Diaries

Human Interest

Submitted by Robyn on Sun, 03/20/2016 - 1:49pm

photo Marcelas_zpsh0yuokcu.jpgMarcelas Owens created quite a stir six years ago as the "Obamacare Kid." At the time he was a chubby 11-year-old African-American boy in a black vest who watched President Obama sign the AFA into law.

Marcelas' mother died because she didn't have health insurance, Owens says. She was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2006. Her illness caused her to miss days at work, which led to her losing her job. She was denied Medicaid because she had earned too much money working the previous year.

So Marcelas started attending Obamacare rallies and "gave a human face to an abstract political isse."

Marcelas stepped into a new role. While other kids his age could barely mumble while speaking before a class, he was speaking to crowds of up to 6,000 people at rallies. At one rally in Seattle, he met U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from the state of Washington.

And when the Affordable Care Act was passed, he was invited to the White House signing ceremony. He still talks about the experience with a sense of awe.

"I got a high five and fist bump from Barack Obama!"

So this is all old news and some of you may have heard this story and more.

Spring has come! Another KOS immigrant

Submitted by widem on Sun, 03/20/2016 - 1:30pm

I didn't realize how much the Daily Kos deteriorated since I pretty much given up reading and posting when the new format was implemented. I was one of the complainers on how unreadable it was since it tended to white out and was hard on the eyes. I would try to check now and then but since I really only wanted to read the "recent stories" section it was getting to be too tedious scrolling and not seeing anything worthwhile.

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Travels West Virginia with Her Old Black Bag

Submitted by JayRaye on Sun, 03/20/2016 - 12:55pm

You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday March 20, 1906
New York, New York - A Reporter Tells of Travels with Mother Jones in West Virginia

Mother Jones, Miners Angel .jpg

From New York City, a reporter describes, for the Pittsburgh Evening Leader of Kansas, a journey with Mother Jones throughout West Virginia. The reporter describes a similar journey with Mother in 1901, back before Mother's break with John Mitchell, while she was still employed as an organizer for the United Mine Workers. Who sponsored this trip, the reporter does not say, nor is the identity of the reporter revealed, but what is made obvious is the love of the coal miners and their wives for Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel.

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