Dear friends,
I used to read an essay with my students called “The Impossible Will Take a Little While.” It was about remembering to take the long view when working for change.
In case yesterday was one of those days on earth that made you wonder why you bother trying, today will be better. Why? Because we’re getting somewhere and we’re just going to keep at it.
We are not giving up on passing the Climate and Community Investment Act in NYS. This law will mandate fees on greenhouse gases and pollutants to create a fund to pay for a just transition in the state. It is time to send some reminders to our legislators — to thank those who have co-sponsored the legislation and to turn up the heat on those who have not yet done so.
Use this tracker to figure out where your legislators stand and then go here to send the right message. This is a quick, ready-made action.
National Grid is still pursuing its plan to invest in new fracked gas infrastructure —the North Brooklyn Pipeline.
Learn more about the gas bill strike to stop National Grid’s plan.
Yesterday, we contacted our council members about local legislation — Intro 339 — to provide domestic workers with long overdue human rights protections previously denied them because their employers were not defined as employers. The law passed! Pause here to appreciate the power of collective relentlessness; the bill was originally introduced in 2018.
Yesterday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which would secure the same rights to over two million workers nationwide.
Call on Congress to support the National Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.
This month, a federal court ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program may no longer accept applications from undocumented immigrants. It’s clear that there needs to be a path to citizenship.
Call on Senator Chuck Schumer to fight for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers! This is a ready-made action.
Here in NYS, the $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund, created to provide relief to essential workers who missed out on federal aid because of their immigration status, is still not accessible to most excluded workers. The regulations in place require workers who are typically paid in cash to prove their employment. In addition, the workers must have valid ID, but many workers have not been able to renew their IDNYC because of limited appointments during the pandemic.
Tell the Governor to direct Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon and her team to change the rules and make this fund more accessible.
Apologies for the broken link yesterday. There was lots of curiosity about the WheeStroll and I had included a link to a video to show how the device was made. Here’s the picture of the family for whom the wheelchair attachment was designed; you may have missed it because of The Washington Post’s infernal paywall.
And because we all want to be able to get around…
Sign a petition to Congress calling for $85 billion in new transit funding.
Finally, I’m coming back to Simone Biles. I knew that what she did this week was important before I understood why it was so important. Then I read Erin Aubry Kaplan’s “Simone Biles and the New Black Power of ‘No’. ”
Admitting vulnerability is becoming a strength. It is progress of a particular kind. For a renowned athlete like Biles to inhabit uncertainty at the height of global expectations for her affirms Black humanity — and humanness — in a way that street protests, for all their political importance, can’t.
Kaplan’s piece reminded me of a Laini Mataka poem I used to teach called “Bein a Strong Black Woman Can Get U Killed.” We don’t need extraordinary people to sacrifice themselves to satisfy an impossible notion of strength. Instead, we need them to remind us of the dignity inherent in taking care of ourselves and others.
with love,
L