State of Disgrace
With tickets a whopping $600 and impossible to get, we tuned in live, as all eyes focused on Georgia. Would she rise to the occasion?
Before the medals were won, before the bomb exploded, before Richard Jewell’s life became a media-induced shambles, before his lawyer Lyn Wood made a name (and millions) for himself and long before he turned his resources to all out treason, before the desperately needed and promised mass transit never happened, and before urban redevelopment displaced people, we were hopeful.
And rise to the occasion she did…
In the form of Georgia-born and immensely talented songstress Gladys Knight, magically ascending center stage from the hidden depths of the Olympic Stadium on the other side of my neighborhood and all to the perfectly timed intro of violins, Ms. Knight sang “Georgia on My Mind,” as “sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines,” as the world held its collective breath in awe.
It was perfect.
It was almost enough to counteract the choreographed rally of small pick-up trucks on the stadium field that preceded her.
Flash forward 26 years, and here in Georgia is another monumental event as years-long and precision-planned as the whole of the 1996 Centennial Olympics: The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled stripping slightly over half of Georgia’s residents of their most basic rights, that of control over our own bodies. Ours is not the only state in the U.S. to place bans on women’s bodies in a blatant effort to forever ensure an impoverished underclass remains just that, but Georgia has been shamefully at the forefront, along with our other great state of embarrassment: Texas.
As my friend and fellow silversmith Rauni Higson put it, “They invade women’s bodies with patriarchal tyranny.”
So with the deepest respect and appreciation of the composers and stellar performers who made “Georgia on My Mind” one of this Georgia-born woman’s all-time favorite songs…
…I present you a sadly needed version of my own.
Georgia On My Womb
Georgia
Georgia
The whole life through
Just a 6 beat law*
Keeps Georgia on my womb
(Georgia on my mind)
I said a-Georgia
Georgia
Agenda of you
Comes as neat and clear
As no rights in their minds
Men at arms reach out for me
Other eyes smile maliciously
Still, in angry Trump, I see
The laws lead back to you
I said, Georgia, oh, Georgia
No peace I find
Just a 6 beat law
Keeps Georgia on my womb
(Georgia on my mind, oh)
Men at arms reach out for me
Other eyes smile maliciously
Still, in angry Trump, I see
The laws lead back to you
Oh, Nooooo
Georgia
Georgia
No peace, no rights I find
Just a 6 beat law
Keeps Georgia on my womb
* “6 beat law” refers to Georgia’s “Heartbeat Law,” which bans abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy.
As of this date, the U.S. court of appeals for the 11th circuit has not yet reversed the decision that had previously successfully blocked the law from taking effect. After the US Supreme Court’s unconstitutional reversal of Roe v. Wade. last week, it is likely that the block will be reversed, and the “Heart Beat Law” will go into effect.
Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams spoke at the Georgia Municipal Association conference in Savannah this past weekend and said the law would be detrimental to the women of Georgia.
“Because we know that Georgia has one of the weakest public health infrastructures, and because maternal mortality is one of the highest of the nation, and because this law would prohibit women getting the medical care they need after six weeks, we know that’s going to put a lot of our lives in danger. So I’m deeply concerned.”
– WTOC 11
As a feminist and one of those women who almost died during childbirth due to medical negligence and malpractice during my pregnancy, I agree with Ms, Abrams wholeheartedly. Our health infrastructures are pathetic.