Mar 24 2010
Marcelas Owens, 11 Year-Old Health Care Reform Hero
If you haven’t heard about 11 year-old Marcelas Owens, you’ve been missing the show. Or yesterday’s front page of the New York Times, where he is shown standing proudly next to President Obama signing health care reform into law.
Marcelas knows how much pain our health care system causes. When he was seven, his mother Tiffany got sick and missed so much work that she lost her job - and her health insurance. Part of the working poor, she didn’t qualify for Medicaid, so she was forced to go to the emergency room for care. But she never got enough. Tiffany died of pulmonary hypertension several months later, at age 27, leaving Marcelas and his two sisters to her mother Gina.
Tiffany was a health care activist. So Marcelas also knew that hope, determination, and great organizing can turn pain into progressive change. His activism over the past four years alongside his grandmother as members of USAction affiliate Washington Community Action Network - culminating in meetings with Senators, a high-five with the President, and legislation that will make a world of difference for millions - demonstrates that.
What’s powerful about Marcelas is that he tells a simple truth, from his own heart: people are suffering because they cannot afford the care they need, and we can change this. Marcelas’s story - like the stories of Melanie Shouse, Kelley and David Arellanes, Stacie Ritter, Susan Braig, and so many others told and untold - took courage to tell. Amazingly, he even drew shameless attacks from right-wing commentators such as Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh. The beauty and justice of yesterday is that Marcelas and the American people triumphed over this barrage of hate and selfishness. Health care is no longer a privilege in the U.S. - it’s a right. Is this a complete victory? Of course not. There is much to be done. But it’s a tremendous step forward.
President Obama recognized Marcelas when he signed the bill:
“I’m signing it for 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who’s also here. Marcelas lost his mom to an illness. And she didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the care that she needed. So in her memory he has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what his family has experienced.”
Thank you, Marcelas. At age 11, you’re a hero. I can’t wait to see what you’ll bring when you’re older.
[...] the health care debate animated the vandals; WCAN was in the national spotlight when 11-year-old, WCAN member Marcelas Owens stood beside President Obama as he signed the historic health care bill into [...]
[...] As you may recall, Marcelas Owens learned at a young age to turn pain into progressive change when at the age of seven he lost his mother, a health-care activist, after she lost her job and insurance. He quickly became an advocate himself, first working with USAction affiliate Washington Community Action Network, then telling his story to Senator Patty Murray, launching him onto the national stage. (Quite literally – he was right next to President Obama when the health care bill was signed!) Touring the country during the battle for health care reform, Marcelas said “I don’t want any other kids to go through the pain that our family has gone through. My grandma and I want Barack Obama and Congress and everybody to come together and to help get the health care bill passed.” An example for the movement, he has also shown us how to take jabs from the opposition in stride. He once said that, “my mother always taught me they can have their own opinion but that doesn’t mean they are right. They are not going to stop me from my fight.” [...]