Lessons Learned

by C.A. Matthews

Welcome to our tenth anniversary celebration of The Revolution Continues!

It’s been ten years this month since I agreed to become blog editor. TRC had another name originally, and it was posted on another social media platform, but it gradually transformed into what you’re reading today. That tentative first step kicked off a busy decade of writing, editing, reading, and researching how human beings manage to screw things up and try to put them back together again.

Ten whole years. Would I agree to do it all again, knowing what I do now? Hmm… Let me think about it.

Some folks place TRC under the category of “political science,” but I prefer think of it more as a study in anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology. People making life either harder or easier for themselves or others is what our time on this planet is all about, in my humble opinion. And it’s amazing just how many in power enjoy making life more difficult for others in order to “get ahead.”

It’s issues like these that trigger my spidey-sense gained from my background in psychology. Why do sociopaths get such satisfaction from the struggles and suffering of their fellow human beings? Can’t we simply learn to respect each others’ differences, and live and let live? Most days, apparently not.

And with that insight, I’ll share ten pearls of wisdom gathered over the last decade from fighting in the trenches of American politics and activism. I’m sure you’ve discovered most of these yourself. Feel free to comment on which one(s) has/have made the biggest impression on you.

Ten Tough Lessons Learned Over the Past Ten Years 

 

1. We must act as our own heroes.

Nobody is going to become our “savior” and save us from our failures as a nation or as a people or as a species. We must learn to save ourselves and do it over and over again. This is what the brave crew of the Madleen in the Freedom Flotilla are attempting. This is what the March to Gaza is all about.

Political heroes in particular are more than likely to let you down. Take for example Bernie Sanders. This blog began as The Bernie Blog in 2015 when a handful of enthusiastic “Berners” came together in hopes of spreading the word that democratic socialism could solve all of America’s problems. The only problem with that idea was that the corrupt system under which Americans elect their leaders and solve their society’s challenges didn’t want to have anything to do with people like Bernie or his followers. They particularly despised any philosophy of governance containing the word “socialism” in it as well.

More on that corrupt system in a moment. One day soon I promise to write more about the origin story of the TRC blog and how our relationship with Bernie changed. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of funny, scary, and very educational stories to tell about how we survived it all...

 

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This article is the 523rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or at Buy Me a Coffee or at Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

 

Changing The World

Changing The World

by C. A. Matthews

“If you think we can’t change the world, it just means you’re not one of them who will.” --Jacque Fresco

The last two hundred plus days have been difficult. But, every once and a while, there is a glimmer of hope. There is a light shining through the haze of the seemingly endless bombing in Gaza. Not everyone supports this genocide. Not everyone buys into the sociopathic narrative of the Israelis and their bought-off Zionist agents in the West.

In fact, every day there are more and more people who are speaking out against the war crimes the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) are perpetrating against innocent Palestinian civilians. Our university students are leading the way in protest against the entrenched, bloodthirsty establishment. Cops are using rubber bullets, mace, and nightsticks against them, but the students are holding fast. They truly are heroes in these dark times.

BGSU students protest in downtown BG

And we should follow their lead.

Change is scary, but sometime it’s necessary. This is one of these times. The world cannot remain the way it is, stuck in the sickness of capitalism’s endless wars to steal resources (oil, land, rare earths) from native peoples. The world cannot remain under the control of full-fledged psychopaths who’d rather foul our air, land, and waters to generate another billion dollars in profit than to preserve what remains of our beautiful Earth by practicing prudent and fair methods of resource management. The world cannot remain in the hands of sociopaths who believe that ethnic cleansing and immigrant-scapegoating are legitimate, moral activities to handle human conflict.

The world will not remain a livable place much longer if these activities continue. And so our university students—our heroes—are taking the lead at pointing out the evils of the status quo at the risks of their studies, their careers, and their lives. We should do all that we can to promote their cause and boycott the industries, institutions, and individuals that are selfishly driving our planet toward its death throws.

