Hey Sunflowers!
What a day it's been. I hope you've been able to find some humor in it, despite everything going on.
A few years ago I was seriously struggling getting answers with my doctors. I switched insurances, switched care groups, followed this rabbit hole to another. It took me finally heeding my parents advice to be seen in Mexico to finally get a diagnosis - it was speedy and too the point, and solutions to cater to my chronic illness symptoms were presented and now it's a lot more manageable.
But wait - I shouldn't have had to go to another country to get the help I needed!!
Needless to say, I had a lot of feelings about this. I remember the first time I felt so belittled and dehumanized by a doctor - I was fuming for days over the appointment until I finally made my way back to the clinic and let the head nurse director have a piece of my mind. As politely and sternly as I could, I let this lovely lady know how this white man totally dismissed me and called me a liar in so many words in the notes that I can clearly see in my portal. She was disappointed but somehow not surprised. This is when I switched medical groups for the first time. I'd change groups a couple more times, change insurance twice more times before finally getting answers and people who took me seriously - in Mexico.
That's what this song, April Fools, means to me. As I started playing it at open mics, I found that this song resonated with people, stuck a little more than others. Maybe it was the anger in my singing - something I don't often sing with. Maybe it's the irony - it's all a joke, right? And maybe it's that, most of us have some kind of similar story where the systems put in place in our own country often cause more harm than good - all in the name of making more money! Good ol' capitalism!
Today marked the beginning of oral debates in the supreme court on the 14th Amendment; ratified in 1868, this is what granted birth right citizenship, right to due process, introduced the privilages and immunities clause (state's can't limit the rights of US citizens), the equal protection clause (thank you Brown v. Board of Education), replaced the three fifths clause (black folks votes used to only count for 3/5th of a vote!) with the apportionment and voting - dinging states if they would try to restrict voting rights! - and also introduced the insurrection clause, disallowing anyone who has rebelled or engaged in insurrection against the US to ever take office.
It's easy to see why Trump wants to rewrite this amendment. And not gonna lie - this feels personal!! it fills me with such a rage that no amount of belting out April Fools may ever heal. But it's a start.
It's important to keep our eyes peeled and our heads up. Lay our bodies down and rest so we can get back up in the morning and keep going, take turns taking care of each other, and keep going, keep fighting, keep hoping for a better tomorrow. Cuz the world we're in now, that can't be it, right? this has gotta be a joke…
April fools is out on bandcamp today, and will hit streaming at some point.
till next time,
Sunflower Summit