Take Action Now: Fight for Justice During the Pandemic

Take Action Now: Fight for Justice During the Pandemic

Take Action Now: Fight for Justice During the Pandemic

Fight for affordable housing, support the Latinx community, and help at-risk people in your area.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Protesters across the country demanded an end to shelter-in-place orders over the weekend, egged on by President Trump’s calls to “liberate” states. As our president’s priorities drive our country’s response to the pandemic backward, it’s more crucial than ever that we stand up for a just recovery and meaningful relief for those most impacted by the crisis.

This week’s Take Action Now gives you ways to fight for affordable and safe housing, support the Latinx community, and help at-risk people in your area.

Take Action Now gives you three meaningful actions you can take each week whatever your schedule. You can sign up here to get these actions and more in your inbox every Tuesday.

NO TIME TO SPARE?

Millions of people are unsure how they’re going to keep up with rent and mortgage payments in the coming months. Join Jobs with Justice to call on the biggest landlords in the country to forgive unpaid rents, waive mortgage interest, and defer mortgage payments for April, May, and June. Then check out Right to the City Alliance’s list of demands to go beyond recovery and secure a future with housing security and without insurmountable debt. Sign onto their demands here.

GOT SOME TIME?

Before the pandemic, Latinx people in the United States represented an overwhelming majority of workers in low-wage jobs, were subject to the highest number of workplace fatalities, and had among the lowest rates of health coverage. Check out and share Mijente and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement’s new report “The Impact of COVID-19 on Latinos in the U.S.” to learn more about the threats to the Latinx community and how you can take action to mobilize for a people-first response to the crisis. Consider donating to undocumented families who aren’t eligible for stimulus checks and face severe financial hardship during the crisis.

READY TO DIG IN?

As federal stimulus money comes in slowly, local organizations are still bearing the brunt of helping those most in need. Find a food bank near you and inquire about volunteer opportunities to help process an unprecedented influx of people seeking food. Then, check out the National Coalition for the Homeless’ directory of homeless shelters and service providers to connect with one in your area. If you’re healthy, sign up to volunteer with Umbrella, an organization aiding elderly people get essential household supplies or food.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x