15 minute read
OpEd
History Lessons May Be Startling But Should Not Be Traumatic
Our hearts go out to the children at Watkins Elementary School in Southeast who learned the hard way about the tragic events which led to the deaths of millions of innocent Jewish men, women and children during the Holocaust.
The children, all third grade students, were led in an activity by a school librarian, which forced them to reenact the horrors actually experienced by the Jewish community in Germany as they were corralled into trains, taken to gas chambers and suffocated.
Parents and caregivers must now hold their children closer and try to help them overcome the emotional and psychological damage that has occurred because of the incident which took place last Friday.
Beyond the anger and amazement which all adults continue to voice, we find two questions that simply cannot be ignored.
The first: how did an instructor with such a questionable track record even become hired by DCPS?
The second, however, may be a bit more nuanced. It’s difficult to understand how an elementary school teacher could ever believe that reenacting an incident of such horror and depravity could be of benefit to children who have yet to reach puberty.
In these days of cancel culture and revisionist history, with statues and monuments being toppled and destroyed, it’s essential that we continue to teach our children about the events that have shaped our nation and the world – from both the past and the present.
And while history lessons may sometimes be startling and eye opening, they should not be traumatic in their presentation.
DCPS has some explaining to do. And we’ll be there listening intently. WI
Take Time to Count Your Blessings
Christmas is the season to be jolly and share joy, love and laughter with our closest friends and family members. It’s the season to share good cheer with others whose names we’ll never know. It’s the season of fulfilling the wishes of little ones who’ve prepared lists or, better, PowerPoint presentations of the gifts for which they have desired. Most important, it’s the season of saying “thank you” to those who sent cards, gifts, or a message with sentiments of “Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays” to let you know how special you are to them.
It’s the season to count your blessings.
However, this is also the season to reconnect with our cultural roots, to remind us of the principles and values that define who we are or should become. The eight-day Jewish tradition of Hanukkah celebrates the values of leadership, freedom, hope, light, community, giving, resilience and belief.
The seven-day African-American Kwanzaa tradition celebrates the principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
In Ward 8 in D.C.’s southeast quadrant, residents established a community code celebrating respect, responsibility, accountability, support and hard work. At the same time, families use this season to recommit themselves to family values, including kindness, honesty, integrity, fairness and mutual respect, to name a few.
It’s the season to count your blessings.
We also acknowledge the blessing our readers bring to us this season. Your letters, subscriptions, clicks, views, advertising, donations and news – positive news – mean everything to us. That’s why we count each one of you as our blessing and say, “Thank you!”
We wish you a happy holiday season and hope you’ll take the time to count your blessings.
WI
Happy holidays to The Washington Informer Newspaper’s staff and all its readers. I look forward to more news and great stories in 2022!
Marlene Tompkins Washington, D.C.
TO THE EDITOR
Bad Influences
The story “Study Reveals Racial Pay Gap in Influencer Marketing” surprises no one. If we make roughly 60 cents for every $1 they earn in general, why wouldn’t it apply to things like “influencer marketing.” Yet another example of unfairness and inequality we shoulder in this white-run, capitalistic society. Just my opinion.
Lynette Sanders Washington, D.C.
Readers' Mailbox The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.
Guest Columnist
Ray Curry
Organized Labor is Again Flexing its Muscles
Jobs. Racial justice. Workplace safety. Equity.
These issues, front and center in the minds of millions of Americans for years, were deeply intensified by the pandemic of 2020 and 2021. As the pandemic took full effect, devastating job losses hit minority workers and their families especially hard and the critical role of health and safety protections were never more clearly at the forefront of our conversations than during this terrible pandemic.
But as 2021 took hold and a new administration began its work, the long overdue fight to improve working conditions and labor rights was set into motion by President Joe Biden in first days in office. Always a friend to working men and women, President Biden has made it clear that he is committed to labor and to those Americans who are struggling. And we are seeing that more and more Americans view unions and the labor movement more favorably.
LABOR AT THE FOREFRONT
A survey last fall by Gallup found that 68% of respondents have a positive view of unions — up from only 48% in 2009. Tomorrow's workforce is an even bigger supporter of unions, with 77% of individuals 34 and younger supporting unions.
These statistics present great opportunities for the labor movement.
At the UAW, we have long known that our strength is found in our solidarity, and we've seen in so many recent examples that this is a moment of great opportunity to build on this momentum. From the addition of thousands of new members, including the 17,000 student researchers at the University of California, to the voices heard loud and strong during the John Deere strike, 2021 has been a year to hear from the American worker.
