A Painful Privilege: Your Right to Protest
/By Mia Maysack, PNN Columnist
I used to think I maintained a pretty solid grasp on the concept of being hurt. But being confronted by prejudice and oppression has broadened my horizons regarding what else pain can and really does mean.
Recently PNN published a column by Dr. Lynn Webster that highlighted an interesting point regarding pain sufferers and our experiences with prejudice in the healthcare system. Not that the Black Lives Matter movement is about us, but there is much we can learn from it. For example, how protesting in numbers gets the sort of attention that could actually drive real change.
The fact is pain patients are often mistreated, but the discrimination minority patients face is deeper and far greater. This isn't intended to lessen or take away from anyone's experience, but to keep things in proper perspective -- which we’re in need of now more than ever.
After attending a Headache on the Hill lobbying event in early February, I self-quarantined for months due to my health and in consideration for the health of others. But when George Floyd died, it was a last straw that drove me out despite the potential for consequences.
It's understandable that not everyone is able to venture out in the ways that I have, and I'm grateful to have done this work to the extent that my ailments allow. But a simple fact remains at the bottom of any civil rights moverment: there is always something that can be done. It is simply a matter of following through on doing it.
Traveling to a place like Washington D.C. to lobby for better migraine care or even just to the state capitol in my own city for a BLM protest takes just about everything I've got out of me. I held my fists up for so long, I still cannot lift my arms. But the work has to be done by somebody.
So instead of complaining and contributing to the very stigma we attempt to escape, why don’t we show up and support each other in ways that we can?
Being immunocompromised was mentioned at a recent protest I attended. Someone stood up to speak on behalf of another person who couldn't be there. I respected that. It was a way for that person's voice to still be heard regardless of the fact they weren't there to speak. It was a beautiful example of how we're still able to contribute meaningfully despite our limitations.
The same is true for any cause. There are always options, such as donating to those you can trust your dollars with, contacting your elected representatives, making a call, sending a letter or signing a petition. At the very least, aim to recognize and release any privilege or ego.
You don't need to have a different shade of skin to ask for justice. At a recent protest, a black woman spoke so much wisdom. One of the things she said was, “Women are the most oppressed among us all.”
We need to recognize that when any of us is held back or down in any way, it impacts us all. When someone's life or rights are threatened, it's only a matter of time before the same thing could be done to you or someone you care about.
Mia Maysack lives with chronic migraine, cluster headache and fibromyalgia. Mia is the founder of Keepin’ Our Heads Up, a Facebook advocacy and support group, and Peace & Love, a wellness and life coaching practice for the chronically ill.
