Santa Maria had its first ever Women’s March on Jan. 22, joining the closest liberal hubs to the north and south—Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo—in marching for strength, unity, equality, and choice. Against oppression, misogyny, and the Great Trumpty Dumpty who doesn’t have his own wall to fall off of yet, but he’s working on it. Say what you want about me and my unfair “progressive” thoughts about our Commander in Chief, you have to admit that this partial government shutdown is total bird poop.
The Lompoc Federal Penitentiary is full of federal workers who are required to go to work and not get paid. Yes, folks. These correctional officers patrolling a facility where society places its felons aren’t making any money. How well would you perform if you were forced to do something and knew you weren’t going to get a paycheck in time to pay the rent?
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is stepping up in a big way. The city of Lompoc is giving furloughed federal workers a break on their utility bills through Feb. 12. Lompoc will probably have to extend that deadline as the political machine that stopped working in Washington, D.C., continues to grind its teeth in its sleep.
Anyway, it’s about time people took to the streets in Santa Maria to raise their voices and their signs! To speak up for choices and equality. Nobody puts women in a corner! Nobody!! The Santa Maria City Council recognized the Women’s March of Santa Maria Valley Day at its Jan. 15 meeting with a proclamation: “On Jan. 19, 2019, every major city in the U.S. will advocate for the rights of women, people of color, those who are disabled, immigrants, and LGBTQ people, and encourage health care, education, and justice for all.”
You know what’s weird though? The proclamation following it on the council’s agenda was for Respect for Life Week, which ran Jan. 14 through 20. Yes, I do believe it means exactly what you think it means.
Three decades ago, Central Coast Citizens for Family and Life was started by Pat Riehle. The organization requests a proclamation each year to raise awareness of the cause: “human life is sacred, from conception to natural death.” So, the cause is for women to not have a choice when it comes to abortion. Citizens for Family and Life did its annual Life Walk on Jan. 20, the day after the Women’s March.
It seems an odd thing for the City Council to place on its agenda one after the other. If the City Council has recognized this organization for the last couple of decades, it’s time women in Santa Maria raised awareness for another cause, which the biggest city in Santa Barbara County should advocate for: Equality, choices, and the power of voices.
The canary is all about choices at canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 24-31, 2019.