Only a year ago, we ended 2020 with less than 11% of workers represented by unions, roughly half the number of organized workers on the job in 1983 (when the Labor Department started tracking the figure.) But with Biden, we inaugurated a president self-described as the “most pro-union president in the history of the country.” And we're seeing the results.
Let's take a look at just a few key developments.
Guest Columnist
Marian Wright Edelman
Caring for Children This Holiday Season
During this holy season, as those of us who are Christian celebrate the birth of a poor, homeless child, let's commit to standing up and caring for the millions of poor, homeless, hungry children living in our wealthy nation today. The poor baby in a manger often gets lost like so many poor babies all over America needing food, shelter, safety, education and hope for the future.
This year, Congress took significant steps towards reducing child poverty, including the one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit which lifted millions of children out of poverty and helped families meet their children's basic needs, weather unexpected expenses and plan for the future. It has been a moment of opportunity and hope.
The Build Back Better Act represents a generational chance to build on this hope for children. The House of Representatives included the expanded Child Tax Credit in their version of the bill passed in mid-November, which would provide families with children up to $300 a month per child to help them afford the basics and get ahead. The Build Back Better Act would also cover the rising cost of child care (one of the biggest costs families face), make health insurance more affordable, accessible and stable for children and families, help people with low incomes afford housing and avoid evictions and homelessness, and more. It puts America's most marginalized children and families first and advances racial equity.
But the Senate has not yet passed the bill. In a time of ongoing economic uncertainty, families need this help more than ever. It's critical that the Senate pass the House version of the Build Back Better Act — without watering it down or making changes — to protect children and families.
Guest Columnist
Marc H. Morial King Family And Justice Organizations Urge: No MLK Day Celebration Without Voting Rights Legislation
"After decades of struggle and a year of our leaders choosing the Jim Crow filibuster over our voting rights, our time is now. On this day of action, I call on Congress and the White House to eliminate the filibuster and pass voting rights to protect millions of Black and brown voters. The arc of the moral universe is long. Join me on January 17 to demand that it bends toward justice." — Martin Luther King III
More than five and a half decades ago, Martin Luther King Jr. led 2,000 marchers to the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where they knelt and prayed for an end to voter suppression. This MLK Day, his children will lead marchers to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., to culminate a weekend of action in defense of democracy.
Throughout MLK Day weekend, marches will take place around the nation on bridges, not only to recall the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and the historic "Bloody Sunday" attack on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but also to contrast lawmakers' inaction on voting rights with their success in enacting a $1 trillion infrastructure measure for roads, airports, seaports, and bridges.
If Congress can deliver for bridges, it can deliver for voting rights.
Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, alongside more than 90 national and grassroots organizations, including the National Urban League, this week announced mobilizations on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to restore and expand voting rights to honor Dr. King's legacy. The actions will call on President Biden and the Senate to urgently pass federal voting rights legislation, including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and ensure the Jim Crow filibuster doesn't stand in the way.
Dr. King's legacy reminds us that our right to vote was not easily won and it must be vigorously defended. It is a right that is foundational to our democracy. Last year, we saw what happens when we make voting more
THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE
We have seen dramatic change in the makeup of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under President Biden. Two former counsels to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — David Prouty and Gwynne Wilcox — were named to the NLRB while Peter Ohy was named NLRB general counsel and Jennifer Abruzzo became permanent general counsel.
CURRYPage 45
Unless and until the Senate takes action, the Child Tax Credit expansion will expire and many families will stop receiving much-needed monthly payments after December. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates 9.9 million children could fall back into poverty or deeper into poverty if this critical support is not renewed, and Black, Latino and Native American children will be hardest hit.
EDELMAN Page 45
MORIAL Page 45
Guest Columnist
Let's Get Right to It!
There's an obvious scheme afoot to return the United States to a period in time where we lived with a completely different social construct and contract. There are those who are diligently working to return us to a time before many of the hard-fought and recently won constitutional protections we (supposedly) now enjoy. The very ones who think we benefit disproportionately are the ones working overtime to steal our hard-earned gains. They pretend not to understand when we point to their efforts to oppress and diminish those rights. They seem to nonchalantly say, "We didn't really intend for non-white people to ever become equal."
