by Karly Grossman Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in his public announcement of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy (a month into making it official and a year after “piloting” the policy) equated parents fleeing violence and trying to save their children’s lives with human traffickers. “If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law. If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border,” he said. In a recent TV appearance, the Attorney General of Washington State said that, in interviews for the multi-state lawsuit aiming to stop the systematic separation of asylum-seeking parents and children, 4 out of the 5 separated mothers he spoke with reported being told by ICE officials that their children would be “put up for adoption in the United States, and [they] would be deported.” The administration is under a federal court order to reunite the families they’ve torn apart, yet their own reported numbers of separated children in their custody continue to rise. After claiming his agency could locate and match separated children and parents “with a stroke on a keyboard,” Secretary Alex Azar’s Health & Human Services (who’s responsible for the separated children) is now telling the federal court that they cannot meet the deadline for reuniting “tender age” children (5 years old and under) with their parents. These are the most vulnerable of the children, and HHS reports there are only around 100 of them. They’ve had two weeks. There is no “one keystroke” remedy, and at least 19 parents of these very young children have already been deported. The government asked the federal court for “clarity” on the “question” of whether the deported parents and their children need to be reunited at all. (The answer was yes.) It is abundantly and painfully clear that this is not an issue of poor planning or ineptitude in the implementation of an awful policy. That would be infuriating enough, and they would still be culpable for the trauma they’ve inflicted. The truth behind the cruel and illegal acts being perpetrated upon our fellow human beings - in our names – is much uglier. The reason there was no plan for reunification is that this inhumane, “get tough” policy of “deterrence” rests upon a plan of permanent separation. Children brought into the country by smugglers are not returned to the smugglers. Temporary separation while Mom or Dad handles a bogus misdemeanor charge would not be an effective deterrent. Deporting parents without their children and with little to no hope of ever seeing them again? It’s not hard to see how a nativist, racist government with no qualms about trampling on basic human rights could see that as just the right amount of deranged cruelty to do the job. Court orders are important and can cause monumental change, but we have a government right now that shows no respect for judicial authority with which it disagrees. Our government never intended to reunite the families they tore apart, and they cannot be trusted – even under court order – to do so. It is on all of us to make sure every separated child is returned to their family, that families are not summarily detained while their cases are pending, and that as many of them as possible (if not all) have access to the legal services and representation they need. They thought we wouldn’t notice. They thought we wouldn’t care. Let us prove them wrong. •••••••••••••••••• Here are two great ways to help. Please leave other suggestions in the comments. RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services) Texas is the largest immigrant legal services provider in Texas. They have established a Bond Fund which they are using to secure the release of detained parents and assist them in traveling to whatever far flung corner of the country their kids have been sent to so they can wait there until their asylum case is resolved. RAICES is also providing legal services to a huge number of separated parents, both in and out of detention. LEARN MORE HERE: www.raicestexas.org DONATE HERE: www.actionnetwork.org/fundraising/bondfund The Immigrant Justice Campaign aims “to increase access to legal counsel for thousands of immigrants held in detention centers.” They are looking for volunteers “with a wide variety of skills to help defend detained immigrants – lawyers, interpreters, mental health professionals and other volunteers who play critical roles in making this work successful.” SIGN UP HERE: www.immigrationjustice.us/signupproxy
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By Kathleen Strykowsky One important component in the battle to reduce intentional mass shootings is to examine the motivations of the shooters. Most mass shooters are white men, and school shooters are young white men and boys. Many times we hear that they have been bullied during their lives and are striking back at their oppressors. Bullying is a big problem, especially in high school as teenagers are asserting their dominance over anyone perceived as weaker. Parents, school teachers, and counselors should be vigilant in ensuring that students can feel safe in school and around other teens. But the component that is often overlooked is that the most common victims of bullying tend to be girls, LGTBQ students, minorities, and un-athletic/overweight/different