#Why I March

  I am so inspired to see how many people all around the world showed up to The Women's March Movement.  It filled my heart and gave me hope.  Obama was right  when he said, "I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours."  This movement shows us that we do have that power to make a change. Women in America have a lot more rights and freedoms than a lot of women all around the world, so it made me happy to see Women Marches in other countries around the world too. I hope women in other countries get the rights, freedom, and respect  that they deserve soon! But that does not mean that America does not have room for improvement too. I was really bummed that I did not go to any of the Women's Marches after seeing how empowering it was for so many people and after realizing that there were marches near me too. I plan on participating in future marches regarding these topics. I'm determined to make it happen next time. I am also determined to make a difference.  I decided to research  other ways I could make a difference and I found the 10 Actions in 100 Days Challenge on the Women's March web page. The first action was to write a post card to your senator about what matters to you. The post card was hard to print out and I had too much to say because all of the issues in the Women's March Movement matter to me.  So here is my letter to the Senator:

Dear Senator Tim Scott,

      I’m a supporter of the # WomensMarch movement. I’m from Charleston, South Carolina. I’m concerned about making our community, a safe, free, and healthy environment for all women- including women of every race, women of every socioeconomic background, women of every religious belief’s and women of every sexual preference. This also includes women who are trans, women who are native, women who are immigrants and women who are disabled. Feminist movements like these are not only for women,  equality benefits all men too. To help improve our country, we first have to help improve our local community. To ensure a safe, free, and healthy environment for all, I think our community need to combat violence, always allow access of quality reproductive healthcare, protect the rights of the LGBTQIA community, improve worker’s rights, defend civil and immigrant rights, enhance disability rights, and preserve the environment.

           I am concerned about violence, especially those directed at labels of race, gender sexuality, disability, and religion, because everyone deserves to live their lives without being in fear of violence against their bodies. I hope our community will make sure that our criminal justice system will take accountability and justice very serious against violence  caused by  discrimination, prejudice, and/ or police brutality.  I am lucky to not be a victim of violence but I know there are many who have not been as lucky as me and that is not okay.

     Protecting reproductive rights is another concern I think should be important to our community. Cuts and restrictions to the access of dependable reproductive healthcare services such as HIV/AIDS testing and prevention, birth control, and accurate sexual education should not be acceptable. Abortion should be available, especially in the cases of rape, incest, medical conditions that will cause the mother harm if she gives birth or there are complications with fetal development. Access must be affordable, safe and legal to all because all women deserve to have control over their bodies and everyone deserves to have bodies that are healthy.

      The right and acceptance of sexual preference and gender should be important to our community as well, including rights of those who are lesbian, gay, bi, trans or non-conforming.  I have many friends that this impacts and I think everyone deserves to be able to love whoever they want to love. No one deserves to be criticized or rejected because of their sexual preference or the way they want to be identified.

     Improving worker’s rights is a significant issue to improve our state. Equal pay, sick days/ family leave days, health care, and affordable childcare should be available for all workers. I think it is important that everyone has the opportunity to fight for a minimum wage they could live off of and I think our community should think it is important too. There are too  many people who are poor and homeless in our community.

     Civil rights such as voting rights, religious rights, and freedom of speech should be defended for all people in this community. No one should be in fear of being bullied, intimidated, or in fear that these rights being taken away for any reason. Immigrants should have these rights too because everyone should have the freedom to migrate with the exception of  criminals. We all came from immigrants at one point or another in history. Our rights need to be all-inclusive.

     Inclusiveness in our community should include people who have disabilities. This is an issue that is close to my heart because I have Cerebral Palsy and I feel like disability rights is a topic that is not always advocated as much as the other issues. I have also volunteered and worked at a camp for children, teens, and young adults who have physical or mental conditions for many years, Camp Burnt Gin. Camp Burnt gin has been struggling to fight to keep funding for years. I find this extremely disheartening because of the significance Camp Burnt Gin has for all those involved.  Camp Burnt Gin is one of the only places that the campers get to feel important, loved unconditionally, and included, without being judged or mistreated. It would be heart breaking to so many if anything happened to that camp and this is why I believe to improve our community we need to break the barriers between people of abilities and those who have disabilities to ensure access, inclusion, acceptance and independence to those who have physical or mental conditions.

