|
|
Dear Readers, February 3, 2023 was an important day in Massachusetts. Democracy prevailed! I was part of the Kristin Kassner campaign for State Representative in the Second Essex District (Ipswich, Hamilton, Rowley, Newbury, Georgetown and part of Topsfield.) Here is the story I wrote, published in Commonwealth Magazine.  Isn’t winning by 1 vote enough? An insider’s perspective on Kristin Kassner’s strange odyssey to the State House ELIZABETH A. KILCOYNE Apr 27, 2023 IN LAST NOVEMBER’S election, Kristin Kassner, a candidate for state representative on the North Shore, flipped a seat from red to blue by a one-vote margin. But it didn’t come easily. Despite the will of the people being affirmed by a district-wide recount and court challenges to the election running their course, the Republican incumbent she defeated continued to occupy the seat for a full month after lawmakers were sworn in and began serving their two-year term. It was a snub to democracy that we should not allow to be repeated. Read the rest of the story in Commonwealth Magazine: commonwealthmagazine.org/courts/isnt-winning-by-one-vote-enoug Please comment so I know you're out there and rooting for democracy!
1 Comment
Dear Readers, In recent months, I have been coaching / managing a state representative race in the Second Essex District and writing an essay on this unprecedented experience. Here is the first paragraph: "In the 2022 Massachusetts midterms, Kristin Kassner, a candidate for state representative, flipped a seat from red to blue with one vote. Despite the will of the people, her Republican opponent continued to sit in her seat after the inauguration." I hope to publish it soon so I can share it with you. The following is an essay on a recent trip to Paris. Enjoy!  "The Paris Bribe"
The drums beat for the dancers. Children play at red tables set up by young people in red aprons. Two older men play a game with a roller and wooden trough I have never seen before. A father and son play chess with pieces they have to walk among. Skateboarders careen over jumps. The Place de la République in Paris is an intentional park for people to gather. Traffic is rerouted, and people watch out for each other. Circling the park is a protest of middle aged men and women with scarfed heads. The leader, clad in a brilliant purple garment, stands on a moving truck bed. He waves the Mali flag and speaks into a microphone. Posters shout, “No! NO! NO! Too much injustice! We demand the departure of the new prefect of Yelimane!” Our room at the Crowne Plaza overlooks the park. A double glass door opens onto a balcony with an intricate rod iron railing. It can get noisy. That’s how we know everyone is awake. Denis and I are in Paris for a week before he delivers a paper at the International Cycle Safety Conference in Dresden. I hesitated about the trip to Dresden, thus the bribe. We’re not big foodies. The menus are French. Back in the room, we use Google to plan our dinners. Every block has a sidewalk café with croissants and fabulous gooey disserts, and we like that. But where’s the food? Ah, a restaurant on Rue Saint-Martin serves dinner at 7 p.m. and we snatch the last reservation! It’s a neighborhood place. The only entree we recognize on the menu is chicken – delighted. By 9 p.m., the diners are talking and raising their glasses to other patrons. We respond in kind. We travel everywhere on the Métro in Paris. Its hub is located under the Place de la République. The metro takes us to the Centre Pompidou, an overwhelming collection of galleries and libraries in an ultra-modern building. The utilities are attached to the outside. This unusual texture, painted in bold primary colors, is itself an art piece. We ride on the outside escalator to the highest floor and work our way down the more the 1 million square feet of art and books! No, we don’t see everything in one visit. But the multi-colored circular forms of Robert Delaunay catch our attention, along with geometric forms of Wassily Kandinsky. Great art energizes us. I am no stranger to the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris’ Tuileries Gardens, with Monet’s Water Lilies floating in two oval-shaped rooms. Back in 1971, there were very few people in the museum, and my best friend and I sat for hours on pink velvet-covered benches to write home and admire the complementary presentations of the lilies. Today, the crowd moves around wooden benches, and we use them to rest. Outside, the Tuileries are quiet on this sunny day as we make our way along the gravel path until we see a flock of children running after huge bubbles. A bohemian-dressed woman smiles as she holds her bucket and giant bubble wand. Beyond them is a majestic water fountain. Red chairs encircle the large round pool and beckon us to sit awhile and have a conversation with the person in the adjacent red chair. So welcoming, we sit down. These chairs are set out every morning and put to sleep at dusk. It is impossible not to compare this image with the popular lone benches in many public parks in the United States. Seeing Le Tour Eiffel lit up at night is like being in a romcom. We immediately buy tickets for an evening dinner cruise on the Seine. We adorn ourselves with the fanciest clothes in our suitcase and hop on the metro to the dock. We order Champagne in flutes, the same excellent entrée as in the restaurant, and live dangerously with a custard and chocolate mousse dessert crowned with edible flowers. Romance is thriving. The bribe is a success, and we’re off to Dresden for the second week of our trip. Denis creates a buzz at the conference. He proposes a bold but simple approach to saving cyclists' lives on the road. Leave me a comment so I know you're out there and enjoying life! Onward, Elizabeth Dear Readers, This essay was published in the Women's eNews and a shorter version appeared in the Newburyport Daily News this week. Calling all women and men!
