For some, these events have been deeply personal. For some, overwhelming. Some people feel scared; others don’t want to think about it. Some people have doubled-down on their already important efforts to support the public’s health. Many people aren’t sure what to do.
There is no playbook for what to do at a moment like this. That said, we feel compelled to speak out and recognize the escalating series of actions and rhetoric as a fundamental threat to health, safety, and wellbeing. Fortunately, our team members, colleagues, and leaders across the country are speaking up and creating pathways for action so that we can all stand up for the public’s health.
Taking collective action can come in the form of supporting our allies who are pushing back against the toxic policies, practices, and norms that are being promulgated from the very top levels of our government.
Here’s how you can get involved:
- Join Moms Demand Action in a national day of protest this coming weekend, demanding common-sense reforms to reduce access to guns: Recess Rally to Demand Action
- Contact your senators: The Giffords Center and American Public Health Association are generating thousands of calls and emails to US senators in support of universal background checks, because after years of inaction it looks like there’s a chance that the Senate may finally vote on a background check bill.
- Support the campaign that Protecting Immigrant Families, CPEHN, and others are organizing to urge members of Congress to co-sponsor HR 3222, a bill that would deny federal funding to implement the new “public charge” rule targeting legal immigrants.
- Spread the word about the 13 states and two San Francisco Bay Area counties—Santa Clara and San Francisco—that are suing the federal government over its move to deny green cards to legal immigrants who use benefits like Medicaid, Food Stamps, and federal housing assistance. More lawsuits are expected soon.
- Explore new ways to understand the problems our country faces with guns, racism, and hatred by reading this blog from our director of health equity, Elva Yañez, calling out white supremacy as a public health crisis.
Like the residents of El Paso, Dayton, and Gilroy who are coming together to express the strength and resilience of their communities, we as public health professionals, healthcare providers, community activists, and caring human beings, must come together to stop these threats to public health before it goes on any longer.
We won’t win every single victory, but we will win some—and that matters. We all benefitted when so many organizations and individuals came together to fight adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Advocates for immigrant rights, civil rights, legal advocacy, healthcare, public health, and other groups used a diversity of tactics to push back against changes to the Census that would have been a disaster for public health and racial and health equity. That effort shows us what we need to do in the days and months ahead.
If we want to thrive as a country, we can’t leave anyone out. Please join us and others in standing up for safety, dignity, and inclusion so that all people have the opportunity to achieve health, safety, and wellbeing.
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