Letter to My Senators

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Thursday May 21, 2020 · 10:33 PM PDT

2020/05/21 · 22:33

So it starts off with the DK form letter. I'm about to press send when all of a sudden my fingers and thumbs start going to town.

The Senate should be working to pass real coronavirus relief -- not confirming judges who will directly threaten access to health care. Cory Wilson & Justin Walker are wrong judges for the moment.

Medicaid has saved my life many times. Diabetes. Allergy to stinging insects. Without Medicaid, when I was unemployed, and the ACA when I was employed, the 1200.00 epipens would have been out of my reach. My quality of life, particularly as a caregiver to my elderly parents (stroke and dementia), would have been seriously decreased. I can only imagine what the stress of being sick while caring for my parents, raising my two sons, supporting my grown daughter and her husband after the loss of my grandchild to SIDS would have done to me. And to my family.

Healthcare should not be a privilege.

Story: Now that my fortunes have returned, again working, LMBL (LIVING MY BEST LIFE) my youngest son and I had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe this past summer. In London, I developed a savage case of tendinitis in my wrist. I thought sure it was broken. Long story short, I went to one of the NHS hospital emergency rooms. All of my treatment, meds, and splint were FREE. I was looking for the cashier and they said no charge.

In Grenada, WI, I cracked a tooth, then the filling came out of another and I developed an infection. The Grenadian Ministry of Health, pulled both teeth, gave me meds and my follow up care was free. My diabetes meds were ridiculously inexpensive.

In Barcelona, Spain, I went to an eye specialist when something got into my eye and caused a horrible infection. The total fee-examination, meds, follow-up visit, and additional supplies came to a grand total of 70 €, about 100 bucks. Come on, America. Come on, Georgia.

And now, during this most tragic time in modern world history, there is a chance for US to become more like these places in which, while not perfect, the health of the people is important, or at the very least, accessible, even if you are not a citizen of their country. Please consider who will be a part of making those decisions.

Kind Regards,

CYWatkins, MEd

*Additionally, I am very disappointed in your behavior re selling of stock after briefings. Very sad. Very disappointed.

Singing With Daddy, Part 1

consciousempress

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Tuesday June 28, 2016 · 3:49 PM PDT

2016/06/28 · 15:49

BLING! Goes the gold tooth, circa 1946, Baltimore, Maryland

My Daddy is a singer. He's a cross between Ella Fitgerald and Joe Williams; that is to say that he scats mostly, much of what he's singing is unintelligible, but he can sure belt it out in the highs and lows like Ella and Joe.

He was born a poor black child in Petersburg, Virginia in Dinwiddie County. He was mostly raised by his maternal grandparents, Grandpa Sam and Grandma Josephine. His mother, Nona Belle (who I sometimes feel I am the reincarnation of, especially when my dad calls me "Mumma" or "Mother," like when I tuck him in at night), was a Rosie the Riveter during WWII , and was a single parent. My father once said that his father was a "no good Geechee from South Carolina;” (I don't know too much about old Noko), and that's why he kept his mother’s last name instead of what was on his birth certificate.

I can't imagine my father’s early life was easy: born in the south during The Great Depression, away from his only parent for long periods of time as she had travel to find work. He worked Grandpa Sam's farm with an extended family of aunts uncles and cousins-lots-as everyone's parents were searching for work. He went to school in a one room schoolhouse. I don't need to discuss the racism.

I'm not sure of details, but he is absolutely an American success story. Getting into trouble (he once told his students that he had been offered a choice between jail and the navy. He chose the navy. The student said "But I thought you told us you were an outstanding student?" My dad replied, "I was outstanding. Out standing on the corner, out standing in the pool hall...”), while hanging out on the streets on Baltimore came to a head when the judge offered him that choice. He joined the navy, went to Korea, experienced crazy racism as the only Black in his squadron of over 400, honorably discharged as Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (thanks Shorty Rogers, some nice white dude who showed pops the ropes and mentored him), left the Navy, worked at Lockheed then Idlewild (JFK) where he was President Kennedy's flight line inspector whenever the plane landed there.

