Activism Log #2

                                                                    Activism Log

Activism: This week my community partners and I sought out to defeat amendment 6. Since we are in the middle of election season we have started phone banking any spare hour we have to try and inform voters about amendment 6.  Amendment 6 endangers the rights of women all over Florida but letting politicians intrude in private medical decisions. Our first step to defeating this dangerous piece of legislation is by informing voters, especially women voters, of what is at stake every time someone checks yes on the ballot. This week we met with Alexa who is the president of VOX and she gave us a game plan for how to defeat amendment six. Throughout the week my community partners and I have been handing out flyers, phone banking, and making sure everyone is getting out to vote.

Reflection: This week was very important because it was the week before the election therefore it became crunch time. The fact that we now have so little time to get out the word about amendment 6 made me realize the importance behind all of the activism we did this week. This week we were learning about equal pay and the “mommy tax”, this can relate to amendment 6 in an abstract way. Things such as the “mommy tax” and the “second shift”  (Kirk and Okazawa- Rey 338) really show us that to have a child we must be financially and emotionally prepared. Women who have children face in their careers and financial stability. This relates back to the dangerous amendment 6 because if this amendment is passed, women who are not ready, nor have a desire, to become a mother may not be given the option. This also relates back to the documentary we watched on women making their own choices and how women are poorly represented in politics, especially when legislation is made against them.

Reciprocity: This week I gained a lot from the assignments given to me by my community partner. Before working with “Vote No On 6” I didn’t really know a lot about amendment 6. Through my work with the campaign I have learned some horrifying facts about the amendment so when it came time to vote I knew exactly what to bubble in on my ballot. I also gained a lot of networking and persuasion skills. By calling people and making them aware of amendment 6 I learned how to gain their attention and express the importance of the vote. It was rewarding when I would call someone and they would thank me for the service I did through the campaign. If I gained anything from this week of activism it was self-respect. I respect myself a lot more now that I am more politically aware and am actually doing something about issues that directly affect myself and other women. This week was rewarding because I know that with the work of all of the volunteers we are making voters more aware of what they are voting on and we are changing the world one phone call at a time.

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.