"I'd like people to say I'm a person who always wanted to be free and wanted it not only for myself; freedom is for all human beings." Rosa Parks

I feel saddened and inspired anew, thinking about the death of one of the world's most influential and dedicated activists, Rosa Parks. Her passing was particularly poignant, having recently been discussing the work of Parks and the other women who launched the Montgomery bus boycott with my Women's Studies class on African-American women in the civil rights movement. It weighed on the class Tuesday, along with the death of Vivian Jones last week. I am glad to see that the re-creation of Parks after her death seems to be at least slightly more accurrate than her usual representation in the last several decades, where she was frequently depicted as a tired woman who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man because her feet hurt. Some reporters seem to be finally acknowledging her for the true activist she was. From being one of the first people in her area to join the NAACP, to her time spent at the Highlander Folk School, to her leadership as secretary and youth leader of her local NAACP chapter, Parks was a dedicated leader and torch-bearer for the civil rights movement. Likewise, it is important to remember the contributions of other women who aren't acknowledged as leaders in the movement. Without the leadership, daring, and organization of Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Council, it is likely that Parks' arrest would have gone by only noticed by her local African-American community, not the whole country. There were women who came before her, suffering for refusing to give up their seats, and women fighting other particular struggles elsewhere, like Vivian Jones and the desegregation of the University of Alabama. Like so many of the most important and effective moments and actions of the Civil Rights Movement, women were the leaders and creators who brought the boycott to life. Rosa Parks and Vivian Jones were two of the many remarkable, accomplished, and hugely important leaders in the Movement, and they'll be missed.

Photo problems

Trying my darndest to get this photo thing working, but it may take a little while. Sorry for the delay!

What I really need.

At the suggestion of the writer of Butch Baby Makin', I've looked up "Kate needs" on google. Things I never knew!
I need:
-a shave.
- to trust Angel.
- to be hooked up!
-soooo need to get burned.
- a new storyline and a life of my own.
- your help.
- to continue to develop my skills.
- to explore my innermost nature.
- to leave everyone alone and mind my own business!
Whoa. Sorry everybody, if I've been butting in! Just a fun exercise for the day. I guess I'd better go attend to that shave... ;)

Rules of marriage and physics

The degree to which one physics class can obliterate the rest of one's life is truly amazing. Blogging was just one of the casualties. Having memorized as many applications of the all-important equation F=ma and plunked them down on at least 80% of the questions on my exam (woo! so much better than I thought), I'm enjoying popping up to the surface.
A much belated Thank You!!! to the Massachusetts legislature, especially the 115 members who voted against the proposed anti-marriage amendment because they know that voting no was the right thing to do. To clarify the future for all those confused by this process:
Two of our legislators proposed the amendment that was just defeated, so it required more than half the legislature to vote for it, two sessions in a row, to send it to the ballot. The legislature narrowly passed it the first time, and just defeated it by a landslide the second time, so it's gone.
There is an initiative petition in progress, requiring 65,825 signatures to be sent to the legislature. This amendment is more extreme than the previous one, eliminating all legal rights for same-sex couples. Since it is on the initiative of citizens (not legislators), only 25% of the legislature (50 members) have to vote for it, two sessions in a row, to send it to the ballot. The earliest this could happen would be 2008.
If the (paid) petitioners get the required signatures (it is likely they will), we would need 150 legislators to vote against it. Right now, we know we have 115 allies. That means we would need 36 more legislators to confirm that they are on the side of equality and vote against it.
Our only other possibility it that the Senate President, Robert Travaglini, has the power to open and immediately close a constitutional convention so that an amendment will not be voted on and thus disappear. Tom Birmingham did just that in 2002 when he held the post. Travaglini was one of the original two co-sponsors of the no-marriage-but-civil-unions proposal that was just defeated. His other co-sponsor, Brian Lees, voted against it the second time around, but Travaglini voted for it both times. I don't know if we know whether he would rather support completely stripping thousands of married couples of their legal rights than support full equality for them. I guess we'll just have to see.
In the meantime, if you see any petition-gatherers outside your place of worship or a store you go to, please do approach the table and see if they are doing multiple petitions at once, and if you really want to get into it, feign interest and see if they try to confuse you. They get paid more for the anti-marriage petition signatures than for the other petitions they are doing, and may try to slip in the anti-marriage petition (labeled Petition K) for another one they've just told you about. If you notice multiple petitions going, and especially if you witness any shenanigans, please report it to http://www.massequality.org/.
Despite the pressures of legal hoopla and physics agony, I still find time to do the bride thing. Nothing could have stopped me from picking up my dress early last week (wayyyyy ahead of when they said it would be in. woohoo!) My beautiful dress and veil and my rediculous looking hoop-slip are now in my bedroom, shining away gloriously. Also, last Sunday, Josi and I officially joined the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Northampton and Florence, where we will be married next year. Unless, of course, I get my way and we have it outdoors. We shall see! We'll be getting up early to go to the UU in the morning and celebrate Yom Kippur. I've never done that before, so I'm looking forward to an interesting adventure!

Conducting our blooming...

Today is six days before the Massachusetts legislature will decide whether or not to put the marriages of 6500 couples, and my right to be married next year, on the November 2006 ballot for voters to decide to allow or to reduce to civil unions. Today is also one day after the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Tom Reilly, decided to accept an illegal initiative petition to put an even more extreme anti-family amendment on the 2008 ballot, to take all of these rights away- no marriages, no civil unions, just danger.
The most infuriating thing about these is the pompous arrogance of anyone who really thinks that my wedding should be anyone's decision but mine. How utterly disrespectful for my neighbor- my equal- to cast a vote on my right to marry. No matter what my neighbor's opinion, the act of voting on my personal life is an irrevocable act of disrespect. Not that I don't fully expect my fair-minded friends to go out there and vote against the damn thing, but I really hate being reduced to the level of a child whose decisions are usually made by others- adults who are deemed more capable than they. This is what makes me want to scream louder- I AM NOT A SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN!
Anxiety so easily takes over at times like these. What's my solution to right-wing aggression and hate-mongering? More wedding planning! Why not go where the endless streams of glitter and tulle fabric seem to flow? I've got some ideas for how to match Josi's dress to mine, but I think we're going to have to go custom for hers. I've added some new pictures to both albums, Wedding and My girl and I, so please feel free to see! We've got the church now, in addition to the reception, so once we've got the officiant set up we can dive into the wonderful world of making your own everything! (Save-the-dates, invitations, favors, centerpieces, jewelry, guestbook, photo album, thank you notes, accessories, etc, etc... we're gonna be busy;)
"The time cracks into furious flower. Lifts its face all unashamed. And sways in wicked grace. Whose half-black hands assemble oranges is tom-tom hearted (goes in bearing oranges and boom). And there are bells for orphans- and red and shriek and sheen. A garbage man is dignified as any diplomat. Big Bessie's feet hurt like nobody's business, but she stands- bigly- under the unruly scrutiny, stands in the wild seed. In the wild seed she is a citizen, and, in a moment of highest quality, admirable. It is lonesome, yes. For we are the last of the loud. Nevertheless, live. Conduct your blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind." Gwendolyn Brooks