from the average students, NOT white males. Yet white male students who are bullied are the ONLY ones that retaliate through violence. This can be attributed to “white privilege” and male expectations. Our society trains young white males to feel as if they are at the top of the “food chain”. They expect to succeed and be dominant. When they meet obstacles and disappointments, when girls turn down their advances, or they don’t make the team or graduate or get into college, they do not know how to deal with adversity. If they have access to weapons they can choose to fight back through violence that can be certain to overwhelm bullies and everyone that they perceive as causing their own failures. One step that we can take as a society is to teach our children how to deal with adversity. High schools need to have “Life Lessons” classes that deal not only with college and job applications and interviews, financial education, auto and home maintenance, but also social skills to role play and learn how to deal with set-backs, disappointments, being told “NO” and accepting the decision. Learning to deal with being rejected or passed over is a crucial life skill. We teach our very young children that they are all “winners” who deserve a trophy, and that they can succeed at anything. We MUST ALSO explain that things will not ALWAYS go their way, and that they CAN survive and adapt, without blaming others. by Karly Grossman When he was three years old, my grandfather boarded a ship in Rotterdam with his mother and three older sisters, along with over 600 other passengers, many of whom - like my family - were fleeing violence, persecution, and poverty. His father had already established a household for the family in the U.S., and the family was to be reunited upon their arrival. Shortly into the journey, a fire broke out and quickly spread through the entire the ship. Well over a hundred passengers died, but nine other ships were able to help rescue the other 500+ from the inferno. (The burning ship eventually sank.) During the chaotic rescue process, my grandfather became separated from his mother and sisters, ending up on a different ship from the one that rescued the rest of his family. A first-class passenger cared for him and two other children who’d been also separated for the remainder of the trip, but he was so traumatized, confused, and out of his element that he refused (or, more accurately, was unable) to speak. He was given the nickname “William the Silent” because no one knew his real name, to whom he belonged, or if his family had survived the fire. It took quite a bit of time, as well as a lot of assistance from several organizations for Jewish immigrants, but he was eventually “found” by his very persistent father and reunited with his family. The trauma from this separation was unmistakable, though, and not only in the clear manifestation of my grandfather’s silence. My great-grandmother, having believed since the fire & separation that her son had died, suffered a steep and serious decline in her mental health, eventually being institutionalized for decades. Other lasting effects were more subtle, but there is no questioning that this stayed with everyone involved for the rest of their lives. Children separated from their parents, particularly in already traumatic circumstances, will universally feel a kind of fear, desperation, confusion, and shock that no human being should ever have to endure. When it happens due to a terrible accident and good people pour in to help those impacted, it’s upsetting to witness, and the trauma is real, but it is not malicious. When our own government makes a concerted effort to perpetrate such abuse against children and families (in our names), it is the equivalent of purposely setting the ship on fire and removing the lifeboats and fire hoses. Who does the SOS signal go to when it’s the “helpers” who are creating the crisis? (Oh...right...it’s us.) {About this photo: This incident occurred in 1913, one year after the Titanic sank, and it was a big national story. A photograph of my grandfather (left) with the two other rescued children was reprinted in all kinds of publications, and the trio became the faces of a story that pulled at American’s heartstrings for several weeks. Looking at my grandfather’s tiny face, seeing that sadness, knowing what shock he was experiencing, makes me tear up - every time, without fail.} Karly Grossman is an activist and attorney who brings an intersectional approach to her advocacy for the rights of frequently marginalized and mistreated communities. Her areas of interest include healthcare, harm reduction, disability rights, LGBTQ rights, racial justice and criminal justice reform. She is a resident of Maple Shade, NJ. South Jersey Women for Progressive Change is pleased to endorse Andy Kim in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, as part of the Blue Wave of 2018. We are confident that Andy Kim, a Rhodes scholar, will bring his in-depth experience as national security advisor to General Petraeus under the Obama administration to this office. He has already demonstrated an understanding of the issues that women in the 3rd Congressional District face. He is building a grassroots campaign that will work for the voters of CD3, not the corporate interests of millionaires.
