November 17th
Dear friends,
It’s good news Tuesday.
Last week, the trans community opened a multi-unit housing complex in Queens to provide sustainable housing to transgender individuals who have faced housing discrimination. The property was purchased by the non profit organization Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS). Ceyenne Doroshow, founder of GLITS, told the crowd at the ribbon-cutting:
When I am dead and gone, I want you to know that it was a Black trans woman that bought this building for you, for community…This was created from love and out of love.
Outside Chicago, Lauren Underwood did indeed hold on to her Congressional seat. She rode the 2018 blue wave into Congress and held on even as Republicans got out the vote in this election. Her message: access to quality, affordable health care. YES, I’m more excited about Cori Bush and the reelection of the Squad, AND I know that we cannot give up on people in the suburbs; they helped deliver Biden’s victory.
Stacey Abrams taught us that we should never concede a district or a state or a group of people to the Republicans; instead, we should educate voters and encourage participation. There were about 5 million Georgia voters who took part in the 2020 election, an increase of about 900,000 over the 2016 election. Today is a great day to donate to Fair Fight, without which we cannot win those two seats in the Senate.
Speaking of never conceding…while we wait for an end to election-denial, thank the election officials working at the county and state level for their work. This will take one minute. Brooklynites, please note: Kings County, NY will not turn up; for reasons that elude me, our county is listed as New York City: Brooklyn.
This weekend, the pandemic hit home for me in a different way. We were expecting to celebrate Thanksgiving with just two other loved ones and they told us that it doesn’t seem wise or safe to travel across state lines. So I permitted myself a short, sloppy pity-party. And then came a second announcement of a successful vaccine trial, this time from Moderna, which reports that
its experimental coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective at preventing illness, including severe cases
“It’s extremely good news. If you look at the data, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Fauci would not lie to us. The study included people over 65 and Hispanic, Black, Asian and multiracial subjects. Moderna reports that “the vaccine appeared equally safe and effective in all the subgroups.” This is undeniably good news, even though it doesn’t change our Thanksgiving plans.
There are anecdotal reports and studies that show that the practice of metta, or loving kindness meditation, has measurable benefits, even as we face down the realities of 2020. It has been found to
enhance a range of positive feelings in its participants compared with a control group, which fanned out into other helpful effects: increased mindfulness and purpose in life, and decreased illness symptoms.
Thank you for your sense of purpose! Taking action for justice requires that we stay positive. I’ll end with my favorite Cornel West quote: “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”
with love,
L