New Year, New Hope!

Let us resolve to save ourselves in 2022

The new year is upon us and not a moment too soon. Good riddance to 2021, one of the most unstable years for democracy in American history. The Jan. 6 Insurrection, more police killings, unstable climate, disasters, anti-vaxxers, disloyal politicians and the pall of incivility that hung over the United States made 2021 a year we are happy to leave behind.

As all years do, this new year offers a chance for new beginnings. Many of us make resolutions to be the best we can be. We all have our personal goals to achieve to improve our lives.

However, 2022 is calling us to think globally, to rise together to meet new and old challenges and obstacles that threaten our democracy, our quality of life and our chance to return to a sense of normalcy with a progressive agenda.

We cannot and should not remain silent as some people continue to destroy democracy, attack our constitutional rights and whistle past the graveyard filled with COVID-19 victims. To do nothing is not an option.

With this call to action in mind, The Louisiana Weekly invites everyone to join us in resolving to save ourselves from the tyranny that threatens our lives.

Let us work toward making the following resolutions come true:

• Call Louisiana’s U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and demand that they vote for President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Plan.

Tell them you want the BBB Plan to become law. The BBB includes: funding for an ongoing child tax credit; lower prescription drug prices; clean energy technology; environmental justice; new federal funding for Medicaid home and community-based services for the elderly; good-paying jobs; universal and free preschool for 3-4-year-olds; a historic investment in coastal restoration; forest management and soil conservation; expanded earned income tax credit; access to affordable, high-quality education beyond high school; increased SNAP benefits; investing in equity; fairness and safety for the middle class; immigration reform; and making corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
• Call your Senators Cassidy and Kennedy and tell them to vote for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
• Call your state Senators and Representatives and demand fair redistricting maps.
• Call your city council representative and demand a return to community policing with a proactive agenda rather than a reactive action plan. People should know, by name, the police who serve their districts.
• Call Mayor LaToya Cantrell and tell her to find permanent housing for homeless people and provide them with mental health counseling, medical treatment and job training.
• Call District Attorney Jason Williams and tell him to fight for fairness in sentencing and lobby for an end to mandatory sentencing.
• Email or call your city councilperson about needed neighborhood improvements, e.g., better streets, better parks and crime prevention programs.
• Call, email, or appear at the City Council Utilities Committee to demand more affordable utility services and regular garbage pickups.
• Contact your local school board officials and demand a better education for our youth and return the schools to the Orleans Parish School Board. The majority of the charter schools are failing our children. We must demand that our children receive an excellent education that includes college prep courses and vocational tech and on-the-job training classes.
• Call your state representatives and senators and demand lower tuition costs at Delgado Community College and other state schools.

There’s no doubt that the daily stressors of everyday life, working, maintaining a household, rearing children, caring for elderly or sick relatives, are difficult for any individual or couple to handle.

Still, due to the political climate we’re in, we have to add another chore to our “Things to Do” list. We must, each one of us, become active participants in the political process. Whether we want to or not, we must become activists because if we are not vigilant, we will lose our freedom and our democracy.

Let’s resolve in 2022 to not let that happen.◊

This article originally published in the January 3, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.