During our endorsement process, two campaign pledges stood out for us. Kim will not accept a dime from corporate PACs and his campaign has an average donation of $57. He also is pledging to be the most accessible, transparent member of Congress by committing to holding at least one meeting a month with constituents. SJWPC supports a candidate who knows that the Democratic Party needs to take leadership in transparency, because our suffering democracy depends on it. Once elected, we know that Andy Kim will make that happen in the 3rd district and he will become a role model for other Democrats in the Garden State. SJWPC agrees with Kim on the environment, on the economy, on transportation infrastructure and on healthcare and on a women’s right to choose. We are impressed with his background as a Rhodes Scholar and an advisor to the State Department under the command of General Petraeus. In that role, Andy said, “We didn’t look at problems as Democrats or Republicans. We looked at how to save lives and do what was best for the American people.” Andy Kim has pledged to vote no on offshore drilling along the Jersey shore and will work to respond to climate change and treat it as a national security crisis. He will work to fix our tax laws that President Donald Trump and Representative Tom MacArthur have voted for, GOP regressive taxes that dramatically hurt NJ voters and their families. Kim will vote to make changes to these draconian GOP tax laws and will boost the middle class. He will vote to rebuild New Jersey’s roads, bridges, tunnels and ports which will create jobs and stimulate our state’s economy. Andy Kim will vote to make healthcare affordable and accessible for all and he recognizes the right of women to make their own decisions about their own healthcare. SJWPC will be on the ground in the coming months to support Andy Kim. Look for us at events, door knocking in neighborhoods, at phone banks and on social media. We’re enthused to help Andy Kim win this race! by Jennifer North I’ve been thinking a lot about the healthcare system lately. I think about it as I remind myself of all of the things I value that are in danger, both outwardly and hidden. I think about it as I remind myself of the voices of yesterday that should still be heard. Like the people who live in Puerto Rico. Or in Flint. I think about it when I think about DACA. And I wonder why we are letting the oppressor control our narrative and focus. So as I’ve been reminding myself that our healthcare system is still in crisis, that I rely on an individual plan for my family with multiple pre-existing conditions and ongoing mental health management needs, I’ve been reflecting on the most intimate intersection I’ve had with the healthcare system thus far. Last summer, my mother was hospitalized for more than two months and I spent quite a bit of time with her at NYU Medical Center. The staff and patients there are incredibly diverse, with a rainbow of skin colors, languages, body types, ages, dietary restrictions and anything else you might imagine. People were separated from one another in this ecosystem based on a visual code. (Except for the patients who are stripped of mostly everything that makes then individually human.) The staff were organized by color of scrubs, lab coat or uniform. The family members by clothing, hairstyle and various places to brandish logos. During this time, right in the middle of this time, was Charlottesville. I was moderating conversations about racism, identity and oppression by night, caring for my mother by day. Here’s the thing about privilege, when you spend half of your waking time calling out privilege, your own follows you around like a shadow. Privilege, wealth and power have tremendous influence in the hospital setting. And it can mean life or death. It can mean the difference between staying in front of pain/anxiety/diabetes/pick-your-need-for-prompt-meds management and a downward spiral that can last hours or days. So my goal during this time was to check my privilege in the hospital. I would not speak to healthcare workers in way that would claim power over them. I would not take healthcare workers away from people of color unless it was an emergency. I would get my mother’s booties, gowns, towels, tissues, water and whatever else I could to help to ease the burden of the staff and enable them to spend more time with the folks on my mom’s floor. I ended up helping dozens of people with their socks, booties, linens, and everything else people wanted since I know knew the content of most of the closets in the wing. This may sound like a creative way to keep occupied when spending weeks in the hospital, but it was stressful, infuriating and really, really, hard. I had to stop myself from speaking constantly. When I did speak, I had to check my words and tone carefully before saying anything. These are not things I am used to doing, especially when I need something. I was there to keep my mom comfortable and it was hard to balance that responsibility with my own internal struggles to live my values system at the same time. The unrelenting challenge in confronting my privilege during my mom’s stay at NYU made it clear to me how comfortably and seamlessly I have wielded it during my mom’s many previous intersections with healthcare providers since she diagnosed with a genetic disease in 1995. My mom is on the mend for now. And as I listen to the stories of so many women of color with chronic illness who are part of our membership, I wonder who their advocate is when they are too hot or hungry or groggy or nauseous to express what they want and need to get strong. Because in addition to the tiny macroaggressions that happen between people who are thrown together with little to do or say about it, there is institutional and structural racism that is already stacking the deck so high against them. By Amy Durr
