My name is Jennifer Robinson, and I am a lifelong feminist and activist. By the age of 20, I was disabled by painful chronic illnesses. Eventually, I was diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, Fibromyalgia, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and POTS: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Simultaneously, I was dealt the blow of a disease of the brain: Schizoaffective Disorder, which caused severe depression and psychosis.

My first activist work was done while I was sick. I joined with Code Pink’s original vigil in front of the White House in 2002, and tried to assist the group in making their International Women’s Day march against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq inclusive for women with disabilities.
I co-founded a feminist online support group for women with disabilities, with a group of chronicallynill friends I met online, and created its website (now defunct).
Later, I served as a board member for Florida’s branch of NOW as well as the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

What I would give, however, to MARCH on Washington again, cannot be expressed briefly. Marching with thousands to demand peace, I had moments that would define the way I viewed the world thereafter. I felt part of a community of “thoughtful, committed citizens”. The day of the Code Pink march that I had been on the planning committe for, I was stuck in bed.

Now, at a time I think more crucial than ever for every single thoughtful, committed citizen to flood the streets, I cannot walk down any street, having been bedbound for a year. On election day, I wore the buttons you see in this photo and took a picture, sure that the fifty percent of the populace which had never been represented in the Oval Office would finally see a victory that night and a woman who championed healthcare and equality for decades would become President.

But a couple of hours later, I fainted in my doctor’s office, which often happens with POTS, and was lying in the ER watching when results came in showing that misogyny, racism, classism, and ableism had won instead.

We cannot sit placently by and let this happen in the U.S. We ALL must protest, however we can, because what we are witnessing in this country is definitely NOT normal. We are witnessing theverosion of basic civil rights and also human decency. Please do not forget a dozen women have accused the President-Elect of sexual assault. Please do not forget when someone says it is ok to grab women’s genitalia, he does not treat women well; further, that act is sexual assault. Please do not forget the mocking of the reporter with a disease. Please do not forget the importance of ACA, Medicare, Medicaid and Roe.
“There ain’t no power like the power of the people, cuz the power of the people don’t stop!”.

My blog, Longing to Be Vertical, is about living with disabling chronic illnesses http://longingtobevertical.blogspot.com

I am the coauthor of the book Episodes of Schizophrenia with Jessica Leach (Chipmunka Publishing, 2012) and a contributing author to Parts Unbound: Narratives on Mental Illness and Health (Limehawk Literary Arts Collective, 2015).