YOUR VOTES AND YOUR E-SIGNATURE ASAP

It's May 14th.  Tomorrow is the final voting day for the Pink Well Challenge.  The day after that, I'll have to fill the space above the posts with a plea for something else.  I need something upon which to focus.  This challenge has been my cause since I realized we had the power to use our voices to get funds for METAvivor.  Vote today.  Vote tomorrow.  Vote three times today and three times tomorrow.  Send the link to everyone you know.  Let's get a BIG push for LOTS of last minutes votes.  It's important.

Above the plea for votes is The Clock.  It's Deadline 2020.  It's the initiative of the NBCC, the National Breast Cancer Coalition.  I returned home from the 2012 Advocacy Summit last Tuesday night.  I vowed to make noise wherever I could. This blog is a pretty noisy place for me.  I need some help.  Your Help.

First of all, each state was challenged to produce a number of signatures on The Petition to the President.  If you have NOT signed the petition, I encourage you to do so.  You can submit your signature electronically.  NBCC will see to it that your name is included.  If you happen to be at ANY event where you might have a captive audience, why not consider printing out the petition form.  Several signatures can go on one paper.  Mingle with the crowd.  Is there anyone among us who does NOT want to see the complete demise of breast cancer.  Honestly.  It's become pandemic and I don't really care whether or not it truly fits the medical definition of pandemic.  It's pandemic.  Because I said so.  So sign the damn petition.

Step two.  We need to get signatures on the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act.  That would be the signatures of ALL congressional representatives.  Is your representative on this list?  Clearly, if your state isn't on the list, it's a fair assumption that your rep didn't sign the thing.  After lobbying on the hill (that sounds so damn important, now doesn't it?????), I can safely say that NO representative wants to be seen as "anti-woman," and there is no disease that screams WOMAN better, louder, pinker than breast cancer.  It's highly likely your representative isn't aware the bill is out there and that his/her signature is absolutely essential.  It's up to YOU to tell him/her.  (We DO need to come up with a metrosexual word as this his/her, him/her, s/he, wo(men) is getting annoying.... it distracts me when I'm writing.... Just sharin' ....)

Back to those signatures, IF your state is on the list and you are not sure about YOUR representative, NBCC makes it very simple.  Fill in the blanks.  The message will be transmitted through that page to the proper representative.  You will see the name of your representative as soon as you complete the form.  I'm going to play Let's Make A Deal.  If it turns out that YOUR rep didn't sign this yet, leave their name in the comments section.  I'll happily find them on twitter, I'll start a "twit storm" and soon the entire state will know that a Serious Woman's Health Issue is being ignored by Representative So and So from the Great State of Such and Such.

We will get the signatures.  I got your back.  One of my workshops last weekend was all about using social media to get the message out.  You think it can't be done?  There's a global breast cancer organization still dealing with fallout.  That demise was a direct result of places like Twitter and Facebook (and the blogs, too!) keeping the story alive.  Social media made sure the story had legs and SM was the big machine moving those legs like a hamster in a wheel.  And then, there's Kony 2012.  You can read about it but thanks to Social Media, in a 25 day span from when the video was released in March, the thing was viewed more than 86 MILLION times on You Tube.  All because ONE person posted the video and knew how to engage an audience and compel that audience to keep it going.

My fellow New Yorkers:  We have only one representative whose name is NOT on that bill.  Jose Serrano from the South Bronx.  Missing.  I'm already on it.  The twit storm has begun.  I'll be more than happy to continue the twit brigade. Send.Me.Your.Inkless.Your.Unsigned.Your.Clueless.  It's an election year.  Trust me.  The politicos need to pander to us. We are not a "special interest" group.  We are women. Women have breasts.  The number one risk factor for developing breast cancer?  You are a WOMAN.  Red or blue, ultra liberal or uber conservative and everywhere in between, putting a deadline on breast cancer it something that crosses all.

Your assignment for the next couple of days.....
1-METAvivor votes today and tomorrow.
2-Sign the presidential petition (and print out a few pages to haul around with you if you are so inclined).
3-Make sure your congressional representative has signed the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer bill. If not, WHY NOT????

Demand answers.  They have jobs thanks to our votes.  They are OUR voice.  They should be representing the concerns of their constituents.  If they can't, come November, be sure to tell them to take a hike.  That's how the system works and it's always a good idea to play nice.  And if you can't get cooperation, you can always work towards satisfaction.  Vote 'em out......