In the six months since Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico recovery efforts have been painfully slow. According to Vox: "Federal workers there are still in emergency mode: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is still distributing food and water supplies; the Army Corps of Engineers is still picking up hurricane debris and installing blue roofs on damaged homes." Puerto Rico, a territory of the US, is home to 3.3M Americans. The residents of Puerto Rico are citizens of the US, but citizens without a political voice: Puerto Rico elects no members to congress and the residents of Puerto Rico are not eligible to vote in Presidential elections. The lack of congressional representation allows the Federal Government to ignore even the most critical issues of Puerto Ricans because there is no possibility of political fall-out. Although relief efforts are making progress the major challenges facing Puerto Rico today are serious, including:
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Follow Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter: @Lin_Manuel On Thursday, March 29, Camden Women held a rally for Unity at City Hall. SJWPC board member and Camden resident Sue Altman was invited to speak at the rally. The following is the text of her speech. You can watch the speech here.
Hi Everyone, my name is Sue Altman. I am a Camden resident, over there in Cooper Grant— and we’ll get back to that— and I’m on the board of South Jersey Women for Progressive Change. We are the little table over there doing voter registration. I am honored and humbled to be here, with you, the incredible women of Camden. And thank you to the organizers, who had the vision, the energy and the power and confidence to put this amazing day together. As women, we do share the common experience of sexism. But, women of color fight a two-front war each and every day. On one hand, they are blasted with sexism; on the other hand, it's racism. And white women need to do better. It’s on us! It’s on us! To fix this and dismantle this. Enough is enough. In history, and even up to today, even in the modern era, down to this very moment, white women, and women with greater privilege: the rich, the able-bodied, have thrown our sisters of color under the bus on the way to our own false liberation. But not anymore! Not in South Jersey- NOT anymore! We have some of the most segregated places in the country are right here in South Jersey. And it’s enough. ENOUGH. We are not free until all are free, and other women have said that today. Today marks a change. In Camden it is no longer ok to focus all the attention, all the investment, on the downtown area where I live...Which also is the whitest area in Camden. We can’t do that anymore at the expense of our East Camdens, at the expense of our Parksides, at the expense of our Waterfront Souths, our North Camdens. [applause.] Y’all have been there first— i’m just an implant! From today, when Camden rises, we rise together. When South Jersey rises, we rise TOGETHER. As women, we rise, we rise together. There are barriers coming down, and walls are finally falling: Between suburbanites who have been taught to fear and avoid Camden, and the brilliant, talented, smart, resilient women of Camden who put this together today. Look around, we will rise together. Divide and conquer will work no more. When Camden rises it will rise for all women of this great city. When we rise, we will leave NO WOMAN BEHIND! Watch Sue's speech here. For more information about Camden's Feminist Collective and the Women's Unity movement in Camden, please attend their next meeting on April 26, 2018 at 5:30pm at the Riletta Twyne Cream Library. By Emily Devenney
In the wake of a publicized mass tragedy, like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland, FL, sometimes it seems like we are racing the media clock to get our thoughts out there. As I write this post, there are new developments daily; policy proposals, community responses, and, sadly, more violence. On Tuesday, March 20th, 17 year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins, a student at Great Mills High School in Maryland, shot two other students before suffering a mortal wound himself at the hands of school resource officer Blaine Gaskill, according to CNN. The officer followed his training, but nonetheless, a student was shot and killed by an armed officer in a school. Just over a year earlier, in January 2017, 14 year-old Logan Clark, a student at Hug High School in Nevada, was shot in the chest by a school officer when he refused to drop a knife