One student eloquently summed up the meaning of the student protests in a short interview:

University Of Chicago Student States: "There Are Things That More Important Than My Academic Future" https://youtu.be/BJpML0QBcMk  and also  https://youtu.be/vAZIMWNOa7w

Another student gave testimony to her school’s board of trustees on how their investments into the military-industrial complex aren’t what the students and faculty want:

Speaking Truth to Power: Rutgers Student Confronts School Leadership Board https://www.indiemediatoday.com/p/speaking-truth-to-power-rutgers-hdwmt-112

And Columbia University social work graduates got their points across during their graduation ceremony: https://twitter.com/ColumbiaSJP/status/1789827109470224418

Bold, aren’t they? I find them refreshing in their moral courage, don't you?

More nominees for an "Aaron" award!

This is what I mean when I say these university students are our heroes. They valiantly clear away the cobwebs of the fascistic narrative spin offered up by government spokespersons and present the facts to us in a rational and moral fashion. Genocide is no longer to be considered an “option” or a “choice” or a “defense tactic” or a way for your university to make money. It’s just plain mass murder. It’s horrific ethnic cleansing. Anyone who can’t intuit that profound truth is a very sick individual and needs to be locked up for their own good as well as for the good of society.

Perhaps we should install padlocks on all the doors and rubber mats on the floors and walls that line the Capitol Building and the White House to keep all the AIPAC-owned lunatics inside to prevent them from starting World War III?

BGSU students and others on Main St.

After seven months, one would hope that more celebrities would come crawling out of their golden bubbles to protest the criminal actions of Israel. But being threatened with dropped contracts for their music or having their juicy parts in big Hollywood productions axed are considered more important to most entertainers than helping save thousands of innocent lives from being butchered by the Israeli military. 

Rapper Macklemore is an exception. He has written a rap song declaring the reality of what the students are protesting about while simultaneously exposing the shallow narcissism of celebrityness. (All proceeds from the song are being donated to UNRWA, too. Nice touch, Macklemore.)

audio only https://youtu.be/wmg6vbt04TY
video https://youtu.be/fgDQyFeBBIo

HIND'S HALL
Written and Produced by Macklemore

The people they won’t leave
What is threatening about divesting and wanting peace?
The problem isn’t the protests it’s what they’re protesting
Cause it goes against what our country is funding
Block the barricade until Palestine is free
Block the barricade until Palestine is free
When I was 7 I learned a lesson from Cube and Eazy E
What was it again? Oh yea fuck the police
Actors in badges protecting property
And a system that was designed by white supremacy
But the people are in the streets
You can pay off Meta you can’t pay off me
Politicians who serve by any means
AIPAC, CUFI and all the companies
You see we sell fear around the land of the free
But this generation here is about to cut the strings
You can ban Tik Tok take us out the algorithm
But it’s too late we’ve seen the truth we bare witness
We’ve seen the rubble the buildings the mothers the children
And all the men that you murdered and then we see how they spin it
Who gets to the right to defend and who gets the right of resistance
Has always been about dollars and the color of your pigment
But White Supremacy is finally on blast
Screaming free Palestine until they’re home at last
We see the lies in them
Claiming it’s anti-semitic to be anti-zionist
I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and riding
In solidarity and screaming free Palestine with ‘em
Organizing, unlearning and finally cutting ties with a
State that’s gotta rely on an apartheid system
To uphold an occupying violent
History been repeating for the last 75
The Nakba never ended, the colonizer lied
If some kids in tents, posted on the lawn occupying the quad is really against the law
And a reason to call in the police and their squad
where does genocide land in your definition huh? destroying every college in Gaza and every mosque pushing everyone into Rafah and dropping bombs
The blood is on your hands Biden, we can see it all
And fuck no I’m not voting for you in the fall
Undecided, you can’t twist the truth
The people out here united never be defeated when Freedom’s on the horizon
Yet the music industry’s quiet complicit in their platform of silence
What happened to the artist what do you got to say?
If I was on a label, you could drop me today
And be fine with it cause the heart fed my page
I want a ceasefire fuck a response from Drake
What you willing to risk?
What you willing to give?
What if you were Gaza? What if those were your kids?
If the West was pretending that you didn’t exist
You’d want the world to stand up
And the students finally did
Let’s get it

