THREAD: 3 weeks ago I had emergency abdominal surgery. My gallbladder was rupturing. Not my fault, but if the current administration gets its way, insurance companies & others could discriminate against me for it. This is why we must #StopKavanaugh. This is #WhatsAtStake. (contd)
A family friend, 22 years old, recently suffered from a depressive episode. She attempted to take her own life and ended up in the hospital. Now she has a history of mental illness that, if not protected, could impact insurability. We must #StopKavanaugh. This is #WhatsAtStake.
My oldest niece is 12. When she was a baby, she had severe asthma. Her parents once woke at 3 AM to find her barely breathing. She is fine, but she has a preexisting condition that could make her uninsurable if the Trump administration gets its way. #WhatsAtStake#StopKavanaugh
My dad has cancer. My mom has depression. My brother has asthma. My aunt had a heart attack, and she is thin and eats healthy! My sister-in-law has BRCA1 and BRCA2. My BFF has migraines. My other BFF has anxiety. ALL OF THEM could become uninsurable. #WhatsAtStake#StopKavanaugh
I'm telling you these intimate details in hopes you will see we all have pre-existing conditions. We do not get to sit this battle out. Call your senators, even if they are R. Insist they vote NO on Kavanaugh. And most importantly, VOTE in November. #WhatsAtStake#StopKavanaugh
Finally, for the policymakers reading this: If you are going to be pro-life, BE PRO-LIFE. That means you honor every person, not just those who can afford your policies. It means you honor life at all stages and under all conditions. Otherwise, drop your hypocrisy and go away.
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💔THREAD💔
Preventing Suicide: The Hope and the Challenge
Today (September 9) is the start of Suicide Prevention Week. I’d like to take a break from resisting this administration long enough to share some facts and experiences about suicide and suicidality.
First some definitions from the perspective of a health behaviorist.
Suicidality = All thoughts and actions associated with suicide (completed or incomplete): ideation, attempt, planning, discussion, etc.
Ideation = Thinking, ruminating, talking about suicide; considering it
Suicide = A completed or successful attempt at ending one’s life
You are not a suicide survivor. You are a survivor of a suicide attempt or suicidality. Suicide has no survivors.
Most people who commit suicide have a mental illness, such as depression or bipolar disorder.
My name is Emma, and I was raped when I was only 15.
Of course, he (my hot new boyfriend) didn’t see it that way. Somehow he figured my repeated insistence that “I’m not going to sleep with you” could be overridden by drugging me til I could no longer say no.
/ Short Thread /
Taking away a woman’s chance to say no is appalling to a degree I cannot put into words. Whether you are grabbing a woman’s body without asking permission or drugging someone so you can violently force yourself on her, I hope you burn in hell for the violation.
Rape isn’t about love. It’s not about connectedness or tenderness. It’s about power or control. By raping someone, you try to possess them. You satisfy your own needs at the expense of the dignity and agency of a fellow human being. That is beyond appalling.
I hope, by the time you get to the end of this thread, I’ll have convinced you that what we call “race” is actually a social construct that exists solely in the realm of language.
I’ll do that with fancy Jedi mind tricks and pretty pictures.
Let’s do this!
What does “social” mean? Does it just refer to how many friends you have?
That’s part of it, but it’s more about what you have access to as a result of connections with other people. Money. Resources.
Social identity is a sense of self we get through interacting with others.
Okay. So far, so good. So, you said race is socially defined. If that’s true, then how am I white as a function of how people perceive me? I’m white because of a gene that makes me white. I mean, you can think I’m purple, but I’m still white... right?
Trump suddenly condemns “all types of racism and acts of violence.” Yet he still hasn’t condemned the Charlottesville nazis a year later.
Maybe he doesn’t understand what “racism” is. Sad! But America is better than he is. Let’s talk about why racism matters.
🇺🇸Thread🇺🇸
Oppression is about power: a group with more resources uses those resources to control a group with fewer resources. Often it’s the majority holding down those who are different. The balance cannot shift without a shift in resources, so we don’t give them a shot at the resources.
Sometimes advantage comes from an arbitrary characteristic like skin color. Whereas there is no such biological concept as “race,” we assign it social meaning to classify people. We see some groups have fewer resources, and we implicitly or explicitly assume their inferiority.
If you're like me, you don't want to wait until November to make a difference. You know the importance of voting. You can't wait to cast your ballot. Heck, you've already signed up four of your friends so they can vote, too.
But what can we do NOW?
I'll present two avenues for getting involved NOW:
These are all critical, timely facets of resistance.
(And before you say it, yes, I realize on-Twitter activity is activism, too.)
1. Resisting on Twitter
Ever feel like you're preaching to the converted? You may be. Challenge yourself to make connections in other Twitter communities. Maybe you love music, physics, movies... perhaps test receptiveness to resistance messaging there? Pro Tip: Start gently.
THREAD:
In this day, with the evil that’s spreading across the land, seemingly unchecked, a lot of us are grappling with depression and anxiety. I think we’re also wrestling with a much larger question:
Am I truly powerless, or is there something I can do to make a difference?
A sense of powerlessness feeds depression. When we believe we cannot change the horrors that unfold daily, we become desperate. We despair. We mourn.
Having an outlet for our shock and anger gives us a sense of purpose, of accomplishment. Of hope.
Do we have any power against the Trump administration for their gross human rights violations?
It depends.
We may or may not have personal power. But we have collective power.
This power assumes we can overcome apathy and defeatism. We must firmly stand united against evil.