Dear friends,
In 1995, Nelson Mandela remarked that
Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people.
As it happens, I had a baby that year, contributing to the nation’s wealth. Mandela had also made this observation in 1995:
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.
Our soul is in some peril.
Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the mass shooting in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
The children of this nation remain on the front lines of our gun violence problem. Nearly 3,600 American children died in 2021 from gun violence. This year is shaping up to be equally if not more horrible.
Thousands of children have been wounded or traumatized by their proximity to gun violence. Countless others live in fear of being shot.
The Illinois legislature is holding hearings on a statewide assault weapons ban this week. Even if they pass it, Illinois would only be the eighth state to pass similar legislation.
We need a more robust response. The public said so after the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act earlier this year. The president has said so, repeatedly.
Call your US Senators and talk to a staffer about the Assault Weapons Ban.
Young people are well-represented in the movement to end gun violence and are its most passionate and articulate spokespeople. They are our leaders in this fight.
A few months ago, I read this outstanding piece about the Youth Voting Rights Act, which is a much-needed piece of legislation to enforce the 26th Amendment.
Young voters are disproportionately made to cast provisional ballots because of issues related to their voter registration or because they show up at the wrong polling place. As a Florida federal judge considering a recent 26th Amendment challenge noted, that’s “not [an] uncommon miscalculation for people who move at least once a year from dorm-to-dorm, dorm-to-apartment, house-to-dorm, apartment-to-apartment, Greek-house-to-house, among others.” And their provisional ballots are disproportionately rejected — “at a rate more than four times higher than the rejection rate for provisional ballots cast by voters between the ages of 45 to 64” in Florida alone.
We need to protect the lives of young people and one way to do that is to ensure that they have a voice.
Sign a petition to support the Youth Voting Rights Act. This action is co-sponsored by RISE, et. al.
While some observers have noted that MOCJ’s portfolio is sprawling and that it might be beneficial to “bring more of a direct human touch” to the community work and the mostly young population it is serving, I am suspicious of the budget implications.
Contact your council member to ask what they know about cuts to DYCD and the funding for violence interruption work and gunplay prevention.
Streetsblog has provided a superb guide to the plan — yes, there’s a plan! — to phase in free bus service in NYC. One of my reasons for supporting this plan is that I’ve always thought it was a mistake that student transit passes don’t work on the weekend.
To grow up in NYC and not have the money to use public transit to get around is a crime. So, it happens, is evading the fare. Raising transit fares is just another way to criminalize poverty.
In their report, the CSS wrote that “enforcement intensity … in high-poverty neighborhoods is more than twice as high as the other stations. Enforcement relative to ridership … in high-poverty black and Latinx neighborhoods is more than 60 percent higher than at the 21 stations in high-poverty white or Asian neighborhoods.”
They continued, “Institutional racism can not only impact who the NYPD decides to stop for fare evasion and what penalty they issue, but also which neighborhoods they focus their enforcement on.”
There are a lot of reasons to support free bus service.
Let your state legislators know that you want to Fix the MTA and make bus service free. I made it easy!
Saving society’s soul is a tall order.
Take care of yourself, because you’re of no use to anyone if you do not AND because you deserve care. Wear your mask, because cold/flu/Covid season is upon us. Remember to test before you gather indoors.
Order your free home COVID tests today.
with love,
L