Also going to add a little about how Voter ID Laws that began to tke center stage in 2011, 2012 and 2013 have contributed to voter suppression in many states that have adopted laws limiting and restricting the types of ID they accept in order to vote.
North Dakota is the most notable example. Ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, North Dakota
Passed a controversial, last minute voter ID law that required residents to show identification with a current street address. A P.O. box no longer qualified as a valid address.
This largely impacted and disenfranchised Native voters living in communities that don't often have street addressss and mail is delivered to PO Boxes in rural post offices.
In fact, it was just earlier this year that tribes filing lawsuits in response to these changes in Voter ID laws was settled - npr.org/2020/02/14/806…
I'll be updating this thread cuz we keep seeing changes to voter laws especially under the current administration hellbent on suppressing the vote and manipulating the electoral process.
It's not enough to vote people, you need to understand the vote and the history that allows us to see the paths, that for better or worse, we are heading toward.
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I don't talk a lot about mental health these days because mine has been in the dumpster for the last 4 years 🤣 and I'm still learning to navigate new realities and I know a lot of my fellow disabled folks know exactly what I mean.
But before September, #SuicidePreventionMonth ends, I do want to share a few things because I think it's important that people understand that even when it seems that you are voiceless, powerless, and that nothing you do matters....YOU MATTER!
What you do matters and it sends ripples through the universe that change the world in ways you may never know about. And sure, that change might not go viral or be splashed across the news, but the impact of that change, no matter how big or small, MATTER!
We are going to be pushing our gofundme pretty hard as things are getting dire. We've been scraping by on my art and tee sales, some donations but our rent has gone and we were barely making it as it was because of my medical bills and our credit card debt from last year.
When we started our gofundme it was to help pay off the credit card debt from my mom passing. It was 10k and we had it down to 6K when I lost my health insurance and we had to pay out of pocket for my meds and healthcare while we appealed.
The gofundme helped us pay rent and of course I had my art and tee sales but we didn't always make enough to cover our bills and had to use the credit card. The balance by time we won the appeal was up to 11K, we havent used this card since but the interest is a killer.
Learned a valuable lesson today! Went to go make a payment on a medical bill and set up a payment plan. Something seemed off because I've paid bills for the same procedures before, and this was a whole different website. So I called the hospital to see if it was legit.
It's a legit third-party payment service used by the hospital, but the bill itself is not legit because it's already been paid by my insurance. So, I asked what was up with that and apparently, this company is notorious for sending bills out before insurance is billed.
The hospital told me to disregard it, but I was curious, so I looked up the company on the Better Business Bureau, and yikes. Why hospitals would use a company that seems to bank on patients just paying the bill even though it's already been paid through their insurance is wild
My partner has been laughing at me cuz I have to admit that I am fascinated by the whole Gomez vs Bieber drama and how they aren't even really involved just collateral damage of their fandoms trying to pit them against each other.
The way I see it and from life experience, sometimes the forever you imagine isn't the forever you get or the forever you actually want.
I feel this is the case with Selena and yeah, it may have caused her major heartbreak, but in the end, she got to grow up. She's an award-winning and well-respected actress, singer, producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She got to mature and explore her full potential.
And nothing happens during in-person appts that can't be done virtual. Even if they need our vitals, most of us already have to monitor at home and can do that virtually as well.
In-person appts, unless you are having procedures done, is 30 min to an hr of sitting in a waiting room, being called back and sitting in a treatment room for another 30min to and hr for the doctor to come in and see you for no more than 5-10 min.
Yesterday, Mike J. Marin (director of the Smudging and badass AFP) got to meet Randy & Samantha 🤣 he was looking around the apt & was like, who's that?
The Partner looked at me & said you explain it. I was "You know how White people have random photos of Natives?" I didn't have to say anything more cuz Mike got it & was cracking up. 🤣
Randy and Sam have graced our wall since July of 2021, worth every penny of the $36 we paid for this sacred piece of a culture we've long been fascinated by.