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BY AMY TIEMANN, PhD This week I joined thousands of my fellow North Carolinians to protest the General Assembly’s extremely un-representative actions that are tearing apart the fabric of society in our state. People of all races and walks of life came together in support of voting rights, education, and economic justice. The NAACP-led coalition was truly a “big tent,” including preachers, doctors, mothers, farm workers, lawyers, elected officials, people looking for jobs, LGBT activists, Planned Parenthood, and more, all gathered to insist that the needs of all the people in our state be considered and represented by the General Assembly. About 1600 people joined in the rally, including 150 people were willing to be arrested as they expressed their opinions inside the General Assembly. The >>Raleigh News & Observer has extensive photo coverage online, which I highly recommend. It really hit home to me to see many of my friends arrested in this manner.
Since the Republicans gained control of the State Senate, State House and Governor’s Mansion, our elected officials have acted like the state is their plaything, for the amusement of their cronies and the very rich. I recently heard about a scientific discovery that haunts me as I think about the lack of representation we are getting right now. Scientist-historians at the Library of Congress have found a draft of the Declaration that shows the work in progress of creating a new kind of nation: Thomas Jefferson had written the word “subjects” to describe the people of the 13 colonies, but he then >>obliterated it and replaced “subjects” with the word “citizens.” This reminds me that our country really was a bold experiment that required courage and creativity. It was DIFFERENT to think that the power and legitimacy of a government came from the people, and existed to serve the people, rather than an all-powerful King. The Republican majority in North Carolina would like to act like the whims of the 110 Republicans in the state House and Senate plus Governor Pat McCrory and his “budget director,” conservative mastermind Art Pope, can dictate the future of 9.75 million North Carolinians with no consequence. The Moral Monday protests are showing otherwise, and are capturing the attention of citizens across the state and even the nation.
I am speaking as someone who technically might “benefit” on a very superficial level from Republican tax cuts. My tax bill might go down a little bit, but along with many people at Moral Monday, I see the well-being of the state of North Carolina as more than a slightly increased bank account balance. I certainly don’t want a tax cut for the well-off to be created on the backs of struggling families. What do I want to see? I want my child and all children to have a solid public education, as mandated by our NC State Constitution. The Republicans have cut vital Pre-K education for thousands of kids, eliminated a BILLION dollars from the education budget, and want to divert public school money to private school bills through vouchers.
I want families who are struggling economically to have a safety net to help them make it through this recession. The Republicans have slashed unemployment benefits as families are still struggling.
I want all children to grow up in healthy families. The Republicans want to kick pregnant women out of Medicaid, and rejected federally-funded Medicaid expansion to 500,000 North Carolinians who could have gained health care. I want my daughter to have medically-accurate sex education and access to reproductive health care as she grows into an adult. Republicans want to legislate medically-inaccurate, conservative political language into public school sex education; are putting up obstacles to health care access to teens (requiring notarized parental permission for STD screening or mental health care); and are attacking reproductive rights every chance they get. You may have heard more about the legally-mandated transvaginal ultrasounds in Virginia, but our lawmakers decided to stick it to women first here first in North Carolina.
Twelve years ago, my family was drawn to North Carolina from Silicon Valley by the dynamic software company Red Hat. We love it here. We plan to live and work here for the rest of our lives, but truly feel that the strength of our state is under attack right now. Businesspeople I talk to want to be able to hire people within, and recruit employees to North Carolina based on excellent public education, beautiful environment, and a healthy state. As a business owner myself, I am dismayed and embarrassed by the destruction being wrought by the Republican majority. 2014 is coming sooner than we think–and we need the citizens to stand up, demand to be heard, and turn back this tide as soon as possible.
This post was re-posted with >>permission.
Dr. Amy Tiemann is an award-winning author and educator who plays a central role in today’s parenting conversation. She took on a unique leadership role in the parenting field with the creation of the book Courageous Parents, Confident Kids: Letting Go So You Both Can Grow.
She also helps women embrace motherhood as an opportunity for reinvention with her book Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family. Her writing has catapulted her MojoMom.com movement into what is now one of the most popular online parenting resources. Dr. Tiemann has published her Mojo Mom® blog since 2003 and continues to find new ways to reach out to readers online. Visitors have logged more than 125,000 downloads of her Mojo Mom® podcasts.
Dr. Tiemann channels much of her involvement in child safety and respect through her work with Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International, which she brought for the first time to her home state of North Carolina in 2006. She oversees operations in the region as a Kidpower Center Director.
Amy Tiemann received her PhD in Neurosciences from Stanford University in 1996, and she continues to apply her extensive research expertise to all her work.
Dr. Tiemann’s combination of perspectives and roles as a scientist, educator, author and parent gives her a unique ability to make an impact on individuals, families, and cultural standards and to create positive social change.
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