Our Power is in Our Voice and Our Vote The Court has become a political institution like Congress. It has warped the balance of power and is no longer the checks and balance for America. * When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, I was devastated. Yes, I read the oral arguments and the leaked draft. I knew what was coming, but with the final decision, I felt heartsick and abandoned. It took time for the rage and sense of betrayal to rise above my disappointment. Click here to read rest of this essay in Women's eNews! https://womensenews.org/2022/07/our-power-is-in-our-voice-and-our-vote/ Leave me a comment so I know you're out there and ready to fight for Reproductive Freedom! Onward, Elizabeth Those who did this have never met, nor care about, the people who will suffer w/o Roe. This is just the beginning. Elect Pro-Choice Women and Men. Have hope. Leave a comment so I know you're out there.
 Some Good News! For a national team that used to travel coach while the men sat in first class, the U.S. Women's Soccer Team scored a major victory. After years of litigation focused on equal pay and benefits, the women’s team received a settlement agreement for past discrimination and future equal pay and bonuses. The settlement was contingent upon achieving new collective bargaining agreements for women and men. The U. S. Soccer Federation employs both teams. President Cindy Parlow Cone, a former national team player and president since 2020, said, “There were moments when I thought it was all going to fall apart, and then it came back together, and it’s a real credit to all the different groups coming together, negotiating at one table.” According to the Boston Globe, the federation will be the first American national governing body to pay equally for its men’s and women’s teams. This becomes complicated, because there is an international and a US governing body. The US governing body will now pool the funds it receives from the international body and distribute them equally to all players. There are many facets of the agreements. Women gave up a guaranteed annual salary in order to benefit from equal wages and bonuses. The distribution of the World Cup funds will be equal for all U.S. team players. Both teams receive a share of ticket, broadcast and sponsor revenue, and the men players receive child care. The impressive result is that the men’s and women’s teams and others worked together to achieve this victory. The women’s team endured discrimination for years. They used their fourth World Cup victory and many laws to resolve the inequities. With a functioning Equal Rights Amendment, this would have been a much quicker and less painful process. The right to equality based on sex would have been self-evident. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment so I know you're out there, Elizabeth Dear Readers, I sent a shorter version of this letter to The Boston Globe. The message from the highest court and Congress is alarmingly clear: YOU DON’T MATTER, and you no longer have reproductive freedom in the United States unless your state gives it to you. Women can no longer determine whether or when child bearing is right for them, and although the court has not made a final decision, it has become a political institution like Congress. It has warped the balance of power, and is no longer the check and balance for America. In a CBS/YouGov poll conducted after the Supreme Court leak, 64% of respondents said they wanted Roe v. Wade kept as is, while 36% said they wanted the Supreme Court to overturn it. What now? If THEY will not represent most Americans, we’ll have to do it ourselves! We need a majority of pro-choice women and men in leadership in city councils, statehouses, Congress and the courts. Let’s focus attention on critical elections in the US Senate: Val Demings of Florida; Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire; Mark Kelly of Arizona; and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and other worthy candidates. We can help with financial contributions, post carding, phone calling, and door knocking (depending on health restrictions). Others are ensuring Massachusetts remains a reproductive freedom state that welcomes women from unfriendly states. The important thing is that we act to protect our freedom. Damn the inevitable! Action equals empowerment and potentially creates a different outcome. We can do this! Onward, Elizabeth It is our time AGAIN! We are being asked to protect the next generation's reproductive rights. I’m tired of hearing people say that the Supreme Court will probably overturn or severely limit Roe v. Wade. Are we just going to sit by and let this happen? We need to follow the lead of Columbia and Argentina and Mexico. We need to fight this injustice in the streets of America!!!!!!! This Saturday, April 9th at 2pm, Boston Common in the Free Speech Area across from Massachusetts State House I am going. Please join me! RSVP + Share NOW is the time to stand up, together, as if our lives depend upon it! NOW is the time to hold nothing back. NOW is the time to rouse thousands and soon millions in struggle so that we can look every woman and girl in the eye with the promise in word and deed that they will have a future as full human beings.
