see pretty well after all) , DeLay's indictment and arrest, the "Scooter" Libby indictment and resignation (with hints of more to come), a whole explosion of problems (not to mention lower-than-low public opinion ratings) plaguing the White House, and Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee deep-sixed after a conservative implosion, our opponents are in trouble at every level.

Although there are no handcuffs in sight (the little plastic ones don't count) and no war crimes indictments, still Bush's popularity is at an all-time low and revelations of corruption are sky high. So, for now, I'm enjoying the show. And happy that people are finally catching on the fact that there is something behind the corrupt values of this administration: corrupt people.

More Good News

Adding to the good news — after weeks of complaints from groups like NOW, the Bush administration has finally backed down, and restored the Davis-Bacon "prevailing wage" laws that he had suspended in the Gulf states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The law goes back into effect on November 8, so Halliburton gets one more week to underpay the people who have lost so much and are desperate for work.

We've had two other recent victories! Both houses of Congress finally voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), though they waited until after it expired on September 30. Now we're waiting for a conference committee to work out the kinks. One of the kinks we hope will be tossed out with Scooter Libby's desk blotter is a VAWA amendment from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to require DNA collection from every person who is detained or arrested, even for a minor offense shoplifting! What a joke — apparently he doesn't remember, or doesn't care, how many years we worked to drum up enough money from Congress to even test the DNA in rape kits taken from victims — criminal evidence that was gathering dust because there wasn't enough money to test the DNA that had already been collected.

And it looks like we're going to force the Labor Department to back down from its cynical exclusion of data on women workers from the statistics it collects every month. They're still collecting all the rest of the data, just dropping the gender data, which makes it hard for researchers to determine, in comparison to historical data, the status and advances of women in the workforce over time. Fortunately, Sen. Kennedy passed a Senate amendment to require them to restore the deleted question (which was discontinued in August), and the next challenge will be passing it in the House. Keep those emails going to your House members!

Remembering a True Hero

While we're savoring the latest good news, let's also savor the memory of a true hero.

Rosa Parks' simple yet profound act of courage on December 1, 1955, spurred a nationwide movement for basic human rights for all people of color. Her name is known far and wide — but most people don't know the full story. Parks had been active in the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP for over twenty years before she refused to give up her seat that December day. She advised local youth, helped organize voter registration drives, and even traveled to out of state conferences to learn how to desegregate schools.

Her sitting down on that bus during rush hour was no act of weariness — it was an act of defiance. She was challenging an unjust law. She had spent decades working for justice, and put herself on the line for what she believed in, civil rights and equal justice for all. Sound familiar? She was us. Her life and her role as "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" is a testament to what activists can achieve.

Remember Rosa Parks when you start to get discouraged or feel like your activism doesn't accomplish anything. As Gandhi said, "Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it." So keep up the great work! Who knows which one of the countless actions we do will be the spark that touches off the next revolution?

Following in her Footsteps

If you're of a mind to start right now doing something Rosa Parks would have done, consider joining me in New Orleans in a week, on Monday, November 7th, for a protest march across the Gretna Bridge. I'll be joining Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, and other leaders and activists as we take back the bridge that hundreds of bedraggled Katrina survivors, mostly black, tried to cross to escape the floodwaters and the chaos of the Convention Center.

According to eyewitness reports, they were stopped at gunpoint by Gretna police and local sheriffs, who fired shots over their heads to turn them back into the city. We will be rallying on Monday morning at 10am at the Convention Center, and then marching across the bridge, also called the Crescent City Connection. Please encourage friends and family in the Gulf area to join us in this protest, and to come early for hands-on community service on Sunday as well.

Rosa Parks would be proud.