The title of Macklemore’s song, Hind’s Hall, comes from the “renamed” Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University. Here’s a short bio of who Hind was in case you don’t know:

Hind Rajab was a 6-year-old girl from Gaza. In January 2024, she and her family were shelled by the Israeli army while in their car. Hind and her 15-year-old cousin, Layan Hamadeh, were the only survivors, trapped within the car. They called the Palestinian Red Cross Society, with Layan saying, “They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We're in the car, and the tank is right next to us.” The PCRS sent a team to rescue them. However, after 12 days, on February 10, when the Israeli army withdrew from the area, Hind Rajab and her six relatives were found dead in the car, along with the two paramedics sent to rescue them, who were also found dead nearby, victims of Israeli snipers.

The Columbia students renamed the building in honor of a frightened little girl left to die of her injuries and starvation all alone beside the corpses of her family members who earlier succumbed to their wounds. The perpetrators of this heinous crime will probably never be charged or prosecuted for what they did, but the students of Columbia immortalized Hind Rajab by renaming a building in her honor. Macklemore is spreading Hind’s story worldwide through his gift of music. May Hind’s remaining family and friends find some solace in knowing that she will never be forgotten, and that not all Westerners were oblivious to their suffering.

This is heroism. This is changing the world for the better. These are the people we should follow and imitate.

Block the Hollywood celebs and the Grammy winners online who can’t even be bothered to hold a concert to raise money for UNRWA. They won't even bring about public awareness to the genocide in Gaza by chatting about it on the red carpet or the talk show circuit or their X feeds.

To quote Macklemore: “I want a ceasefire! F*ck a response from Drake!”

The students are changing the world. Follow their lead. Free Palestine.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Blood on Biden’s Hands: The invasion of Rafah MUST be stopped
https://youtu.be/sovQJfZL-jw

University Of Chicago Student States: "There Are Things That More Important Than My Academic Future" https://youtu.be/vAZIMWNOa7w

University Students in Mexico Launch Gaza Solidarity Encampment, Call for BDS https://truthout.org/articles/university-students-in-mexico-launch-gaza-solidarity-encampment-call-for-bds/

MACKLEMORE - HIND'S HALL https://youtu.be/fgDQyFeBBIo

'HIND'S HALL' OCCUPATION / Hind Rajab’s Mother Reacts To Student Protests https://mark192.substack.com/p/hinds-hall-occupation-hind-rajabs

Student Power: Freedoms under threat in the U.S. https://youtu.be/l8-ojOG16ow

Opposing The War Machine Is Cool Again, And The Empire's Getting Nervous https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/opposing-the-war-machine-is-cool

Students Demanding Divestment: You’re On The Right Side Of History https://popularresistance.org/students-demanding-divestment-youre-on-the-right-side-of-history/

Speaking Truth to Power: Rutgers Student Confronts School Leadership Board https://www.indiemediatoday.com/p/speaking-truth-to-power-rutgers-hdwmt-112

Thousands of U.S. Students Arrested While Israel Invades Rafah https://youtu.be/RzMueJ4OpsI

Chris Hedges: The Nation’s Conscience  https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/08/chris-hedges-the-nations-conscience/

Campus Protests Are Fighting Militarism and Corporatization at Home and Abroad https://truthout.org/articles/campus-protests-are-fighting-militarism-and-corporatization-at-home-and-abroad/

USC President and Provost Censured After Faculty Senate Vote https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/10/usc-president-and-provost-censured-after-faculty-senate-vote/

Empire Managers Explain Why This New Protest Movement Scares Them https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/empire-managers-explain-why-this

Listen to the Students  https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/08/listen-to-the-students/

Universities Have Failed Their Democratic Mission by Repressing Gaza Protests https://truthout.org/articles/universities-have-failed-their-democratic-mission-by-repressing-gaza-protests/

Israel Shuts Down Al Jazeera Operations In The Country https://popularresistance.org/israel-shuts-down-al-jazeera-operations-in-the-country/

