Someday Won’t Come Without Us!
Sisters,
Take it from me, someday, we’ll all be free. Inspiring words from the late great Donny Hathaway, released in 1973 as we celebrated hard-fought civil rights gains. The past two weeks brought more attacks on our freedoms and way of life in the U.S., making freedom seem farther away than ever. It seems as if those who seek to harm us have not yet run out of ways to try to take us back to pre-civil rights movement times. They are attempting to roll back ALL the progress our ancestors worked so hard to gain. WE MUST NOT LET THEM WIN!
Since WE CAN’s last post, President Trump ramped up his attack on voting rights (likely an attempt to draw our attention away from his ‘Epstein Situation’), calling on red state governors to ban mail-in ballots and rig the voting maps so Republicans will always win. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a federal agency funded by our tax dollars, has cut funding to study health disparities, meaning we’ll no longer be researching why ethnic minority populations have different—and often more serious—outcomes from diseases. I wonder why they no longer think it’s important to understand why Black women die of heart disease more than our white female peers? And don’t get me started on the corrupt U.S. Supreme Court continuing to allow the president to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (and other federal agencies), something that only the U.S. Congress should be doing; the Republican-led Congress is going along with whatever the president wants to do.
These actions mean now more than ever, it’s critical YOU meet with your elected officials.
We informed you a few weeks ago that your U.S. House of Representatives member and your two U.S. Senators are currently in your home district/state, making this an ideal opportunity to share your thoughts and concerns with them about your family and community. Bitching and moaning to your family or friends may make you feel better for a hot second, but if you want REAL CHANGE, you need to get in front of the folks who were elected to SERVE YOU and YOUR COMMUNITY!
If you’re like me, armed U.S. Military personnel patrolling the streets of Washington, DC, makes your blood boil. Local DC groups are leading protests, and if you want to join them, check out Organize DC’s list of protests. If you can’t get to DC, get yourself to a town hall meeting or your elected official’s office and let them know you want the occupation to END IMMEDIATELY.
WE CAN take immediate action by organizing our family and friends and meeting or contacting your elected officials. You have until Labor Day to meet them in your home district. Find out where they are going to be on Labor Day. For example, if you live in Speaker Mike Johnson’s Louisiana District, he is sponsoring a Passport Fair on Tuesday, August 26th, in Benton, LA, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Get your passport AND let him know what you think about his leadership of the Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is back in his New York District, where he will host a Veterans Resource Fair in Brooklyn on Monday, August 25th, from 5:00-7:00 pm. Learn about resources for Veterans AND let him know how you want him to continue to stand up for women and girls of color.
| Bottom Line? Our government is NOT working for us right now. Use the WE CAN August Recess Guide to help you prepare for meeting with your elected officials. Our government SHOULD work for us, and it is up to us to hold elected officials accountable. Make that call. Send that email. Set that meeting. ‘Someday’ won’t happen if WE don’t make it so. Don’t hesitate! In solidarity, The WE CAN Team |