    Environmental justice and preservation of our environment is something that everyone, no matter where they live in our community, deserves. Clean water and clean air should be a necessity, not a luxury. Our environment should not be taken for granted especially not at the expense to other people's health or safety. We need our environment to be healthy for us to be healthy.

     To live safe, healthy, and free lives I think our community need to combat violence, guard access of quality reproductive healthcare, protect the rights of the LGBTQIA, improve worker’s rights, defend civil and immigrant rights, enhance disability rights and preserve our environment. I intend to continue to fight  against these issues through participating in protests and other events of #Women’s March Movement, as well as speaking up in my every day life when I witness injustice. Thank you so much Senator for taking the time to read my concerns. In the first 100 days of the new administration, I hope you understand and take these concerns seriously.

Sincerely,

Taylor Feigl

Thank You Meryl Streep

    Meryl Strep had an empowering speech at the Golden Globes. She used her fame, power, and privilege in Hollywood to advocate for people who are diverse and  people who have disabilities. As I've talked about in my blog before, people often make ignorant assumptions about people who have  mental and physical disabilities and people who have disabilities are still discriminated against a lot.

    Meryl Streep explains we need people in power who will set a better example in how to treat the diverse people who live in this country, including those who have disabilities. She said that the one performance that shocked her was" that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back.”

    Streep was talking about Trump’s comment during his campaign, when he seemed to be mocking New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis.

     She continues by saying, “And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect (and) violence incites violence .When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."

     As Ally Putvin, author of To Meryl Streep, From a Young Woman With a Disability
 said addressing Meryl Streep ," Thank you for using your privilege to fight for those who are vulnerable. Thank you for showing a disabled young woman that you are ready and willing to fight for her and anyone else who can’t fight for themselves."

     As a person who has a disability, I know the struggle of being discriminated against or having people assume ignorant things about me. But I have learned to advocate for myself and I use my experiences to advocate for others who have disabilities as well. We are not always as vulnerable as people may think and we often are able to fight for ourselves more than people may think. But we also need help because when we empower each other and fight for each other, we become more powerful. We also become more powerful when people who have more influence and privilege, stand up for us too. As Meryl Strep said, we have a responsibility and privilege to have empathy for one another.

 Meryl Streep ends her speech with a beautiful Princess Leia quote, "Take your broken heart, make into art."

Here is a link to this speech if you want to here the whole thing:
https://www.facebook.com/HollywoodReporter/videos/10154058510677750/?pnref=story

Obama's Farewell Speech

   Obama's farewell speech is the best speech I've ever heard. I hope everyone will take the time to listen to it, no matter if you like Obama or not, because it is a very inspirational speech. I think his message of believing in our own power to make a change is one that everyone needs to hear.

" And that’s why I leave this stage tonight even more optimistic about this country than when we started. Because I know our work has not only helped so many Americans; it has inspired so many Americans — especially so many young people out there — to believe that you can make a difference; to hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourselves.

   Let me tell you, this generation coming up — unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic — I’ve seen you in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, and just, and inclusive America; you know that constant change has been America’s hallmark, that it’s not something to fear but something to embrace, you are willing to carry this hard work of democracy forward. You’ll soon outnumber any of us, and I believe as a result the future is in good hands.

   My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days. But for now, whether you are young or whether you’re young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president — the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.

   I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours."

   This is one of many of my favorite quotes from this speech, even though it is a really long quote.  I would copy and paste his whole speech here but then my blog post would be too long. So here is the link to hear or read the rest of his speech:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/obama-farewell-address-speech.html?_r=1
   And Michelle Obama's message of Hope is inspiring as well:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/michelle-obama-makes-emotional-final-speech-as-first-lady/2017/01/06/57a19ef4-d434-11e6-9651-54a0154cf5b3_video.html