There’s Only 1 to 3 Days’ Worth of Food Left in Gaza, World Food Programme Warns https://truthout.org/articles/theres-only-1-to-3-days-worth-of-food-left-in-gaza-world-food-programme-warns/

Israeli Prisons Subject Palestinians to Constant Torture, “Revenge” https://truthout.org/articles/report-israeli-prisons-subject-palestinians-to-constant-torture-revenge/

Jill Stein EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Why Ending the War on Gaza Means Breaking From Biden https://youtu.be/NXSZUtt4kYE

Why 9 in 10 American Zionists Are Actually Christians  https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/why-9-in-10-american-zionists-are

Support for a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza Increases Across Party Lines https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/5/8/support-for-a-permanent-ceasefire-in-gaza-increases-across-party-lines

When Opposing Genocide Is Seen As Radical, Radicalism Becomes A Moral Imperative https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/when-opposing-genocide-is-seen-as

Every single hostage exchange Hamas offered Israel since October
https://twitter.com/cynthianna3/status/1788687035424735544

Over 100,000 Gazans flee Rafah as UN warns 'no aid in sight' https://thecradle.co/articles/over-100000-gazans-flee-rafah-as-un-warns-no-aid-in-sight

Jill Stein on an Egyptian TV news program (with an endorsement) https://youtu.be/kuIJt73t9aQ?si=LZthWo7QNBDB4fDb

The CIA and Zionism: A Complex History https://www.spytalk.co/p/the-cia-and-zionism-a-complex-history

USA & Israel defy world in vote to make Palestine full UN member https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/us-israel-un-vote-palestine-full-member

Can No One Tell Me the Name of an Israeli Woman Who Was Raped by Hamas on 10/7? https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/can-no-one-tell-me-the-name-of-an

Using A Fictional Antisemitism Crisis To Support A Real Genocide https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/using-a-fictional-antisemitism-crisis

When Your Rulers Ignore Voters But Are Terrified Of Protesters, That Tells You Something https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/when-your-rulers-ignore-voters-but

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Acts of Forgiveness

We need stronger advocates for the poor and struggling in the US! Who can we turn to?

A Look Into Faith and Activism
by C.A. Matthews

We take a short break from the relentless stress and insanity of COVID-19 quarantining this week to take a look at the intersection of faith and activism, two forces that generally work together for the good of the community, locally and globally. When I was contacted as editor about having The Revolution Continues become a part of the blog tour for the release of the Rev. Ted Karpf's memoir, I  jumped at this opportunity to learn more about one of the early AIDS/HIV activists who helped save thousands of lives.

Clergypersons who live their faith out loud, boldly and with distinction, have

always been personal heroes of mine. I can start with such notables as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Archbishop Oscar Romero, both of whom lost their lives in the struggle to bring the injustices suffered by the poor and people of color to light in the larger society.  I also have to include activists who are very much currently in the news, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call to Moral Revival movement.

And of course, my admiration for people of faith who "walk the walk" as well as "talk the talk" began with my father, the Rev. Dr. John C. Cooper and my grandfather, the Rev. John Knox "Jack" Johnston. Dad was always outspoken on environmental issues, the Vietnam War, and the hate-filled actions of the Ku Klux Klan. I remember celebrating that very first Earth Day with him and how he wouldn't flunk his college students in fear they'd be killed or injured like he was in yet another distant country. Dad was a double Purple Heart recipient who served with the Marines in the Korean War, so he felt it was his duty to keep his students alive and help them become better people prepared to serve all of humanity--not just the insatiable greed of the military-industrial complex.

My grandfather, the Rev. Jack Johnston, worked tirelessly as a missionary in the slums of Sao Paolo, Brazil, during the 1920s-30s. Addressing the social and spiritual needs of the poorest of the poor were paramount to him and my grandmother. At the start of World War II he returned home and joined the Army, serving as head chaplain of General George S. Patton's division in Europe during such actions as the Battle of the Bulge. I remember my grandfather being rather soft spoken and not a particularly physically imposing person by any stretch of the imagination, so you can imagine the quiet inner bravery he must have possessed advocating for the hearts and souls of his soldier-charges while conversing with "Old Blood and Guts" Patton in those bloody battlefields. 