I know. I'm tired too! But the power-mongers continue to try to keep us down. See you there, Elizabeth  Dear Readers,
Reproductive Rights are officially under attack again! We need to get involved! International Women’s Day Riseup4AbortionRights.Org sponsored the International Women’s Day rally and march at Harvard Square on March 8th. A group of fifty college students and seasoned protestors gathered to oppose the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on abortion rights and the entire flock of congressional Republicans who voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act in 2021/2022. The seasoned protesters called out the women and men who fought this fight 50 years ago, as they are now tired and reduced to writing letters and sending money. I wanted to shout back: “We won 50 years ago with Roe and 30 years ago with Casey and we marched again in Washington DC with our daughters in 2004. We cannot believe this is happening again!” But I was there to see the next generation in action. The young protesters described the threat to abortion rights as sexist, racist and fascist. They didn’t hold back: “Every 68 seconds a woman is raped in the US. Pornography is a $15 billion dollar business that denigrates and demoralizes women. Every year hundreds of thousands of women and victims are forced into sex trafficking. That is the life that powerful men tolerate for women and girls. In the name of humanity we refuse to accept this environment of gender-based violence.” Most people reading this essay do not have to deal with threatening acts like these in our daily lives, and many of us live in a state where access to abortion is protected, regardless of the actions of the Supreme Court or Congress. These demonstrators are mobilizing against attacks aimed mainly at young and low-income victims and reproductive rights. Three weeks ago, Columbia became the latest country in Latin America to legalize or decriminalize abortion medical procedures, following Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana, and Mexico. The lawsuit filed in Columbia focused on low-income women who could not afford illegal abortions in that country or in a neighboring country. The United States is moving in the opposite direction. The Supreme Court is considering a case this term that would either reverse Roe v. Wade or reduce safe legal abortions to 15 weeks. Most women know that they are pregnant by 15 weeks, but low-income women usually need time to find a clinic, a date when they are free from work, possibly need childcare, etc. On International Women’s Day, we wore green scarves, which have become a common symbol of women’s rights, as we marched along Mass Ave and shouted chants. These were new to me: Not the Church, Not the State Women must Decide Their fate! * Abortion on Demand, This is Why: Women Hold Up Half the Sky! * Abortion on Demand! And Without Apology! * Into the Street! Abortion Stays Legal! MARK YOUR CALENDARS SATURDAY APRIL 9TH AT 2:00PM IN COPLEY SQ, BOSTON, WILL BE THE NEXT MARCH AND RALLY. Thanks for reading. Let me know in comments if you’re interested in marching in the streets for the next generation! Aren’t We All Pro-Life? “We are all pro-life, only that some of us are in favor of allowing women to live a life in which their dignity is respected, and they can exercise their rights fully.”  Dear Readers,
This essay has been on my mind for awhile. It's a relief to send it to you. If you want to talk about it, please contact me or leave a comment. It's been a pleasure to work with Women's eNews. They are an award-winning nonprofit (501c3) news service covering issues of particular concern to women and providing women’s perspectives on public policy. One of the editors called my essay a clarion call for a new meme of sorts: We can be both, not either / or. Please read "Aren't We All Pro-Life?" at https://womensenews.org/2022/03/arent-we-all-pro-life/ Leave a comment so I know you're out there. Onward, Elizabeth The EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT “Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.” ******************************** Dear Readers,
It’s been awhile. Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment and introduced it to Congress in 1923. Alice was a member of the National Women’s Party and a women’s rights activist with 3 law degrees! Section 1 of the Amendment may be the most important 24 words in our lifetime. Section 2 empowers Congress to make laws to enforce the amendment. Section 3 activates the amendment 2 years after ratification. The 38th and last state(3/4 of the states) to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment was Virginia on January 27, 2020. Thursday, January 27, 2022 is the 2 year anniversary for the ratification! Major women’s groups are celebrating January 27th in Washington, D.C. tomorrow, recognizing that a few issues must be resolved to finalize the Amendment. Article 5 of the Constitution requires two events for an amendment to become part of the Constitution:
The issues holding up the 28th Amendment to the Constitution:
In anticipation of success, the ERA Project at Columbia School of Law has published an updated US Constitution which includes the Equal Rights Amendment. You can purchase a copy here: www.mprint.pub. You can follow the festivities tomorrow by registering. 9am news conference: You can register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h9ft1TbuSryA4SJ-VjMo6A 12 Noon ET events: More info: http://www.eracoalition.org/jan27 To watch on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/Zmhd6vJW To watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hILLB85xZPY 5pm celebration: Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ld-irrDMoGt0WStMHkd9NxSnbTo60F2q3 Have a great day, Elizabeth |