he was wielding. Clark survived, but has severe brain trauma. When we decide that the best method for keeping our students, our children, safe from gun violence in schools by arming school security guards, or employing school police officers, we knowingly put them at risk of more violence. I am not a parent, but when I hear politicians calling for arming teachers, or amping up armed security, I’m thinking of students like Austin Wyatt Rollins and Logan Clark. I’m also thinking about Tamir Rice, Cameron Tillman, Laquan McDonald and Michael Brown, all school-aged children killed by police. Many of the voices speaking about gun violence I’ve heard recently have been white voices. Both nationally and locally, we elevate the tragedies of, and propose solutions to, violence that affects white communities. A recent story in the Philadelphia Inquirer gave Philadelphia high school students the platform to raise a poignant question: “If the mass shooting hadn’t brought gun violence to the steps of the Florida school...would the Parkland teens be standing in solidarity with them over the violence they live with every day?” Posed by student Dena Hill, the question captures a major shortcoming in discussions about school and community safety: urban children face violence more often than suburban children, but there is seldom national outcry when children lose friends and parents to gun violence in Philadelphia, Camden, or Newark. Since Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Pulse Nightclub, and now Parkland, we’ve been asking ourselves and each other how we can stay safe from gun violence when people have easy access to assault style weapons, how we can ensure that our children can go to school and come home unharmed each day, and how we can prepare to react to potential mass violence. In these discussions we often fail to question how so many guns have made their ways into our cities, how we can aid in community healing efforts, and how we can reduce the gun violence that plagues Baltimore, St. Louis and Philadelphia without incarcerating even more young black men. Here are a few ways you can help to expand the narrative. Check out these Calls to Action:
Consider the pleas of the mothers who have lost their sons to gun violence, both street and state-sanctioned; of school children who have had armed guards in schools for years; and consider how other nations, like Canada, the U.K. and Australia, respond to gun violence. No solution is perfect, but one that considers the well-being of all, rather than some, that recognizes #BlackLivesMatter, and that keeps all guns, legal and illegal, out of schools, wouldn’t be a bad start. When you march against gun violence, we hope you will remember to include ALL children who are impacted by gun violence, which affects black children at 10x the rate of their white peers. Suggestions for Signs at March for Our Lives: "Safe Schools, Safe Streets" “Fund Schools, Not Guns” “Reduce Guns, Reduce Violence” “Teach Love, Not Violence” Standing in Solidarity (S.I.S.) a group of Camden-based women are organizing a unity rally for women on Thursday March 22 at Roosevelt Plaza Park. S.I.S promotes intergenerational bonding by demonstrating unity in issues vital to the empowerment of women. In the spirit of Women’s History month, S.I.S. will host this historic gathering of multi-generational area women from diverse backgrounds.
South Jersey Women for Progressive Change has been invited to join this rally to promote our universal concerns and commonalities for the wellbeing of all women in our region. “Our focus is bridging the intergenerational gap,” says Erin L. Johnson, rally organizer. Erin, an entrepreneur and founder of Feminist Business Society is part of the trio spearheading this effort. Erin Johnson and her partners Nyemah Gillespie, owner of Dare 2 Dance, and Betty Knight, founder of Miracles in Motion are all millennial Camden natives and products of Camden City Public Schools. There will be a number of inspirational speakers focusing on issues related to unity in the home, community, and work. There will also be vendors with information and resources for women and families. South Jersey Women for Progressive Change will be sponsoring a voter registration table. The event will enable the women of Camden City to write the narrative about the future of their home town and highlight the incredible positive work that is happening in Camden communities every day. The group is also planning a follow up event that will promote solution-based discussion for women’s issues. The Women’s Unity Day Rally is free and open to the public. For more information about this event or S.I.S. check out their Facebook page or e-mail: [email protected] Info: Women’s Unity Rally, Roosevelt Plaza Park (520 Market Street) Camden City Hall Thursday, March 22 from 4 pm - 6:30 pm. South Jersey Women for Progressive Change is thrilled to announce our endorsement of Tanzie Youngblood for Congress in NJ's Congressional District 2. We believe that Tanzie’s entry into the race encapsulates our organization’s own enthusiasm and commitment to change in government, and that her presence in CD2 has started a much-needed discussion of the Democratic Party’s values in South Jersey.
