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Dear neighbors and friends,
I was honored to attend a dozen or more Juneteenth events. As compared with a year ago, the number of Juneteenth celebrations in the First District has grown exponentially. This holiday to commemorate the triumph of Black people over the wicked system of slavery points us in the direction of what is possible.
It is possible for the American economy to survive and thrive without the free labor and shackling of slaves. And yet, we continue to exist in a society where Black people are more likely to be denied the basic building blocks of a good life—decent paying jobs with fair working conditions, fully funded schools, access to basic infrastructure like clean water, public transportation and the internet, and freedom from surveillance and incarceration.
This month I stood with health care workers, mostly Black and Brown women, to demand that hospitals provide adequate staffing to ensure patients and staff are safe. These workers are being exploited, and the consequences include injury to staff but also higher rates of infection and death for patients. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ““Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. …Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Let us come together to demand what is right, for the protection of us all.
Sincerely,
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