From the Rotunda: SB5 Legislation

I asked our guest poster Jackie to write up a blog about her experience at the Texas State Capital during Wendy Davis' filibusters and floor vote. I wish I could have been standing by your side!

Last night I joined thousands of protesters at the Texas State Capitol gathered to voice our opposition to SB 5, a bill aiming to ban abortions after 20 weeks and placing new, severe restrictions on clinics and providers. I had been listening to the filibuster all day and wanted so badly to be there to show my support. After work, I headed over to the Capitol, not knowing what to expect.

I was surrounded by a sea of orange. Pizza was being delivered, volunteers were passing out peanut butter sandwiches, apples, and bottled water, and the atmosphere, though serious and determined, was overall friendly and united. We were there, and we weren't leaving. It was time to take back our house.

The line to be admitted into the Senate Gallery wound down 3 levels of the building. We had to decide whether to join the groups in the auditorium watching the debate, or wait in line, not always knowing what was going on in the gallery.

I started in the auditorium. Hundreds of seats were filled with people watching intently, booing attempts to silence Senator Davis, and erupting in cheers when she shut her silencers down. I only wish she could have seen how hard we were rooting for her. After a couple of hours in the auditorium, I headed up to the 3^rd floor rotunda, just outside the Senate Gallery, to meet friends in line waiting to be admitted. The line lurched slowly, and most of us were getting our information from Twitter, Facebook, and friends watching the streaming. A rumor started going around that the Capitol shut its Wi-Fi off, though I can’t say for certain if that’s what happened. I do know that I and many others had Wi-Fi at one point and lost it later. It’s possible it got overloaded.

Things started riling up around 11PM, and the building began to fill with more people. Another rumor started, this time stating that the Capitol was on lockdown. I talked to a State Trooper about that, and he gave a wishy-washy response.

Around that time a podium was wheeled in, and Cecile Richards stood in the middle of the first floor, working with her team, meeting protestors, and encouraging us to keep standing with Senator Davis. We still had little information about what was going on inside, but we passed along all the information we had to each other as our phones started dying.

We erupted when the filibuster got killed. The senate gallery was rushed, and those of us who couldn't get inside started chanting. First, “Wendy.” Next, “We won’t go back.” Later, we sang The Eyes of Texas, letting legislators know we were watching them and we wouldn't forget what they were trying to do. More State Troopers entered the rotunda, and the doors were locked to keep us out.

We became unified as we started to understand that, if we made enough noise at the right times, we could stall the vote. Organizers helped us stay quiet when our legislators were speaking, and encouraged us to cheer and chant when we needed to. We were making our voices heard.

Standing on the first floor, Cecile Richards looked up on the rotunda, screaming with us, waving her hands to get us to cheer louder, and we stomped our feet and banged on whatever we could. The feeling was electric as we counted down to midnight. Cecile held up 3 fingers for 3 minutes, 2 fingers for 2, and 1 for the last minute.

Midnight came and we were still cheering as loud as ever. But then news started to spread that they voted, and it passed. We were confused, upset, and trying to find out any information we could. After 20 minutes, the shouts and chants subdued as we tried to understand what was happening.

I couldn't help but feel defeated. After hours of state legislators combing through rules to silence Senator Davis, it felt like we had been silenced too. Our voices were shut out. I went home feeling like I hadn't done enough.

As I walked through the Capitol grounds to get back to my car,  I thought about when I used to work at the Capitol as a senior in college in 2008. My boss at the time, the Legislative Director for a Texas State Representative, told me on my first day: this is your building. You decide what happens in here. Don’t ever forget that.

I knew then that we weren't defeated, we were silenced. Every dirty trick in the book was used to keep us out of OUR house. I knew then that we were going to keep fighting, and if another session got called, we would be back, and we would be louder than ever.

I woke up this morning to amazing news. I am still saddened by the extent the GOP went to keep us from exercising our rights and traditions.  I am upset that the media has aired Lt. Gov. Dewhurst referring to us as an unruly mob. I am aware that this is probably just the beginning of a long fight to make our legislators hear our voices. I am proud that my Senator, Senator Kirk Watson, stood by Senator Davis and supported her in every way that he could. And I am ready to return to the Capitol and keep standing with Senator Wendy Davis and every other woman whose rights are being controlled, manipulated and denied by a legislature that no longer reflects the wants and needs of its people.

It’s time to take back our house.

Eastern Womanism: Sampat Pal Devi and the Gulabi Gang

It is funny how the older I become, the harder it is for me to become inspired. Maybe it has something to do with loosing my imagination. Or my hope. Maybe it has to do with not being exposed to people who share common identifiers. Whatever it is, I am always looking for inspiration.

Taken from Sampat Pal Devi's Facebook Page

When I found out about Sampat Pal Devi and her Gulabi Gang, I was initially delighted. I had only read a snippet about their mission and promised to revisit their website again. After catching some of Kim Longinotto's documentary "Pink Sari", I began researching the group. I tried to steer clear of articles from white feminists and looked towards their website, Sampat Pal's Facebook, and other publications.

Working with NGO's I have read several mission statements, some bad, some good. Never have I seen a "Vision" (different than their mission). Simple and sincere, it stirred something inside me.

"Protect the powerless from abuse and fight corruption to ensure basic rights of the poor in rural areas and discourage traditions like child-marriages."

Taken from the Gulabi Gang Website

Sampat Pal is really an extraordinary women.  According to the Indian Express article she is a "barely educated, impoverished grandmother [who] has emerged as a messianic figure in the region." But they don't talk about her empathy. She's a tough lady (I would never want to be on the receiving end of her fiery), but she is gentle and compassionate. She is a practitioner of tough love, but also tenderly wipes the tears from the faces of scared, oppressed women. She cries with them, she shares her home with them, she protects them.

What is more powerful than that?

She is quoted in the Gulf News article saying:

"When I’d confronted him alone, he refused to listen to me,” she says. “But when I approached him with a group of women, he admitted his mistake. It was then that I realized the power of unity."

I cannot agree more with this statement. I think it is so important for women to stand together. Still, I sometimes find it hard when women who are "progressives" or "feminists" do not include, or even acknowledge, the women who are fighting for their rights as women of color. Those who choose to not see race are, in reality, erasing us and our struggles from the conversation. As if we are already not invisible enough.

Though, I can't put 100% of the blame on white America. I know my community and I know the problems we face. Those who chose to help their community should also spend time focusing their efforts in fixing the problem within it. That is something I think Sampat Pal has not only realized, but executed bravely.

It is time to stand up, together. "Only if you stay together can you fight such crimes in society".