Want Health Care Reform that Really Meets Our Needs? It's Time to Get Our "Bold" on!

By Cindy Pearson

Recently I had the absolutely delightful experience of spending two days talking about women’s health and health care reform with dozens of energized, committed, smart, passionate activists. On April 1st and 2nd, we gathered in the spacious, ground-floor meeting rooms of the InterChurch Center, across the street from the Riverside Memorial Church in Manhattan. The weather outside was lousy – rainy, windy, and colder than it should have been in early April -- but the mood inside was definitely warm!

The women (and a few men) who gathered at the Center for these discussions were brought together by Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need (RWV), the national initiative jointly launched by NWHN, MergerWatch, and the Avery Institute. We hoped the meeting would draw a big crowd, provide information, inspire the participants to get active in the movement for reform, and spark similar meetings all around the country. As the end of the meeting neared, I thought to myself, “We’ve done a great job – we’ve accomplished all our goals for this meeting.”

But, little did I know what was coming next – Marcia Gillespie, our closing speaker! Wow! Not only is Marcia a dynamic speaker, but her message to us was also electrifying. She told us that it was “time to get our bold on”. Marcia is a media expert who has served as editor-in-chief of both Ms. Magazine and Essence, and many of her challenges to us had to do with communicating effectively via the media. She encouraged us to create compelling messages, learn how to deliver them powerfully, and not to be afraid to mix it up with our opponents. We know that the majority of the public agrees with us about the need for meaningful health care reform. But, if we’re not able to get our message out in a compelling way, we won’t be able to activate people and we risk losing this opportunity for change. Marcia’s advice was helpful for any of us who get a chance to talk to a broader audience through any kind of media -- think new media, like blogs and Facebook, as well as traditional ways of communicating like writing letters to the editor and being interviewed on TV.

As I listened to Marcia, I realized that her advice to “get our bold on” was more than just a media expert’s tips about how to be a compelling spokesperson on TV. The message applies in so many other situations as well.

For example, the RWV conference included a Speak Out held on the evening of the first day. The room was filled to capacity and more than a dozen women took turns telling their stories – some of them intimate, some of them upsetting, all of them describing personal experiences with an abusive system that failed to meet their health needs. How bold is that? Standing up in front of a roomful of strangers and telling your story – bold and powerful. Joining a group to work together on health care access, or better yet starting a group when one doesn’t exist – that’s bold. Attending a public forum and asking policymakers to use their power to support health care reform – that’s bold. Signing up for a phone bank and calling folks to build more support – that’s bold.

If there’s something you’ve been feeling a little hesitant about doing – now’s the time. Congress will be working on health care reform very seriously over the next six months. We may not have such a chance again to make real, meaningful change to the health care system, so now’s the time to get active. Let’s listen to Marcia and get our bold on!

For more information about Marcia Gillespie’s speech, the Raising Women’s Voices conference, upcoming events, and how you can get involved, go to www.raisingwomensvoices.net or www.nwhn.org.