He met and married my beautiful Mommy, Gloria in 1952 raised 8 children, fostered several, adopted 2 and worked a full-time job and a part time job with 8 children, a wife, and a mother in law, all the way through his BA and MA. He retired after 30+ years of service to the children of New York as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. Brilliant man. Dedicated to children. My mother often said before she became ill herself and well afterward that Daddy had "forgotten more than most people would ever know. "

That is why watching him go through Dementia as his caregiver, as well as my mom's, who was paralyzed due to stroke (she passed last October) for the past 6 years has been particularly poignant. I remember asking him to sign his name back in 2013; he couldn't. Didn't know how. Just made a mark. That was the day my heart really began to break. Not that it hadn't been breaking for years already…

Please stay tuned for Part 2; a caregiver rarely has the luxury of time!

"That Ni**er's Mama's Just Going to Keep Calling"

consciousempress

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Monday September 03, 2012 · 7:30 PM PDT

2012/09/03 · 19:30

What my 20 year old BLACK goddaughter heard out of the police officer's mouth as he searched for HER. She had been threatened and had run into the woods for safety in the wilds of Springfield, Tennessee. She didn't come out of the woods even though she heard them. "That's Klan country mama; I was scared."

consciousempress

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Friday November 28, 2008 · 1:20 PM PST

2008/11/28 · 13:20

So. Much has happened, and is still happening in this great country of ours. Obama is in the White House (nearly). The Senate numbers are looking good. We are still grumbling and complaining about everything from Obama's cabinet picks to the Wealth-Wickedness of WalMart, which is good, since that means we haven't become too complacent. In the midst of all this, I've been pretty focused on watching my dear old dad.

consciousempress

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Friday October 31, 2008 · 8:55 PM PDT

2008/10/31 · 20:55

Did anyone else out there see the Tom Cruise movie, "Legend?" He was a young stud then, trying to save the princess and the last white unicorn from the evil Demon of Darkness (or some such epithet) who wanted to plunge the world into darkness. Now before you start thinkining I'm drawing some kind of corny parallel between young stud Obama and, well, you know-- I'm not. I just want to share with you how that movie made twenty years ago changed my life and how its theme does, indeed, parallel this election. If you please...

consciousempress

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Wednesday October 15, 2008 · 8:48 PM PDT

2008/10/15 · 20:48

Just a short diary for my peeps here at DKos.

Came across this in my email. I wasn't going to look, but I had to. John Lewis spoke about this. Now, the "gentleman" in question didn't say that his actions were brought on by any Palin/McCain fury-inciting words, but, well...watch the newscast and judge for yourselves.

consciousempress

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Tuesday October 14, 2008 · 12:20 PM PDT

2008/10/14 · 12:20

Spike Lee gave us a beautifully haunting documentary, "Four Little Girls" which chronicled the story of the 4 little girls who died in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham ( aka "Bombingham" in he 60's), Alabama. In it we meet their families and friends, and we relive those times which some of us, particularly those of us who directly benefited from those acts of civil disobedience (code:black folks), have forgotten. The history cannot be ignored any longer, for we are living its [sometimes wicked] legacy each and every day. To pretend that the continuum has somehow been interrupted, and we can keep the discussion on the forward, is to purposely gouge out our eyes and self-lobotomize and allow history to repeat itself. So, a reminder, refresher, or introduction from good ol' Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/...

consciousempress

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Monday October 06, 2008 · 9:20 AM PDT

2008/10/06 · 09:20

20 years ago, after graduating from college, I chose to work as a "healthworker" at the Feminist Women's Health Center in Atlanta, GA. For the first month or so, we enjoyed a relatively quiet existence in a nondescript building in "liberal" Midtown. We offered women a different abortion experience, rather than the "mill" style being offered at the time. We carefully took women through each step of the process, and tried to make the whole procedure as affirming as it could possibly be under the circumstances.

RSS

Letter to My Senators

Singing With Daddy, Part 1

"That Ni**er's Mama's Just Going to Keep Calling"

Watching Daddy Cry

Vote Hope

John Lewis Was Right

Two Little Girls

My Abortion Experience