The nation’s focus today is on the historic moment that took place as the President signed the health care reform bill into law. The moment in which, as Obama said, “health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.”
This is significant for all the uninsured, for all those struggling with health care costs and for this economy. But I want to make today about the activists; those that have been fighting for progressive change from day one. I want to make this day, particularly, about the young activists.
Tens of thousands of young people were first inspired to get involved in the work leading up to the 2008 election because they identified with the message of hope and the desire for change. These young organizers worked tirelessly, put in 20 hour days for months, moved across the country – were plopped down into unknown (and undecided) territory- and fought tooth and nail, through ugly rhetoric about their leader, to get Obama elected.
On November 4, it was a proud and tearful day for most. But for many of these young organizers, as they watched their personal hard work culminate into the moment when the newly elected President took the stage, it was a life changing moment. In 2009, Washington DC, Congress, the Administration, and so many non-profit advocacy and service groups saw an influx of young faces, freshly inspired by their experience working for change and dedicated to continuing that work post-campaign. Organizing For America, the campaign’s continuing organizing arm now based out of the DNC, picked up many of the organizers and delved right into the health care fight.
Throughout this entire debate, young organizers, volunteers and students made calls, sent letters to Congress, joined countless rallies and held their signs defiantly across from the teabaggers. Despite the media leaving young people out or casting them to the side as “young invincibles” who don’t care about health care, young activists took to the streets or tweeted the latest action they just took online to support health care. Some lobbied their representatives and many expressed their frustration with the losses in the debate, such as the public option or women’s rights. But through it all, young activists kept fighting and just like the old campaign days, they stuck in there. As Obama said today,
“..it was your work, your commitment, your unyielding hope that made this victory possible. When the special interests deployed an army of lobbyists, an onslaught of negative ads, to preserve the status quo, you didn’t give up. You hit the phones and you took to the streets. You mobilized and you organized. You turned up the pressure and you kept up the fight.”
And today, many of them were able to watch their President sign into law a bill that realizes their original desire for change. (A bill that as our Vice President Joe Biden stated perfectly “is a big fucking deal.”)
As a former campaigner and current advocate for health care reform, I have to admit I was covered in goosebumps today as I stood watching my President sign a piece of legislation that has been a long time coming; a piece of legislation that, if had been in place earlier, could have saved the life of the mother of the little boy, Marcelus Owens, who stood at Obama’s elbow as he signed. As someone who made the decision to move to DC on November 5, 2008, it was a surreal moment to know that the whole reason I was there listening to Obama speak today, the entire reason I live and work in DC for issues I care about, is because I wanted to continue the work that I started two years ago trying to get this guy with the funny name elected as President – all because I hoped he could make some progress on the kind of change I knew we all desperately needed.
However, beyond the inspiration that Obama provided, I am truly inspired by all the young activists I have met over the past two years. So kudos to every single young person who lifted a sign at a rally in support of health care reform, sent an email to Congress or worked tirelessly to pass this legislation in some way. It is because of you all that we are headed in a great direction for our future. And to quote our President one last time,
“..As we tackle all these other challenges that we face, as we continue on this journey, we can take our next steps with new confidence, with a new wind at our backs — because we know it’s still possible to do big things in America. Because we know it’s still possible to rise above the skepticism, to rise above the cynicism, to rise above the fear; because we know it’s still possible to fulfill our duty to one another and to future generations.”