I think wearing a clerical collar and carrying a Bible can instill courage in a social justice activist every bit as much as carrying a sign or a loaded weapon--if not more so. Read my review of Ted's story below and see if you don't agree.

And now a special book review for the  
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING BLOG TOUR

May I Die In Your Church?  
A Closer Look Into The Life And Times Of An Activist/Priest

Acts of Forgiveness: Faith Journeys of a Gay Priest
Ted Karpf
Foreword by Ray L. Hart
Toplight Books
ASIN: B081Y8LHZN, ISBN-10: 1476679592, ISBN-13: 9781476679594

“I have learned that while we can’t always see the real outcomes of the victories of our battles for justice, inclusion, acceptance, and respect, each of us in our own way has won those liberties, not with the ease of largesse and privilege, but with an understanding that no matter the cost, what we did/do and why we did/do it was critical for the larger humanity."

Retired Episcopalian priest Ted Karpf’s engaging memoir, Acts of Forgiveness, can be read on several levels. First, it’s the life story of a gay man overcoming an abusive childhood and coming out to a hostile society, receiving some modicum of success while working during different seasons of his life for the church, the federal government, and the World Health Organization. Second, it can be understood as the experiences of a social justice warrior who jumped into the early fight to bring health and dignity to the thousands dying of HIV/AIDS in the Dallas gay community and later to the millions infected in South Africa and surrounding countries. Third, and perhaps most of all, it is the journey of an individual seeing God at work in the world and its people while accepting the fact that to have faith doesn’t mean one will be protected from heartache, harsh criticisms, or even tougher judgments, but knowing that one will find love, peace, and joy along the way.

“How many times do we forgive?”Jesus of Nazareth’s disciples asked him. He replied, “Seventy times seven” or an infinite number of times. “Father Friendly,” as Karpf was nicknamed, would agree, but would also agree that forgiveness doesn’t always come quickly or easily. From an early age, Ted knew he was different. His parents sensed his homosexual orientation and attempted to keep him from becoming a “sissy” through verbal, emotional, and sometimes physical abuse. After he left home, he found hard-won self-acceptance with the support of his mentors during his academic years at Boston University School of Theology. He learned to follow his heart when supporting others and to love them unconditionally even when it hurt, a lesson that would be tested again and again in his relationships with his lovers, colleagues, and particularly later in life with his adult son and daughter.

When Ted’s marriage dissolved after he fell in love with a fellow activist and was outed as a gay man in the paranoid climate of the late 1980s, Ted lost his church in Dallas, St. Thomas the Apostle, a congregation that had become particularly noteworthy for its open acceptance and support of those afflicted with HIV/AIDS. He was fortunate that his soon-to-be-ex-wife Kaye wanted Ted to co-parent their young children as much as possible, but life outside of the church brought a new chapter in his service to others and new challenges both professionally and emotionally.

Ted’s work within the Dallas area HIV/AIDS community had gained him the attention of—and then a position with—the US Public Health Service as a regional liaison specialist to call attention to the magnitude and impact of the AIDS epidemic in five states. After three years at the USPHS, Ted returned to AIDS advocacy within the Episcopal Church in the Washington DC diocese. From there he was called to serve the Anglican Community in South Africa in the 1990s where the spread of HIV/AIDS had become a tragedy of almost unimaginable proportions. His service there was praiseworthy and necessary, but then it was terminated abruptly and he was falsely accused of a crime that he could have never committed. 

Ted was eventually exonerated—through the testimony of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others—but once again he found himself seeking a way to forgive and move on and to serve humanity, which eventually he did through the auspices of the Diplomatic Corp of the United Nation’s World Health Organization. He advocated strongly for the “3 by 5” program, a program to reach 3 million needing treatment out of the estimated 6 million infected with HIV/AIDS globally by 2005. The goal was obtained by 2006 and saved literally millions in developing world. Ted worked tirelessly from Geneva until his retirement from WHO in 2010.

“May I die in your church?” 

