RootsCamp Ohio 2012

Hello dear Plunderbund readers. My name is Lauren Michelle Kinsey and I’m beyond honored to be here with you. I was recruited by Plunderbund at RootsCamp Ohio 2012. I’ve been blogging about Ohio politics on my own since 2010.

But enough about me. You want to know about RootsCamp Ohio 2012.

I’m going to start in the middle.

Do you know who David Pepper is? Of course you do. You read Plunderbund.  I discovered David through his potently progressive tweets. If you’re one of the few who haven’t yet become familiar with the man who I predict will be our next Attorney General, you should get to know him. He spoke at RootsCamp while we were having lunch. Here’s a taste.

Speaking of remembering who votes against the interests of Ohioans, how about that War On Women going on at the Ohio Statehouse? During one of the breakout sessions, Jaime Miracle, Policy Director of NARAL Pro-choice Ohio, and Stephanie Craddock Sherwood, regional field manager of Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio, explained to us what happened to women’s rights in Ohio in 2011.

When women know what’s happening to our reproductive rights, we get angry and we get mobilized. Similarly, when people learn how the Affordable Care Act will help them and their families, they become advocates for protecting it from the right wing smear campaign that has dubbed it Obamacare.

Jennifer Yoder, from UHCAN Ohio, led a session on understanding the Affordable Care Act. During the session, a grandmother named Yolanda A. Moncayo shared her story with us. She explained the tragic health crisis and unfair healthcare access crisis that happened to her grandson just as he graduated from high school. The Affordable Care Act has already had a dramatically positive impact on Yolanda’s family. Something similar could happen to any one of us at any time. We should understand how the ACA protects us. We don’t want this to be a case of, “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.