There is one political party that has fully embraced the political and social philosophies of white supremacy. Every time we see news reports, we know which political party that is! They've even found help among select people of color who have been adequately rewarded to "move on up and live high on the hog" as payment to deny the circumstance which the masses protest. They know better, but, at the expense of our people, are willing to go along for a self-serving purpose!
Sadly, the other political party seemingly does not recognize the current and on-going threat to our democracy. Their infighting and constant focus on two recalcitrant members provide the perfect example of an unforced, self-induced error. I do not negate the importance of the progressive work being done, but there is an unacceptable naivety of blindly working for progressive outcomes while the mechanics of their destruction are being codified daily by political opponents in increasing numbers of states. Even a blind man can see that Republicans are committed to converting our democracy into a fascist, permanent majority.
True to his word, the disgraced, twice-impeached ex-president's three appointees to the Supreme Court are intent on establishing a pathway to the elimination of Roe v. Wade. Although I value the sanctity of life, I equally value the right of a woman to make cogent decisions about her health and life. As an attorney, I see no clearer indication of their true intent than their allowing the Texas abortion law to stand, concurrently, in contradiction to decided law (Roe).
Almost daily, we are witness to the imposition of new laws giving Republicans the authority and means to override voter outcomes that are unfavorable to them. In their flagrant attempt to overturn
E. Faye Williams
WILLIAMS Page 46
Guest Columnist
Ben Jealous
Defending a Democracy in Flames
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom. And how we can preserve it.
Our freedom is threatened. We all need to be paying attention and preparing to take action next year.
Look, I know that Christmas and New Year's are around the corner. Millions of us are looking forward to time off work and time spent with loved ones. I can just hear people saying, "Ben, the last thing I want to think about right now is politics." Well, let's think bigger than that. Let's think about freedom.
All year long, the freedom to vote has been under attack in dozens of states. In 2020, many states made voting more accessible in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was a good thing. We had record voter participation in 2020. But because millions of those voters rejected former President Donald Trump, Republican legislators are rolling back access to the ballot box and imposing new restrictions on voting. And sad to say, new voter suppression laws are not the only threat to our freedom.
Donald Trump's henchmen have some other schemes up their sleeve. They're getting themselves in positions to oversee elections at the local and state levels. They're creating ways for legislators and election officials to count the votes they want to — and ignore the ones they disagree with.
To combat this onslaught of voter suppression and election subversion measures, Congress and the White House need to get new federal voting rights laws passed, signed, and put into effect before next year's elections.
And that's not all.
In the year since the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. Trump and his allies have done everything possible to deny what happened. But the truth is coming out anyway.
We can be grateful for good investigative reporting. And thankful for the determination of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the bipartisan House committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
We now know that multiple lawyers working for Trump helped him pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to block congressional certification of Biden's win. We know that a PowerPoint
JEALOUS Page 46
Askia-At-Large
Askia Muhammad Don't Discount Possibility of Civil War in the U.S.
For weeks and weeks, I've been warning that calamity and war are on the horizon in this country. I may have even said that we are in a "Cold War" stage, that is engaging in all the hostilities, without shooting, although a lot of shots are taken at Black people daily.
So, here come three retired U.S. Army generals who are warning of an insurrection or even civil war if the results of the 2024 presidential election were not accepted by some in the military. If that's true, that's mutiny.
The appetite for such rebellion was demonstrated with the Jan. 6, U.S. Capitol insurrection, a civilian mutiny. If armed elements under a central command break off the way white civilians and vigilantes have already demonstrated, that will amount to an open civil war.
The soldiers — former Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, former Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba and former Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson — wrote in The Washington Post recently that they were "increasingly concerned" about the 2024 election and the "potential for lethal chaos inside our military."
That's all these Proud Boys, Three Percenters and other groups, all racist and xenophobic, that's all they want, lethal chaos.
The good news is that these would-be dictators are not now substantially in power in this country. The bad news is that those who are in power are not sufficiently alarmed about the threat from white nationalists.
Their gangs were in the prisons, but that was no cause for alarm. They were among the ranks of police and fire-fighters, still no alarm. Judges and now the entire Repugnikkkan caucus in the U.S. Senate, and all but two GOP members in the House are sworn to the hateful policies which say "No. No. No." to pressing human domestic needs, and the same to every potential international resolution short of war or surrender.
Twice-impeached, one-term former President Donald Trump is hardly the brains behind this movement, although he has always been "smart enough" to always express his approval of whatever the white haters have done in public. As a result of his making white hatred fair-seeming, now the majority of white Americans
ASKIA Page 46