A man covered with lesions from Kaposi’s sarcoma and suffering from tuberculosis and the severe wasting associated with AIDS walked into Ted’s church office in 1985 making that simple request. “Everything in my life before that moment paled,” Ted states, “The desperate sincerity of the question combined with his grim motivation resonated deeply within me.” The acceptance of death in the midst of day-to-day existence is a recurring theme throughout Ted’s life, be it the death of friendships, of work relationships, or most poignantly, of an ailing stranger or a dear loved one.

From the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic, Ted has sat by more bedsides and performed more funerals of individuals, some cruelly rejected by their own kin, than perhaps any other priest. He also sat by the side of his mother as she lay dying, forgiving and loving her in spite of his unhappy childhood experiences. Ted has been there for many others in their time of personal tragedy, a source of comfort and advice, but he is quick to note that he isn’t always as accepting of loss as he could be.

After his abrupt dismissal from his position in South Africa, Ted felt directionless and decided to accept an offer to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. He didn’t want to go at first, but a series of coincidences finally convinced him that going on a pilgrimage was exactly what he needed. Hiking the 800 km trail, Ted experienced blisters and then found God along the way in the way the Creator worked in the lives of his fellow sojourners. An impromptu baptism of a pilgrim in the fountain at Santiago at the end of the journey brought his life into sharp focus. Ted reconfirmed his service to humanity by demonstrating God’s love through his calling as a priest and advocate for all who are in need.

Perhaps the greatest act of forgiveness is the one we grant ourselves when we discover and re-affirm our own purpose in the eternal dance of life and death. Ted's story bears witness to this truth.

About the Author: Ted Karpf

Ted Karpf is a priest, public servant, international diplomat, journalist, university administrator and educator. He was educated in New York, Texas and Massachusetts. A gay man, Ted is a father and grandfather. He has been and remains a man who reflects the times in which he has lived while offering a hopeful vision for the future. Ted watches clouds and tests the winds and prays while residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

You can find Ted at his website https://www.tedkarpf.com/

Acts of Forgiveness is now available to purchase on Amazon.com, Target.com, and Barnes and Noble.

***

Criminal-justice reform experts have been warning for weeks: Prisons and jails will become deadly COVID-19 vectors if immediate action is not taken to reduce their population sizes.

It's already beginning. Inmates and guards alike are testing positive at federal and local facilities from California to New York. Fearing the coming virus, nine women escaped from a South Dakota jail and two terrified Alabama inmates threatened to commit suicide with homemade nooses.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that when we care for the sick and for those in prison, we care for him. We might be social distancing, but we can still practice social solidarity by slowing the spread of this devastating pandemic in America's prisons.

Tell America's governors: Fight COVID-19 by reducing state prison populations

More than two million people are currently incarcerated across the U.S. Many prisoners are vulnerable and at heightened risk -- especially the elderly, immunocompromised, sick, and pregnant. They are held in overcrowded conditions ripe for rapid viral spread, with limited access to healthcare or necessary sanitation.

But there is momentum for change: Earlier this week, Los Angeles County announced that it has reduced its incarcerated population by 10%, releasing 1,700 people from jail. A handful of other jurisdictions -- Cleveland, Nashville, the state of New Jersey – are also beginning to take action.

This is a good start, but a few places here and there is simply not enough. To avoid preventable deaths, we need widespread action in every city, county, and state, and at the federal level.

The National Council of Churches, the Brazilian Bishops' Conference, Chicago's religious leaders, and many more have been courageously speaking out for coronavirus prison reform. Add your name to echo their faithful calls for justice in the halls of your governor's office today.

Tell America's governors: Fight COVID-19 by reducing state prison populations >>

We will also send this petition to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Thank you for everything you do to love your neighbor and put your faith into action during these uncertain times.

In peace,
- Rev. Nathan and the Faithful America team

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." - Amos 5:24

***

The Trump administration just gave polluters a free pass to pollute our air and water with impunity.

Using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover, Trump's EPA announced it will no longer enforce legally mandated public health and environmental protections nationwide — indefinitely, while the pandemic crisis lasts.

Letting oil refineries, chemical plants and other industrial polluters off the hook is disgusting and shamelessly opportunistic.

