Afterwords

It's 3:00 a.m. Sunday. I wake up, my mind buzzing. At about 5:30, I give up, get up, and feed the dog.

I can’t sleep, but I’m not worried; I’m just relieved it’s okay if I’m not rested the day after the big event. It doesn’t matter what I look or feel like today. What mattered was yesterday. And, yesterday, I was refreshed and ready.

Whew. Someone, somewhere, somehow was looking after me.

Saturday was the big event, the thing that’s been on my mind for months now. The brand-new Democratic Women of Catawba County (DWCC) hosted a panel discussion on the “NC War on Women:  Is it real?”

I’m the group’s president. That’s what happens when you show up in a county where Democrats are the minority. You climb the ladder really quickly. But, heck, I’m retired. I have time. I have energy. And, North Carolina needs help to return to its Democratic values of building a stronger future for all of its citizens…not just a few.

Our group knows it’s high time to get women, voters who outnumber men, involved. We decide to put on a panel discussion to help raise awareness of what’s going on in the Tar Heel state. It really does seem as if the Republican-controlled legislature is waging a war on women.

After weeks of planning, seeking speakers, finding a venue, putting together promotional materials, reaching out to news media, and more, the big day arrives.

More importantly, our DWCC members arrive. On time. Ready and willing to work. As someone who is always flustered when I’m in charge, they appear to be life-sized, live-action blue-security blankets.

With the room set up, all we need is an audience – which arrives early (that’s one way to tell we’re not in Washington, DC, where no one arrives early) – and the three guest speakers, who are all from out of town.

Tate MacQueen, 10th District congressional candidate

Fortunately, our moderator, Rev. Toni Woods, is local, capable, and calming.

One speaker, Tricia Cotham, is a state representative and this summer’s general assembly “short” session had dragged weeks longer than expected. I learn late the day before the panel that she can attend.

Rep. Tricia Cotham (D-Mecklenburg)

Another panelist, Adam Linker – who is coming from Raleigh -- hadn’t responded to my phone call to confirm his attendance. Yes, he’d told me weeks ago he was coming. Calm down, Lynn, but I wanted to be sure. Turns out, he was busy walking to Washington, DC, with the mayor of Bellhaven, NC, who is protesting the closing of the only hospital in his rural county.

Linker arrives with minutes to spare.

The other panelist – my rock – is Patsy Keever, 1^st vice chair of the NC Democratic Party. She comes, as promised, with bells on. A rock star -- articulate and informed -- Keever takes the panel's title seriously; she clearly states the facts and answers the big question.

Is there a war on women?

“The answer is a resounding ‘yes,’” Keever says.

One of the points Keever makes is that if a North Carolina single mother with two dependent children makes $9,000 per year, or $173 a week, she makes too much to qualify for Medicaid.  Oh, and this state is one that refused the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Turning away access to care.

What are they thinking? Who are they looking after?

Linker, a policy analyst with the NC Justice Center’s Health Access Coalition, explains that the “melee, or battle, or sustained attacks on women” are aimed at women’s ability “to work and be in the world.”  The rest of his report:  equally grim.

Rep. Cotham addresses the topic that gets so many people in this region riled up:  education. Cuts have been severe, with bigger pieces of a shrinking pie going to vouchers and charter schools.

“We just cannot have schools that are great for some,” Rep. Cotham says.

“The only way to change this is by voting … Elections have consequences.”

Boy, do they.

Keever’s button is right:  “It’s a man’s world unless women vote.”

Okay. I can retire again, this time from event planning. Time to go back to working to get out the vote. Right here, right now that seems like a great way to spend my time.

 

With Patsy Keever (left)

Note: We videotaped the meeting; right now it's being edited.