When Barack Obama said, “Grab a clipboard and run for office!” Tanzie took him seriously, putting herself out there and at risk against the GOP propaganda machine and big money. She was there first. Then current Congressman Frank LoBiondo announced his retirement, and Tanzie found herself, once again, running against big money— this time from the Democratic side. Jeff Van Drew, Tanzie’s main primary opponent, is a conservative Democrat, a longtime NJ State Senator with an A+ rating from the NRA, who has voted against same-sex marriage, for more restrictions on a woman’s right to choose, and against the environment— over and over again. And yet this is who the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and NJ’s own moneyed Democratic leadership have chosen to support. This choice is completely out of step with the national mood. Not supporting Tanzie was a missed opportunity for the local Democratic machine who is showing that they are out of step with their voters. Women like Tanzie--bold, brave, smart, committed--are the future of the party. The situation in CD2 deserves national attention. It highlights precisely what is problematic about the Democratic Party— including the inability of its leadership to recognize raw, untapped talent, and to put resources behind people who represent a broader, more diverse, more inclusive group of New Jersey residents. The Democratic Party had the opportunity to invest in a talented, confident, strong, qualified female candidate. They chose not to. But, SJWPC will. We recognize that it’s time for a woman (and a woman of color) to represent the party and to represent our state. NJ’s record on gender parity in Congress is shameful. We demand change from the Democratic Party. This change will start with women. In NJ’s entire congressional delegation, women occupy only one seat in twelve, or 8%. Just 8% of the people we send to Washington are female. Not eight people, eight percent! By way of comparison, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Somalia have better gender representation in their governing bodies. The lack of women in New Jersey’s Congressional delegation is not something that we are imagining. It’s the good old boys’ club personified. In NJ, the official and unofficial leaders choose “known quantities” and “team players” in backroom primaries, and these choices inform the DCCC, PAC endorsements, and campaign cash. The Van Drew endorsement by Democratic power brokers is a demonstration of how completely out of touch the leaders are with Democratic voters. Letting Tanzie slip through the cracks is a missed opportunity for real growth. However,we will not miss this opportunity to make a decision that is right for the people of South Jersey. Tanzie is one of our members, and has been since before she announced her candidacy. She is strong on universal healthcare, the environment and and will work to support farmers and bring in STEM jobs to invigorate industry. Her social media presence is impressive, and her credentials as a former teacher and a Blue Star mom separate her from the bunch. We are confident she can WIN in CD2 with her progressive platform, her personality, and her highly advanced voter registration and get out the vote efforts. Our members are fired up about her, and so are we, the leaders of SJWPC. Our endorsement process includes member surveys at on-site events, where we gather qualitative feedback from our members on their impressions of the candidates. One member said, “Tanzie is like the girl on the playground who got everyone organized and involved. Her energy and enthusiasm are infectious.” Another member noted, “Tanzie will energize the more diverse and enlightened areas of the district far more than the other candidates. 2018 is THE year for women! Women unite!” Further, “2018 is the year for women, specifically women of color, to get the recognition and support and respect owed to them by the Democrats.” WE AGREE! We believe that having more women in office is long overdue, and beyond that, Tanzie is a highly qualified, inspirational figure who our membership is excited about. It feels good to endorse her, and we will volunteer hard for her campaign! If you’d like to be involved with a voter registration drive in CD2 targeting marginalized populations, please reach out to Susan Druckenbrod, [email protected] SJWPC takes its endorsement process very seriously. We have outlined the process here, but in summary:
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