Tell EPA Administrator Wheeler we can protect public health and the environment at the same time.

Never before has the EPA just given up and stopped enforcing its own rules at this scale.

The pandemic has upended what is normal for everyone, but that's not an excuse to toss aside environmental protections.

We've seen countless attacks from the Trump administration on wildlife and the laws that protect it. The Endangered Species Act is already under tremendous threat from being weakened in its ability to save plants and animals.

Now, with the EPA turning a blind eye to industrial pollution, our public health could be even more seriously threatened. This cynical ploy is a new low, even for this administration.

Tell the EPA to reverse course and keep in place its enforcement of laws intended to keep our air and water clean.

***

We are in the midst of an unfolding public health crisis due to the coronavirus — but our current state of emergency results from a deeper, much longer-term crisis — that of poverty and inequality, and of a society that ignores the needs of 140 million poor and low-wealth people. We know that we must enact the demands of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival to fully address this crisis.

We support the call to pass House Coronavirus Bill - HR6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act because it provides critical resources for food assistance, testing, unemployment insurance, immediate paid sick days, and protection for health care workers. Importantly, this bill also includes things the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has been demanding for a long time — a suspension of work requirements for SNAP, worker protections in the form of paid sick leave, increased resources for Medicaid and free testing for all, including the uninsured.  

In this moment, we must join the call to demand that our government face this crisis — we cannot go back to business as usual. We call on each of you to reach out to your Senators to vote and pass this bill immediately (see below for a call script you can use).
 
This bill alone, however, will not fully address this crisis, nor the ongoing crises of poverty and inequality in this country. We call for important additions to the bill, listed below. Many of these demands are already a part of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival’s Moral Agenda. It’s clear we need them now more than ever:

• We demand more targeted and specific protections for low-wage and temporary workers, including child care workers and care providers. Rapid, direct payments to individuals is the most effective way to ensure low-wage workers who are especially sensitive to changes in work schedules have the resources to provide for their families and households and to manage their care and treatment.
  
• We demand targeted and specific protections for homeless people, including and especially children, who will not have access to online learning, meals, or running water outside of their schools; this can and must include a call on city and local governments to open and prepare vacant properties to house the homeless.
  
• We demand a national moratorium on evictions, tax foreclosures, and rent hikes.
  
• We demand a national moratorium on water and utility shut-offs and maintained access to communications and Wi-Fi.
  
• We demand a national moratorium on medical debt collection that would compromise an individual, family or household’s ability to provide for their health and care during this emergency.
  
• We demand a suspension of Medicaid work requirements.
  
• We demand the reauthorization and protection of community health centers and rural hospitals, including the suspension of any pending closures of rural hospitals.
  
• We demand targeted protections for people in mental health facilities, prisons, jails, immigrant detention centers, juvenile detention centers, and nursing homes, especially in the form of supplies, personnel, testing and treatment.
  
• We demand that immigrant communities are able to seek safe testing and treatment by suspending CBP and ICE enforcement and declaring all emergency provisions as disaster relief, thereby making immigrants who are otherwise ineligible for health care, nutrition and other government programs eligible for these emergency programs.
  
• We demand that nobody — no individual or corporation or financial interest — is profiting off a public health crisis by ensuring that vaccines and treatments are affordable and/or free for those who cannot afford the costs.
  

Text COVID19 to 747464 or call 1-844-633-2048 to easily reach your Senator.
Thanks to MomsRising for providing this service.

You can adapt the following script with your Senator's info when you call. Most importantly, strongly encourage them to vote for this bill!

“Hello, my name is ______ and I am from [city/town]. This is urgent: Please tell Senator _____ to vote for the House coronavirus bill without watering it down at all. You must take action to ensure that no one goes without food, that everyone can get testing, medical treatment, paid sick days or unemployment insurance if they can’t work during this emergency and that our health care workers are protected. The House bill is a necessary start — you must do more [add 2-3 examples from our list above], but please vote for this now.”

Let’s continue to mobilize, organize, register, and educate for our demands in this uncertain time.

Forward together,
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival