thenation--2020-12-10--A Guide to Giving: Worst Year Ever Edition

Was 2020 the worst year you can remember or what ?
Well , cheer up .
Think how much worse you ’ d feel if Joe Biden had lost .
Let ’ s not let Covid , homeschooling by Zoom , Republicans , Amy Coney Barrett , and the weird death-throe flailings of Donald Trump ( firing squads—really ? )
keep us from spreading joy and justice to good people who are trying to light a candle in this naughty world .
1 .
Georgia Fund .
As you know , the Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock campaigns are our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dethrone Mitch McConnell , and give the Democrats a fighting chance to do good .
The best way to help is to build grassroots support and engagement , as Stacey Abrams ’ s Fair Fight has been doing .
You can support Fair Fight and 12 other groups effective at local voter mobilization by donating to the Georgia Fund .
These groups are geared up for the January 5 runoffs and for the long haul to come , including an important governor ’ s race in 2022 .
The millions of dollars dumped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but local organizing lasts .
Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience ?
Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation ’ s journalism while you complete your gift list .
2 .
Edward Said Libraries .
Nation readers supported the first English-language library in Gaza from the start a few years ago , and it worked : Now there are two of them !
Founder Mosab Abu Toha is fundraising $ 20,000 for more space , more books in English and Arabic ( especially children ’ s books ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ music , computers , writing workshops ) .
Please support this rare ray of joy and peace in a very gloomy place .
3 .
SisterSong .
Founded in 1997 , SisterSong is a women-of-color reproductive justice collective based in the South that promotes abortion and contraception access and fights the criminalization of women of color for miscarriage , abortion , and more .
It ’ s involved in everything from getting out the vote to leadership development to suing the governor of Georgia over the state ’ s fetal heartbeat abortion ban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has made Black women ’ s reproductive health care more challenging than it already was , so help out by giving to SisterSong ’ s new Birth Justice Care Fund , which assists Black women and people of color with costs related to pregnancy and birth .
4 .
Abortion Dream Team .
You may have read that Polish women have taken to the streets over a constitutional court decision mandating a near-total ban on abortion .
The uprising has spread to a general protest against the right-wing government , the Catholic Church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You can join in by donating to a documentary being made by women filmmakers about the Abortion Dream Team , four women who are leading the fight .
“ Help us to make this documentary about abortion !
” director Karolina Domagalska writes in her appeal .
“ About sisterhood !
About friendship !
About revolution !
” pomagam.pl/filmoaborcji ( Scroll down for English . )
5 .
Afghan Women ’ s Fund .
This all-volunteer organization headed by the fearless Afghan expatriate Fahima Gaheez builds schools , provides literacy classes for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other material aid in parts of Afghanistan where NGOs are thin on the ground .
( Full disclosure : I ’ m on the board . )
The group ’ s current project is to build a girls ’ school in Achin , a Pashtun district on the border with Pakistan where ISIS has been active .
It will be Achin ’ s first school for girls in four decades .
Over 200 girls are already studying in private homes and outdoors .
There would be lots more if there were an actual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Fund , 1321 Maple Ave. , Verona , PA 15147 .
6 .
Semicolon Books .
Chicago special !
This is the only Black-woman-owned bookstore in the city .
The owner , Danielle Mullen , had the genius idea of raising money to buy books for local public school students , many of whom are from low-income households and have few or no books in their homes .
So far , it has provided more than $ 175,000 in books and donations .
Keep the bookstore and the giveaways going by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7 .
Women and Children First .
While we ’ re on the subject of Chicago , this is one of the few remaining feminist bookstores left in the country .
Support it from near or far by buying books on the wish list of Chicago Books to Women in Prison .
A dictionary is one of the books most requested by prisoners , by the way , which tells you a lot about their hunger for learning and the lack of resources provided them .
8 .
Restore Hope : Liberia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care , education , and income-generating activities to extremely poor communities in rural Kolahun , where many children are not literate and many people of all ages are suffering the long-term physical , mental , and emotional effects of Ebola and civil war .
Just launched : an innovative program that integrates mental health support with efforts for women ’ s economic and social empowerment , the first of its kind in Liberia .
When women are strong , their children flourish , and a nation restores hope , peace , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As restrictions on legal abortion mount and clinics close , more and more women are traveling long distances for later procedures , with extra costs for hotels , child care , and food .
This New York City–based group funds everything but the abortion itself ( other groups pay for that ) and makes all the arrangements , which the pandemic has made particularly complicated .
Since it opened in mid-2018 , Brigid has helped around 1,000 people and now serves 50 to 60 each month .
Checks to : The Brigid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 58 , New York , NY 10024 .
10 .
Your local food bank .
Even before Covid , food banks couldn ’ t feed everyone who needed help ; now they are stressed beyond belief .
You may have seen pictures of endless lines of cars to pick up groceries at food giveaways .
Have you thought about the people turned away when the food runs out ?
It is unconscionable that people are hungry in our rich country and have to rely on charity .
If you are lucky enough to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saving because of lowered expenses , send your local food bank as much as you can spare and then some .
You will enjoy your holiday meal a lot more if you spread your good fortune to the tables of others .
Here ’ s to 2021 ; it ’ s got to be better than this .

This article appears in the December 28, 2020/January 4, 2021 issue.
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Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Was 2020 the worst year you can remember or what? Well, cheer up. Think how much worse you’d feel if Joe Biden had lost. Let’s not let Covid, homeschooling by Zoom, Republicans, Amy Coney Barrett, and the weird death-throe flailings of Donald Trump (firing squads—really?) keep us from spreading joy and justice to good people who are trying to light a candle in this naughty world.
1. Georgia Fund. As you know, the Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock campaigns are our last chance to flip the Senate, dethrone Mitch McConnell, and give the Democrats a fighting chance to do good. The best way to help is to build grassroots support and engagement, as Stacey Abrams’s Fair Fight has been doing. You can support Fair Fight and 12 other groups effective at local voter mobilization by donating to the Georgia Fund. These groups are geared up for the January 5 runoffs and for the long haul to come, including an important governor’s race in 2022. The millions of dollars dumped on individual candidates vanish after the elections, but local organizing lasts. Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience? Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation’s journalism while you complete your gift list.
2. Edward Said Libraries. Nation readers supported the first English-language library in Gaza from the start a few years ago, and it worked: Now there are two of them! Founder Mosab Abu Toha is fundraising $20,000 for more space, more books in English and Arabic (especially children’s books), and more programs (art, music, computers, writing workshops). Please support this rare ray of joy and peace in a very gloomy place.
3. SisterSong. Founded in 1997, SisterSong is a women-of-color reproductive justice collective based in the South that promotes abortion and contraception access and fights the criminalization of women of color for miscarriage, abortion, and more. It’s involved in everything from getting out the vote to leadership development to suing the governor of Georgia over the state’s fetal heartbeat abortion ban (currently on hold). Covid has made Black women’s reproductive health care more challenging than it already was, so help out by giving to SisterSong’s new Birth Justice Care Fund, which assists Black women and people of color with costs related to pregnancy and birth. Good riddance The Trump-Shaped Stain on American Life Katha Pollitt
4. Abortion Dream Team. You may have read that Polish women have taken to the streets over a constitutional court decision mandating a near-total ban on abortion. The uprising has spread to a general protest against the right-wing government, the Catholic Church, and Poland’s patriarchal society. You can join in by donating to a documentary being made by women filmmakers about the Abortion Dream Team, four women who are leading the fight. “Help us to make this documentary about abortion!” director Karolina Domagalska writes in her appeal. “About sisterhood! About friendship! About revolution!” (Scroll down for English.) Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
5. Afghan Women’s Fund. This all-volunteer organization headed by the fearless Afghan expatriate Fahima Gaheez builds schools, provides literacy classes for women, and gives school supplies and other material aid in parts of Afghanistan where NGOs are thin on the ground. (Full disclosure: I’m on the board.) The group’s current project is to build a girls’ school in Achin, a Pashtun district on the border with Pakistan where ISIS has been active. It will be Achin’s first school for girls in four decades. Over 200 girls are already studying in private homes and outdoors. There would be lots more if there were an actual building. Checks to: Afghan Women’s Fund, 1321 Maple Ave., Verona, PA 15147.
6. Semicolon Books. Chicago special! This is the only Black-woman-owned bookstore in the city. The owner, Danielle Mullen, had the genius idea of raising money to buy books for local public school students, many of whom are from low-income households and have few or no books in their homes. So far, it has provided more than $175,000 in books and donations. Keep the bookstore and the giveaways going by contributing to its nonprofit, Parenthesis. Current Issue View our current issue
7. Women and Children First. While we’re on the subject of Chicago, this is one of the few remaining feminist bookstores left in the country. Support it from near or far by buying books on the wish list of Chicago Books to Women in Prison. A dictionary is one of the books most requested by prisoners, by the way, which tells you a lot about their hunger for learning and the lack of resources provided them.
8. Restore Hope: Liberia. This small NGO works to provide basic health care, education, and income-generating activities to extremely poor communities in rural Kolahun, where many children are not literate and many people of all ages are suffering the long-term physical, mental, and emotional effects of Ebola and civil war. Just launched: an innovative program that integrates mental health support with efforts for women’s economic and social empowerment, the first of its kind in Liberia. When women are strong, their children flourish, and a nation restores hope, peace, and security.
9. The Brigid Alliance. As restrictions on legal abortion mount and clinics close, more and more women are traveling long distances for later procedures, with extra costs for hotels, child care, and food. This New York City–based group funds everything but the abortion itself (other groups pay for that) and makes all the arrangements, which the pandemic has made particularly complicated. Since it opened in mid-2018, Brigid has helped around 1,000 people and now serves 50 to 60 each month. Checks to: The Brigid Alliance, Planetarium Station, PO Box 58, New York, NY 10024.
10. Your local food bank. Even before Covid, food banks couldn’t feed everyone who needed help; now they are stressed beyond belief. You may have seen pictures of endless lines of cars to pick up groceries at food giveaways. Have you thought about the people turned away when the food runs out? It is unconscionable that people are hungry in our rich country and have to rely on charity. If you are lucky enough to be working from home and maybe even saving because of lowered expenses, send your local food bank as much as you can spare and then some. You will enjoy your holiday meal a lot more if you spread your good fortune to the tables of others.
Here’s to 2021; it’s got to be better than this.


thenation--2020-12-10--We Want a More Democratic University—Until Then, We Won’t Pay

In an unprecedented mass action organized by the Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America , more than 2,500 students across Columbia institutions have committed to withholding their tuition if Columbia continues to ignore our demands , which advocate that students should be included in decisions over the university ’ s allocation of resources—not just as an educational institution , but as an employer and an international investor .
The movement at Columbia joins others across the country , most recently at the University of San Francisco and American University , that are employing the same tactics for the same ends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and divest university endowments from fossil fuel companies and ICE .
In the spring , as Covid-19 overwhelmed the country , students nationwide launched tuition strikes to protest their institutions ’ lack of resources , unchanged grading policies , and rising costs during the campus closures and economic downturn prompted by the pandemic .
Now students are using tuition strikes to demand changes in their university ’ s allocation of resources and unfair practices largely , shifting their sights away from the temporary crisis of the pandemic and toward the many long-term , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around for decades now .
Columbia students have had a particularly difficult time negotiating with the administration .
Ours was one of the schools that demanded a tuition reduction during the pandemic , with 8,500 students signing a petition .
Unlike some of our peer institutions , Columbia refused .
This story was produced for Student Nation , a section devoted to highlighting campus activism and student movements from students in their own words .
For more Student Nation , check out our archive .
Are you a student with a campus activism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Samantha Schuyler at samantha @ thenation.com .
The Student Nation program is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation .
Then , after a summer of protests , thousands of students came together to support the demands of a local coalition , Mobilized African Diaspora ( MAD ) , that addressed our school ’ s historical institutional racism .
When Columbia administrators finally agreed to meet with student organizers , they paid lip service to the group ’ s concerns and dismissed their demands .
And this September , after a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the university to divest from companies that profit from Israel ’ s human rights violations—cementing campus-wide support for Columbia University Apartheid Divest ’ s years-long campaign—Columbia administrators refused to consider divestment , just like they had refused when more than 1,000 students and faculty signed a petition demanding divestment from fossil fuels earlier in the year .
Columbia administrators have made it very clear : Though students pay the tuition that accounts for almost a quarter of the school ’ s revenue , and at rates significantly higher than at other private @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a seat at the table when it comes to setting institutional priorities .
Now , students at Columbia have decided that we need to make more noise if we want the administration to listen .
Costs of attendance at Columbia were already too high before the pandemic .
In the past 20 years , they have increased by more than $ 35,000 , to more than $ 75,000 per year .
But the pandemic has made a farce of any previous claim that exorbitant tuition costs are connected to quality of education , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online classes as they did for in-person ones and even pay “ Student Life ” fees ( which mainly fund facilities upkeep ) despite the total absence of campus activities .
And the problem extends far beyond Columbia .
For decades , tuition costs nationwide have grown at twice the inflation rate , and are now 278 percent of their 1970 equivalents , despite the fact that wages have stagnated for most workers .
Alongside rising tuition , the importance of college degrees ( and increasingly , graduate degrees ) has risen because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manufacturing jobs .
Young people face the choice to either rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt or navigate a future where all financial odds are stacked against them .
Columbia ’ s tuition strike is an attempt by students to refuse this choice .
Unlike workers in traditional strikes , students do not have the ability to exert power by withholding their labor .
The idea is more comparable to a rent strike .
As long as student tuition is a main source of revenue for universities like Columbia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ withholding payments .
The fact that not even public colleges are free to attend is one of the factors enabling private universities ’ high price tags .
The public funds that once went toward tuition-free models now subsidize tax cuts , loans , and grants that private universities like Columbia use to prop up their own financial aid .
This is no accident : In New York City , specific lobbying efforts by private university administrators can explain why private endowments have been growing while the burden of debt weighs heavier on students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of students who do not qualify for grant-based aid , the new debt-fueled system has bankrolled corporate universities , and it has failed to save the federal government money in the process .
It ’ s a common misconception that increasing tuition revenues is necessary to bring benefits to workers and faculty .
In reality , these hikes in costs of attendance have been accompanied by a greater shift toward precarious employment .
In 1969 , roughly 80 percent of faculty members across American universities held stable , well-paying tenure or tenure-track positions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When we demand that Columbia prioritize its students and workers over its administrators and stockholders , this includes the expectation that reducing the cost of attendance will not come at the expense of workers and faculty .
Actualizing a more democratic university will require that student movements work in solidarity with on-campus unions—in part because many students are the workers performing labor within the university , from research to teaching to various work-study appointments .
Even in distinct struggles , unity between students and workers mutually reinforces our power against the for-profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like labor and tuition strikes , we can put even greater force behind our common vision of a democratic university .
In this vein , the tactic of withholding tuition has the potential to win demands that go far beyond the tuition itself .
By exercising this form of collective power , students can exert leverage within their universities across many domains .
We should look at skyrocketing tuition costs as a mere symptom of the unilateral processes behind all major institutional decisions .
The question of why tuition rates are so high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how tuition is spent .
This is why the Columbia tuition strike has formed a broad coalition with MAD , Students for Justice in Palestine , Extinction Rebellion , the Sunrise Movement , and Graduate Workers of Columbia .
The common line connecting these groups and the demands is the idea that students should have a democratic say about how where the university places its resources .
The university ’ s endowment has grown by more than $ 300 million over the course of a global pandemic .
We know that Columbia can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harlem for decades of damages , rather than investing in endless expansion .
Likewise , Columbia can afford to divest from interests such as fossil fuel companies and companies that profit from human rights abuses in Palestine .
This movement holds significance beyond Columbia .
If successful , a tuition strike has the potential to set an example for other students nationwide , demonstrating how to organize at their local level for affordable higher education that privileges people over profits .
A tuition strike of this magnitude is without precedent ; the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the University of Michigan in 1973 .
We hope that our movement at Columbia will provide a successful model for mobilizing students across the country who all face similar struggles .
A nationwide tuition strike movement could finally turn back the neoliberal tide that has left students with no choice but to fork over rising tuition to universities that prioritize profits and expansion over the needs of students , professors , and their communities .
We are beginning to forge another path .
That ’ s why Columbia is desperate not to @ @

Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
In an unprecedented mass action organized by the Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America, more than 2,500 students across Columbia institutions have committed to withholding their tuition if Columbia continues to ignore our demands, which advocate that students should be included in decisions over the university’s allocation of resources—not just as an educational institution, but as an employer and an international investor.
The movement at Columbia joins others across the country, most recently at the University of San Francisco and American University, that are employing the same tactics for the same ends, including measures to defund campus police and divest university endowments from fossil fuel companies and ICE.
In the spring, as Covid-19 overwhelmed the country, students nationwide launched tuition strikes to protest their institutions’ lack of resources, unchanged grading policies, and rising costs during the campus closures and economic downturn prompted by the pandemic. Now students are using tuition strikes to demand changes in their university’s allocation of resources and unfair practices largely, shifting their sights away from the temporary crisis of the pandemic and toward the many long-term, entrenched issues that they have been organizing around for decades now.
Columbia students have had a particularly difficult time negotiating with the administration. Ours was one of the schools that demanded a tuition reduction during the pandemic, with 8,500 students signing a petition. Unlike some of our peer institutions, Columbia refused. This story was produced for Student Nation, a section devoted to highlighting campus activism and student movements from students in their own words. For more Student Nation, check out our archive. Are you a student with a campus activism story? Send questions and pitches to Samantha Schuyler at [email protected]. The Student Nation program is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation.
Then, after a summer of protests, thousands of students came together to support the demands of a local coalition, Mobilized African Diaspora (MAD), that addressed our school’s historical institutional racism. When Columbia administrators finally agreed to meet with student organizers, they paid lip service to the group’s concerns and dismissed their demands. And this September, after a majority of students at Columbia College voted for the university to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s human rights violations—cementing campus-wide support for Columbia University Apartheid Divest’s years-long campaign—Columbia administrators refused to consider divestment, just like they had refused when more than 1,000 students and faculty signed a petition demanding divestment from fossil fuels earlier in the year.
Columbia administrators have made it very clear: Though students pay the tuition that accounts for almost a quarter of the school’s revenue, and at rates significantly higher than at other private institutions, we will not be afforded a seat at the table when it comes to setting institutional priorities. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
Now, students at Columbia have decided that we need to make more noise if we want the administration to listen. Current Issue View our current issue
Costs of attendance at Columbia were already too high before the pandemic. In the past 20 years, they have increased by more than $35,000, to more than $75,000 per year. But the pandemic has made a farce of any previous claim that exorbitant tuition costs are connected to quality of education, as students foot the same bill for online classes as they did for in-person ones and even pay “Student Life” fees (which mainly fund facilities upkeep) despite the total absence of campus activities.
And the problem extends far beyond Columbia. For decades, tuition costs nationwide have grown at twice the inflation rate, and are now 278 percent of their 1970 equivalents, despite the fact that wages have stagnated for most workers. Alongside rising tuition, the importance of college degrees (and increasingly, graduate degrees) has risen because of the loss of millions of stable manufacturing jobs.
Young people face the choice to either rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt or navigate a future where all financial odds are stacked against them. Columbia’s tuition strike is an attempt by students to refuse this choice. Unlike workers in traditional strikes, students do not have the ability to exert power by withholding their labor. The idea is more comparable to a rent strike. As long as student tuition is a main source of revenue for universities like Columbia, students can exert significant power by withholding payments.
The fact that not even public colleges are free to attend is one of the factors enabling private universities’ high price tags. The public funds that once went toward tuition-free models now subsidize tax cuts, loans, and grants that private universities like Columbia use to prop up their own financial aid. This is no accident: In New York City, specific lobbying efforts by private university administrators can explain why private endowments have been growing while the burden of debt weighs heavier on students than ever. Riding on the backs of students who do not qualify for grant-based aid, the new debt-fueled system has bankrolled corporate universities, and it has failed to save the federal government money in the process.
It’s a common misconception that increasing tuition revenues is necessary to bring benefits to workers and faculty. In reality, these hikes in costs of attendance have been accompanied by a greater shift toward precarious employment. In 1969, roughly 80 percent of faculty members across American universities held stable, well-paying tenure or tenure-track positions; today, only 25 percent do. When we demand that Columbia prioritize its students and workers over its administrators and stockholders, this includes the expectation that reducing the cost of attendance will not come at the expense of workers and faculty.
Actualizing a more democratic university will require that student movements work in solidarity with on-campus unions—in part because many students are the workers performing labor within the university, from research to teaching to various work-study appointments. Even in distinct struggles, unity between students and workers mutually reinforces our power against the for-profit, austerity-ridden university. By coordinating tactics like labor and tuition strikes, we can put even greater force behind our common vision of a democratic university.
In this vein, the tactic of withholding tuition has the potential to win demands that go far beyond the tuition itself. By exercising this form of collective power, students can exert leverage within their universities across many domains. We should look at skyrocketing tuition costs as a mere symptom of the unilateral processes behind all major institutional decisions. The question of why tuition rates are so high is deeply connected to the question of how tuition is spent.
This is why the Columbia tuition strike has formed a broad coalition with MAD, Students for Justice in Palestine, Extinction Rebellion, the Sunrise Movement, and Graduate Workers of Columbia. The common line connecting these groups and the demands is the idea that students should have a democratic say about how where the university places its resources. The university’s endowment has grown by more than $300 million over the course of a global pandemic. We know that Columbia can afford to repay the surrounding community of Harlem for decades of damages, rather than investing in endless expansion. Likewise, Columbia can afford to divest from interests such as fossil fuel companies and companies that profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.
This movement holds significance beyond Columbia. If successful, a tuition strike has the potential to set an example for other students nationwide, demonstrating how to organize at their local level for affordable higher education that privileges people over profits. A tuition strike of this magnitude is without precedent; the only similar example is a 2,500-student tuition strike at the University of Michigan in 1973. We hope that our movement at Columbia will provide a successful model for mobilizing students across the country who all face similar struggles.
A nationwide tuition strike movement could finally turn back the neoliberal tide that has left students with no choice but to fork over rising tuition to universities that prioritize profits and expansion over the needs of students, professors, and their communities. We are beginning to forge another path. That’s why Columbia is desperate not to concede.


thenation--2020-12-10--Take What You Need and Give What You Can: A Mutual Aid Portrait

“ It is all very scary.
” On a warm , summer day in Morristown , N.J. , Oscar was sitting on the stoop of the apartment he was sharing with his partner , Daniela.2 Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience ?
Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation ’ s journalism while you complete your gift list .
Oscar has lupus , fibromyalgia , and what can sometimes be debilitating arthritis , and like many people we talked to in and around this town of less than 20,000 , a little more than 30 miles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ventured beyond his front yard in months .
“ Very , very scary.
” 3 Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic , after more than 286,000 deaths and countless lives interrupted or shattered by loss , the support most Americans have received from the federal government has been a one-time check for $ 1,200 .
The severity of the economic crisis millions of Americans face as we enter a seemingly unstoppable “ third wave ” of infection has not been matched by robust support at the federal level .
That has left states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with schools reopening , then closing again , gyms and bars staying open while curfews are imposed , in patchwork attempts to slow the virus ’ s spread .
Even as the scourge has spread from coastal metropolises to cover the rest of the country , Americans are desperate for a return to the rhythms of life and work and human contact .
For the stricken and the bereaved , however , any sense of normalcy remains a dream .
For those housebound from underlying health conditions rendering them immune-compromised , everyday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is incomparable to life before.4 In Morristown County , the lack of decisive action at the federal level has left people to fend for themselves .
But they haven ’ t been doing so alone : For months , residents here have organized to help their most vulnerable neighbors .
Through creative fundraising and the special kind of community that forms when neighbors help their neighbors , Mutual Morris , a mutual aid group with a roster of over 100 volunteers , is providing a lifeline for about 500 households during a very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wave of the pandemic receded , photographer Tracie Williams and I met with some of these families .
Everyone we spoke to had a family member who was immune compromised , and access to transportation posed a barrier for most .
As residents cracked open doors , visited with us ( at a distance ) in their yards , the fear was palpable : Masks on , tears welling , and the mood plaintive.5 The founders of Mutual Morris , local activists Theresa Markila and Renee Shalhoub , started organizing in their community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immune systems—as well as hand soap and safety cards explaining the dangers of the coronavirus .
Through that work , they began delivering school lunches and connecting with families who needed help shopping for groceries , working with mostly immigrant and low-income families .
The work has expanded to wellness checks , tutoring , and helping to plan for the disruptions the pandemic is causing for young students ’ educations .
Now , they ’ re organizing an online children ’ s book drive and collecting donations for warm clothes for winter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on evictions is set expire at the end of the year , Mutual Morris is educating tenants about their rights.6 Vital to the concept of mutual aid is the mutual support that all participants in the group provide to one another—one-way charity this is not .
Mutual Morris trains participants on the skills they need to self-organize .
While the exchange isn ’ t necessarily reciprocal ; it is based on the fundamental principle of mutual aid : taking only what you need and giving what you can .
Markila and Shalhoub make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standard nonprofit model .
“ We want to help communities empower themselves , help them become self-sufficient , ” Shalhoub said.7 Mutual aid groups like Mutual Morris have sprung up across the country during the pandemic , and the people involved in these groups volunteer their time and resources to help folks they may have never met , ensuring they have medicine , food , housing , even legal services .
As inspiring as these efforts of communal support are , they are also an indictment of the government ’ s failure to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need support during this incredibly difficult time .
This isn ’ t a new story—the gutting of our social safety net has been in the works for decades , and will continue without vocal , grassroots demands to guarantee access to housing , food , and health care .
In the meantime , as the Covid-19 caseload continues to climb precipitously , the principles and practice of collective care will be crucial in mitigating the devastation caused by a system that values profit over human life.8 Heather and her children , Eric and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her three-step concrete porch , Heather struck a tone of defiant gratitude in regard to her months-long lockdown .
Heather suffers from a host of chronic maladies , including immune thrombocytopenia , a serious risk factor possibly leading to increased mortality with the coronavirus .
As such , she hasn ’ t risked venturing into public since March .
“ I don ’ t want to not be there for them , ” she said , patting both her two children on their heads .
The three wore blue N-95 masks cinched tightly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Eric Sr. , started stocking up food , especially canned soup , as early as January .
Because his father is bedridden and in need of constant care , Eric Sr. spends most of his days at his father ’ s house , working remotely and tending to his needs—which leaves only an hour in the evenings for him to be with his family at home .
“ I don ’ t blame anybody for this , but I just want them to fix it , ” Heather said , referencing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isn ’ t looking for handouts , pays for the groceries that Mutual Morris volunteers deliver for their two households , donates for other families in need , and , early on in the lockdown , had set out boxes on her porch for her neighbors to come and retrieve basic food items .
When the district abruptly paused school lunches , and the call went out for volunteers to help quickly organize lunch preparation and deliveries , she was one of the first to answer that call.10 Mutual Morris was a lifeline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic when grocery delivery services like Instacart were completely overloaded .
Now that she ’ s able to get her groceries delivered again , Heather has been able to get back to something resembling her usual routine—but that doesn ’ t mean she has scaled back her involvement with Mutual Morris at all .
“ I like giving back when I can , it makes me feel good .
Especially because I can ’ t go out.
” Mutual aid , she said , “ is not progressive at all .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ networks to the collective action of Amish barn-raising .
“ The reality is , this is not something new .
This is not what I consider progressive at all… .
This is an old , old thing , what people used to do in the old days to help each other.
” 11 As we spoke , she paused briefly , and then noted that she had just had a minor seizure .
“ I also don ’ t drive because I have epilepsy , you know I have never been seizure-free.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daughters , Ninnah and Hailey Sitting on the stoop of their apartment in Morristown , Oscar and his partner Daniela were in grieving : A close friend had died two days before in a motorcycle accident , but they wouldn ’ t be going to his funeral .
Oscar grew up poor in Colombia , started working when he was 8 years old , and has been hustling construction jobs in the United States since the mid 1990s .
As his lupus—an autoimmune disease triggered by environmental factors such as heat , depression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work .
Daniela , too , who grew up between New Jersey and Colombia , struggled living down an abusive childhood .
They and their two daughters were homeless for a couple months beginning in late 2019 .
They managed to get back on their feet by February , but then the coronavirus hit.13 “ It ’ s so hard , being a man…and not being able to provide for my family , ” Oscar said , breaking into tears .
Given his medical vulnerability , he doesn ’ t risk searching for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard for me to reach out for help because I always provided on my own.
” And yet , with two young girls , Ninnah and Haley , he had to overcome that pride.14 “ With the two kids it ’ s been… , ” says Oscar , emphasizing the inadequacy of the word—and Daniela nodding along— “ hard.
” When we met them , they had hardly left their apartment since March , insisting on taking extreme precautions : leaving shoes outside , wiping down grocery bags , bleaching the house .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , every day , ” Oscar said .
“ It ’ s like being locked up , though sorry for using that term.
” Some mornings his lupus and arthritis make it difficult to get out of bed , and because of the excruciating pain he is tempted to go to the emergency room so they can “ knock him out.
” “ I ’ m scared every day , I don ’ t show her , ” Oscar said , referring to Daniela , “ but everyday I ’ m crying because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m gon na be here .
I don ’ t have a home that I can say is my house .
And to be honest , I have nothing to leave them if something happens to me .
So everyday it gives me flares , because of the stress.
” 15 Working with Mutual Morris—he not only receives school lunches and personalized groceries , he also volunteers his time by making phone calls for them—has given him some direction and welcome distraction .
“ They basically trained me how to come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and stuff like that .
So , it ’ s something positive that came out of this , ” he said .
“ For me to get to know these families and call them was a big relief for me.… They have kids , you know .
And we need to reach out because some people don ’ t know that we are here , some people are too shy to come out , like me.
” 16 After talking a while , Daniela brought out the two girls to join the family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shy , and clinging to their father , who put on a tougher face in front of them .
“ The pandemic has affected me a lot , ” said Oscar .
“ I ’ m sharing my story because I want people to know what it ’ s like for people like me .
I feel stuck and I ’ m not sure how to move forward.
” 17 “ I like religion , ” he said , unprompted .
“ I like God .
He ’ s everything for me .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t go to church all the time , but I try to be a good person.
” 18 Mary moved back from North Carolina , where she had been living for 40 years , just as the pandemic was taking hold .
Her husband had died shortly before , and she felt alone , missing her family back in New Jersey .
Frances , her niece , welcomed her into her home with open arms .
Mary ’ s not alone now , as she sits on the sun-scorched porch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and grandchildren milling in and out of the adjacent apartments , The household had remained in their bubble all summer , except for Frances , who started working with Mutual Morris after she saw Shalhoub drop off deliveries at Oscar and Daniela ’ s apartment nearby .
“ I ’ ll do whatever I can to help the kids , ” Frances said.19 Mary suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and fibromyalgia and was hospitalized for three weeks this year because of upper respiratory complications , which at first the doctors suspected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lose my breath easily .
It ’ s hard to wear a mask.
” She was a certified nursing assistant before she retired , and recognized the dangers of Covid-19 quickly.20 As we were talking , Frances returned and sat down in a narrow folding chair in front of her apartment door , hugging the shade .
She had just delivered about 20 school lunches to children of parents she cared for over the past 42 years as a daycare provider .
And now , she “ delivers lunches , news , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she calls them.21 The family still interacts with their neighbors , but as Mary put it , “ We be teasing them about the coronavirus , ” and they make sure to keep at least six feet of distance .
“ I don ’ t like the way it ’ s been handled ” by the government , Mary said.22 Frances was harsher about plans to reopen : “ Hell to the no , ” she said emphatically .
She is particularly concerned about her granddaughter , who is 4 years old and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those kids that have difficulty , like my granddaughter , who was going to school every day to help with her physical therapy , occupational therapy , you know walking , talking , moving all that stuff .
Now , they actually , ” she says , laughing at the absurdity , “ Oh Jesus , they actually are upset with us because we don ’ t have her on video.
” Efforts at online learning aren ’ t “ doing jack for her , ” Frances explained , except agitating her .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , very upset about that , because that puts her behind and that ’ s unfair to her.
” The conversation flagged for a moment , as Frances and Mary both mulled the difficulties of the coming school year.23 With a household ranging in school ages from preschool to high school , the added risk of contracting the virus via in-person attendance is high .
“ I ’ m terrified , ” said Frances , who is the primary caretaker in her home , “ because I can ’ t afford to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guatemala , Orieta and her husband have been living in the United States for eight years .
( Orieta requested that we use pseudonyms for her family . )
Despite her initially settling in comfortably , the last five years have been riddled with adversity .
It started with a lump in her stomach , which turned out to be a tumor , and required multiple surgeries .
Soon after recovering , Orieta gave birth to her first child , Damian , who was soon thereafter diagnosed with leukemia .
“ I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I thought he was about to die , ” Orieta said .
Damian responded well to treatment , but in May , he contracted the coronavirus .
He sank into a coma , and again the family thought they might lose him .
“ I don ’ t care if we don ’ t have anything .
I just want health , ” Orieta said .
Damian , back on his feet , peeked out the window , and then came around to hug his mother ’ s legs.25 Orieta grew up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school .
She only learned to read and write , and only learned Spanish once she got to the United States .
She ’ s now fluent in Spanish and is working on her English .
For her own stress , and other ailments , her family back in Guatemala sends medicine to her .
Orieta ’ s husband still works in landscaping , but struggles to make enough to support the family .
“ I hope there ’ s a tomorrow in which we wake up and there ’ s a medicine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morris continues to deliver school lunches and church donation boxes to Orieta ’ s family , and has now paired them with a Spanish-speaking mother-and-daughter team who come by every Thursday to deliver specific grocery requests like diapers , toothpaste , and beans.27 As Orieta is overwhelmed with taking care of Damian and her 16-month-old son , Alejandro , she doesn ’ t have the means to help Mutual Morris now , but plans to do so in the future .
“ I ’ m just so thankful for all the work ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I don ’ t know what we ’ d do without y ’ all .
I ’ m grateful to God.
” 28 Libna and her children , Genesis and Gisella Libna and her husband , also from Guatemala , have been in the United States for nine years .
Her husband works in landscaping ; Libna , part-time as a cashier at McDonald ’ s .
They have both continued to work during the pandemic , though they have had their hours cut .
Besides the fear of contracting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s heart issue—she had surgery in January , but is doing much better now .
Gisella , doing cartwheels throughout our conversation , has been especially sad , Libna said , missing school , missing her friends , and worried in general.29 Before the pandemic hit and their hours were cut , Libna and her husband were sending remittances back to their family in Guatemala every few weeks .
They ’ re no longer able to send anything .
They ’ re also worried about simply having enough to eat , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and bananas Shalhoub brought as a treat.30 Libna said she has noticed more anti-Latino discrimination since the start of the pandemic .
All of the white Americans who worked at her McDonald ’ s quit , she explained .
“ People don ’ t realize that we [ Latinos ] are working hard for them .
We ’ re dragging this country forward right now , and we ’ re dying for it .
People think we ’ re getting sick more because we ’ re not careful , but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” One McDonald ’ s customer told her recently to “ go back home , ” and that people like her are spreading the virus .
But her home , Libna insists , is in New Jersey.31 “ I ’ m so scared , ” said Libna .
“ I don ’ t want to go to work anymore , ” she said , “ but I have to for my family.
” School openings have posed an additional risk to exposure for their family .
And although Genesis ’ s health is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dizzy spells .
The doctor told her she may need a heart monitor.32 Besides working as a cashier and raising her two daughters , Libna makes calls for Mutual Morris , doing wellness checks , reaching out to other families who may have unmet needs .
Libna also stepped up to lead in the effort to prepare school lunches when the district put that service on pause .
When we asked her if there was anything else she wanted to say about the people who have pitched in to make Mutual Morris happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no words to thank you.
” 33

Text by John Washington, photography by Tracie Williams.1
“It is all very scary.” On a warm, summer day in Morristown, N.J., Oscar was sitting on the stoop of the apartment he was sharing with his partner, Daniela.2 Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience? Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation’s journalism while you complete your gift list.
Oscar has lupus, fibromyalgia, and what can sometimes be debilitating arthritis, and like many people we talked to in and around this town of less than 20,000, a little more than 30 miles from Manhattan, he hadn’t ventured beyond his front yard in months. “Very, very scary.”3
Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic, after more than 286,000 deaths and countless lives interrupted or shattered by loss, the support most Americans have received from the federal government has been a one-time check for $1,200. The severity of the economic crisis millions of Americans face as we enter a seemingly unstoppable “third wave” of infection has not been matched by robust support at the federal level. That has left states and cities to make their own rules, with schools reopening, then closing again, gyms and bars staying open while curfews are imposed, in patchwork attempts to slow the virus’s spread. Even as the scourge has spread from coastal metropolises to cover the rest of the country, Americans are desperate for a return to the rhythms of life and work and human contact. For the stricken and the bereaved, however, any sense of normalcy remains a dream. For those housebound from underlying health conditions rendering them immune-compromised, everyday life since the onset of the pandemic is incomparable to life before.4
In Morristown County, the lack of decisive action at the federal level has left people to fend for themselves. But they haven’t been doing so alone: For months, residents here have organized to help their most vulnerable neighbors. Through creative fundraising and the special kind of community that forms when neighbors help their neighbors, Mutual Morris, a mutual aid group with a roster of over 100 volunteers, is providing a lifeline for about 500 households during a very dark time. Just after the first wave of the pandemic receded, photographer Tracie Williams and I met with some of these families. Everyone we spoke to had a family member who was immune compromised, and access to transportation posed a barrier for most. As residents cracked open doors, visited with us (at a distance) in their yards, the fear was palpable: Masks on, tears welling, and the mood plaintive.5
The founders of Mutual Morris, local activists Theresa Markila and Renee Shalhoub, started organizing in their community last February, handing out oranges—to boost immune systems—as well as hand soap and safety cards explaining the dangers of the coronavirus. Through that work, they began delivering school lunches and connecting with families who needed help shopping for groceries, working with mostly immigrant and low-income families. The work has expanded to wellness checks, tutoring, and helping to plan for the disruptions the pandemic is causing for young students’ educations. Now, they’re organizing an online children’s book drive and collecting donations for warm clothes for winter. And as the CDC’s moratorium on evictions is set expire at the end of the year, Mutual Morris is educating tenants about their rights.6
Vital to the concept of mutual aid is the mutual support that all participants in the group provide to one another—one-way charity this is not. Mutual Morris trains participants on the skills they need to self-organize. While the exchange isn’t necessarily reciprocal; it is based on the fundamental principle of mutual aid: taking only what you need and giving what you can. Markila and Shalhoub make clear that they are not following the standard nonprofit model. “We want to help communities empower themselves, help them become self-sufficient,” Shalhoub said.7
Mutual aid groups like Mutual Morris have sprung up across the country during the pandemic, and the people involved in these groups volunteer their time and resources to help folks they may have never met, ensuring they have medicine, food, housing, even legal services. As inspiring as these efforts of communal support are, they are also an indictment of the government’s failure to provide for the millions of people who need support during this incredibly difficult time. This isn’t a new story—the gutting of our social safety net has been in the works for decades, and will continue without vocal, grassroots demands to guarantee access to housing, food, and health care. In the meantime, as the Covid-19 caseload continues to climb precipitously, the principles and practice of collective care will be crucial in mitigating the devastation caused by a system that values profit over human life.8
Heather and her children, Eric and Isabel
Poised with her two children on her three-step concrete porch, Heather struck a tone of defiant gratitude in regard to her months-long lockdown. Heather suffers from a host of chronic maladies, including immune thrombocytopenia, a serious risk factor possibly leading to increased mortality with the coronavirus. As such, she hasn’t risked venturing into public since March. “I don’t want to not be there for them,” she said, patting both her two children on their heads. The three wore blue N-95 masks cinched tightly over their faces.9
Heather’s husband, Eric Sr., started stocking up food, especially canned soup, as early as January. Because his father is bedridden and in need of constant care, Eric Sr. spends most of his days at his father’s house, working remotely and tending to his needs—which leaves only an hour in the evenings for him to be with his family at home. “I don’t blame anybody for this, but I just want them to fix it,” Heather said, referencing the political response to the coronavirus. She isn’t looking for handouts, pays for the groceries that Mutual Morris volunteers deliver for their two households, donates for other families in need, and, early on in the lockdown, had set out boxes on her porch for her neighbors to come and retrieve basic food items. When the district abruptly paused school lunches, and the call went out for volunteers to help quickly organize lunch preparation and deliveries, she was one of the first to answer that call.10
Mutual Morris was a lifeline for Heather in the early days of the pandemic when grocery delivery services like Instacart were completely overloaded. Now that she’s able to get her groceries delivered again, Heather has been able to get back to something resembling her usual routine—but that doesn’t mean she has scaled back her involvement with Mutual Morris at all. “I like giving back when I can, it makes me feel good. Especially because I can’t go out.” Mutual aid, she said, “is not progressive at all. It’s ancient.” She compared support networks to the collective action of Amish barn-raising. “The reality is, this is not something new. This is not what I consider progressive at all…. This is an old, old thing, what people used to do in the old days to help each other.”11
As we spoke, she paused briefly, and then noted that she had just had a minor seizure. “I also don’t drive because I have epilepsy, you know I have never been seizure-free.”12
Oscar, Daniela, and their daughters, Ninnah and Hailey
Sitting on the stoop of their apartment in Morristown, Oscar and his partner Daniela were in grieving: A close friend had died two days before in a motorcycle accident, but they wouldn’t be going to his funeral. Oscar grew up poor in Colombia, started working when he was 8 years old, and has been hustling construction jobs in the United States since the mid 1990s. As his lupus—an autoimmune disease triggered by environmental factors such as heat, depression and stress—began advancing, he struggled to work. Daniela, too, who grew up between New Jersey and Colombia, struggled living down an abusive childhood. They and their two daughters were homeless for a couple months beginning in late 2019. They managed to get back on their feet by February, but then the coronavirus hit.13
“It’s so hard, being a man…and not being able to provide for my family,” Oscar said, breaking into tears. Given his medical vulnerability, he doesn’t risk searching for work anymore. “It’s hard for me to reach out for help because I always provided on my own.” And yet, with two young girls, Ninnah and Haley, he had to overcome that pride.14
“With the two kids it’s been…,” says Oscar, emphasizing the inadequacy of the word—and Daniela nodding along—“hard.” When we met them, they had hardly left their apartment since March, insisting on taking extreme precautions: leaving shoes outside, wiping down grocery bags, bleaching the house. “But it’s the same, every day,” Oscar said. “It’s like being locked up, though sorry for using that term.” Some mornings his lupus and arthritis make it difficult to get out of bed, and because of the excruciating pain he is tempted to go to the emergency room so they can “knock him out.” “I’m scared every day, I don’t show her,” Oscar said, referring to Daniela, “but everyday I’m crying because I don’t know if tomorrow I’m gonna be here. I don’t have a home that I can say is my house. And to be honest, I have nothing to leave them if something happens to me. So everyday it gives me flares, because of the stress.”15
Working with Mutual Morris—he not only receives school lunches and personalized groceries, he also volunteers his time by making phone calls for them—has given him some direction and welcome distraction. “They basically trained me how to come out, how to talk to people and stuff like that. So, it’s something positive that came out of this,” he said. “For me to get to know these families and call them was a big relief for me.… They have kids, you know. And we need to reach out because some people don’t know that we are here, some people are too shy to come out, like me.”16
After talking a while, Daniela brought out the two girls to join the family on the stoop. They were both shy, and clinging to their father, who put on a tougher face in front of them. “The pandemic has affected me a lot,” said Oscar. “I’m sharing my story because I want people to know what it’s like for people like me. I feel stuck and I’m not sure how to move forward.”17
“I like religion,” he said, unprompted. “I like God. He’s everything for me. I try to do good deeds. I don’t go to church all the time, but I try to be a good person.”18
Frances, Mary, and family
Mary moved back from North Carolina, where she had been living for 40 years, just as the pandemic was taking hold. Her husband had died shortly before, and she felt alone, missing her family back in New Jersey. Frances, her niece, welcomed her into her home with open arms. Mary’s not alone now, as she sits on the sun-scorched porch with a passel of nieces, children, and grandchildren milling in and out of the adjacent apartments, The household had remained in their bubble all summer, except for Frances, who started working with Mutual Morris after she saw Shalhoub drop off deliveries at Oscar and Daniela’s apartment nearby. “I’ll do whatever I can to help the kids,” Frances said.19
Mary suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and fibromyalgia and was hospitalized for three weeks this year because of upper respiratory complications, which at first the doctors suspected were related to the virus “I lose my breath easily. It’s hard to wear a mask.” She was a certified nursing assistant before she retired, and recognized the dangers of Covid-19 quickly.20
As we were talking, Frances returned and sat down in a narrow folding chair in front of her apartment door, hugging the shade. She had just delivered about 20 school lunches to children of parents she cared for over the past 42 years as a daycare provider. And now, she “delivers lunches, news, and humor to the projects,” as she calls them.21
The family still interacts with their neighbors, but as Mary put it, “We be teasing them about the coronavirus,” and they make sure to keep at least six feet of distance. “I don’t like the way it’s been handled” by the government, Mary said.22
Frances was harsher about plans to reopen: “Hell to the no,” she said emphatically. She is particularly concerned about her granddaughter, who is 4 years old and has cerebral palsy. “Because for those kids that have difficulty, like my granddaughter, who was going to school every day to help with her physical therapy, occupational therapy, you know walking, talking, moving all that stuff. Now, they actually,” she says, laughing at the absurdity, “Oh Jesus, they actually are upset with us because we don’t have her on video.” Efforts at online learning aren’t “doing jack for her,” Frances explained, except agitating her. “I’m very, very, very upset about that, because that puts her behind and that’s unfair to her.” The conversation flagged for a moment, as Frances and Mary both mulled the difficulties of the coming school year.23
With a household ranging in school ages from preschool to high school, the added risk of contracting the virus via in-person attendance is high. “I’m terrified,” said Frances, who is the primary caretaker in her home, “because I can’t afford to get anything right now.”24
Orieta and her son, Damian
Originally from Guatemala, Orieta and her husband have been living in the United States for eight years. (Orieta requested that we use pseudonyms for her family.) Despite her initially settling in comfortably, the last five years have been riddled with adversity. It started with a lump in her stomach, which turned out to be a tumor, and required multiple surgeries. Soon after recovering, Orieta gave birth to her first child, Damian, who was soon thereafter diagnosed with leukemia. “I was so depressed that I got sick again. I thought he was about to die,”Orieta said. Damian responded well to treatment, but in May, he contracted the coronavirus. He sank into a coma, and again the family thought they might lose him. “I don’t care if we don’t have anything. I just want health,” Orieta said. Damian, back on his feet, peeked out the window, and then came around to hug his mother’s legs.25
Orieta grew up speaking Mam, and never went to school. She only learned to read and write, and only learned Spanish once she got to the United States. She’s now fluent in Spanish and is working on her English. For her own stress, and other ailments, her family back in Guatemala sends medicine to her. Orieta’s husband still works in landscaping, but struggles to make enough to support the family. “I hope there’s a tomorrow in which we wake up and there’s a medicine for coronavirus,” she said.26
Mutual Morris continues to deliver school lunches and church donation boxes to Orieta’s family, and has now paired them with a Spanish-speaking mother-and-daughter team who come by every Thursday to deliver specific grocery requests like diapers, toothpaste, and beans.27
As Orieta is overwhelmed with taking care of Damian and her 16-month-old son, Alejandro, she doesn’t have the means to help Mutual Morris now, but plans to do so in the future. “I’m just so thankful for all the work” that Mutual Morris does, she said. “I don’t know what we’d do without y’all. I’m grateful to God.”28
Libna and her children, Genesis and Gisella
Libna and her husband, also from Guatemala, have been in the United States for nine years. Her husband works in landscaping; Libna, part-time as a cashier at McDonald’s. They have both continued to work during the pandemic, though they have had their hours cut. Besides the fear of contracting the virus, they are dealing with Genesis’s heart issue—she had surgery in January, but is doing much better now. Gisella, doing cartwheels throughout our conversation, has been especially sad, Libna said, missing school, missing her friends, and worried in general.29
Before the pandemic hit and their hours were cut, Libna and her husband were sending remittances back to their family in Guatemala every few weeks. They’re no longer able to send anything. They’re also worried about simply having enough to eat, and the girls welcomed the grapes, strawberries, and bananas Shalhoub brought as a treat.30
Libna said she has noticed more anti-Latino discrimination since the start of the pandemic. All of the white Americans who worked at her McDonald’s quit, she explained. “People don’t realize that we [Latinos] are working hard for them. We’re dragging this country forward right now, and we’re dying for it. People think we’re getting sick more because we’re not careful, but it’s because we’re still working.” One McDonald’s customer told her recently to “go back home,” and that people like her are spreading the virus. But her home, Libna insists, is in New Jersey.31
“I’m so scared,” said Libna. “I don’t want to go to work anymore,” she said, “but I have to for my family.” School openings have posed an additional risk to exposure for their family. And although Genesis’s health is currently stable, she has been having dizzy spells. The doctor told her she may need a heart monitor.32
Besides working as a cashier and raising her two daughters, Libna makes calls for Mutual Morris, doing wellness checks, reaching out to other families who may have unmet needs. Libna also stepped up to lead in the effort to prepare school lunches when the district put that service on pause. When we asked her if there was anything else she wanted to say about the people who have pitched in to make Mutual Morris happen, she said, “There are no words to thank you.”33


thenation--2020-12-10--I Know Rahm Emanuel, and He Shouldn’t Be Anywhere Near the White House

Rahm Emanuel has been campaigning hard for another bite at the White House , attempting to secure a spot in the Biden administration as secretary of transportation or possibly as US trade representative .
As someone who intimately knows Rahm ’ s legacy , I can not imagine a worse pick .
Do Not Hire This Man Chicago Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez said it best when she wrote , “ We don ’ t want him [ in Chicago ] , but we don ’ t want him anywhere near the White House , either.
” Rahm came into office with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ successfully pushing for state legislation to limit the right of Chicago teachers to strike .
He used his handpicked Chicago Board of Education to cancel teachers ’ annual raise , claiming it was unaffordable .
He followed that up by closing 50 majority-Black public schools on the South and West sides of the city .
And while imposing austerity on traditional neighborhood schools , he expanded publicly funded , privately run charter schools , and diverted $ 58 million from Chicago Public Schools to the city budget to cover past “ security services.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ conscience ?
Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation ’ s journalism while you complete your gift list .
On criminal justice , Rahm opposed a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department , fought efforts to revamp the civilian police oversight authority , failed to establish a promised community oversight board , and resisted judicial oversight of the CPD—while closing half of the city ’ s mental health clinics .
But Rahm ’ s most significant legacy is his handling of the 2014 Laquan McDonald police murder case , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ won reelection in 2015 .
At the same time , “ Mayor 1 % , ” as he ’ s often been called , poured money into wealthy neighborhoods through Tax Increment Financing ( TIF ) projects , a mechanism intended to “ fight blight.
” He spent $ 1.3 billion to subsidize luxury apartments for private developers ( while failing to provide affordable housing ) , 55 million to buy DePaul University a new basketball stadium and millions more on downtown development at the expense of South and West side neighborhoods .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chicago is illustrative of the kind of secretary of transportation he would be—and the kind of mayor he was .
He trotted out his billion-dollar plan to construct a 17-mile tunnel to O ’ Hare Airport for an “ electric sled ” service in a co-venture with Elon Musk in 2018—a ludicrous project that titillated tourists and disgusted everyone else in a city where inaccessible transit limits opportunity for more than half of its residents .
Rahm Emanuel Will Be Remembered as Chicago ’ s ‘ Murder Mayor ’ Rahm got a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but always with caveats that those accomplishments benefited the well-to-do and failed to make change for the majority of Chicagoans .
He ’ s been great at padding his résumé in his campaign to be secretary of transportation , taking credit for the work driven forward by his first Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner , Gabe Klein ( who is already on Biden ’ s transportation transition committee ) .
He led the Chicago Department of Transportation ’ s egregious racial profiling of Chicagoans of color , including the CPD ’ s admitted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at an exponentially higher rate as an excuse for conducting searches .
When it comes down to brass tacks , we can ’ t talk about transportation without thinking about a secretary ’ s relationship with unions and private corporations .
Rahm was the man who infamously said “ Fuck the UAW ” as President Barack Obama ’ s chief of staff during the auto bailout .
An unapologetic union buster , Rahm took aim at other public employee unions throughout his tenure as mayor , soliciting help from the state legislature to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden ’ s appointing Rahm as secretary of transportation would be a slap in the face not only to Chicago ( as outlined in a petition to keep Rahm out of the White House ) but to all the union members who turned out in unprecedented numbers in this year ’ s election to send him to the White House .
The same applies to the millions who flooded the streets to demand police accountability and protect Black lives .
President-elect Biden ’ s call for a reckoning with systemic racism would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black and brown voters who saved our democracy—and our Republic .
In his victory speech , President-elect Biden vowed to fight for the dignity and opportunity of working Americans and “ battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.
” Putting Emanuel , a man whose career is “ marked not just by his advocacy of bad ideas , but by his efforts to talk other Democrats out of ideas that turned out to be good ones , ” in his cabinet would not only undermine our faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to question Biden ’ s own faith in that vision .

Rahm Emanuel has been campaigning hard for another bite at the White House, attempting to secure a spot in the Biden administration as secretary of transportation or possibly as US trade representative. As someone who intimately knows Rahm’s legacy, I cannot imagine a worse pick. Rahm emanuel Do Not Hire This Man John Nichols
Chicago Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez said it best when she wrote, “We don’t want him [in Chicago], but we don’t want him anywhere near the White House, either.”
Rahm came into office with his crosshairs set on our union, successfully pushing for state legislation to limit the right of Chicago teachers to strike. He used his handpicked Chicago Board of Education to cancel teachers’ annual raise, claiming it was unaffordable. He followed that up by closing 50 majority-Black public schools on the South and West sides of the city. And while imposing austerity on traditional neighborhood schools, he expanded publicly funded, privately run charter schools, and diverted $58 million from Chicago Public Schools to the city budget to cover past “security services.” Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience? Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation’s journalism while you complete your gift list.
On criminal justice, Rahm opposed a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department, fought efforts to revamp the civilian police oversight authority, failed to establish a promised community oversight board, and resisted judicial oversight of the CPD—while closing half of the city’s mental health clinics. But Rahm’s most significant legacy is his handling of the 2014 Laquan McDonald police murder case, which he covered up until after he won reelection in 2015. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung
At the same time, “Mayor 1%,” as he’s often been called, poured money into wealthy neighborhoods through Tax Increment Financing (TIF) projects, a mechanism intended to “fight blight.” He spent $1.3 billion to subsidize luxury apartments for private developers (while failing to provide affordable housing), 55 million to buy DePaul University a new basketball stadium and millions more on downtown development at the expense of South and West side neighborhoods.
Emanuel’s capstone transit project in Chicago is illustrative of the kind of secretary of transportation he would be—and the kind of mayor he was. He trotted out his billion-dollar plan to construct a 17-mile tunnel to O’Hare Airport for an “electric sled” service in a co-venture with Elon Musk in 2018—a ludicrous project that titillated tourists and disgusted everyone else in a city where inaccessible transit limits opportunity for more than half of its residents. Rahm emanuel Rahm Emanuel Will Be Remembered as Chicago’s ‘Murder Mayor’ Miles Kampf-Lassin
Rahm got a lot of credit for his transit accomplishments, but always with caveats that those accomplishments benefited the well-to-do and failed to make change for the majority of Chicagoans. He’s been great at padding his résumé in his campaign to be secretary of transportation, taking credit for the work driven forward by his first Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner, Gabe Klein (who is already on Biden’s transportation transition committee). He led the Chicago Department of Transportation’s egregious racial profiling of Chicagoans of color, including the CPD’s admitted use of ticketing bikes in Black neighborhoods at an exponentially higher rate as an excuse for conducting searches.
When it comes down to brass tacks, we can’t talk about transportation without thinking about a secretary’s relationship with unions and private corporations. Rahm was the man who infamously said “Fuck the UAW” as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff during the auto bailout. An unapologetic union buster, Rahm took aim at other public employee unions throughout his tenure as mayor, soliciting help from the state legislature to slash and privatize city services and jobs.
Biden’s appointing Rahm as secretary of transportation would be a slap in the face not only to Chicago (as outlined in a petition to keep Rahm out of the White House) but to all the union members who turned out in unprecedented numbers in this year’s election to send him to the White House. The same applies to the millions who flooded the streets to demand police accountability and protect Black lives. President-elect Biden’s call for a reckoning with systemic racism would be seen as mere lip service to Black and brown voters who saved our democracy—and our Republic.
In his victory speech, President-elect Biden vowed to fight for the dignity and opportunity of working Americans and “battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.” Putting Emanuel, a man whose career is “marked not just by his advocacy of bad ideas, but by his efforts to talk other Democrats out of ideas that turned out to be good ones,” in his cabinet would not only undermine our faith in the new administration but lead us to question Biden’s own faith in that vision.


thenation--2020-12-10--So When Can I Get the Covid Vaccine?

So When Can I Get the Covid Vaccine?

First , the good news .
Only a year ago , SARS-CoV-2 emerged on the world stage , slowly growing into the pandemic we know today .
A year later , multiple vaccines against this new virus are on the verge of being distributed to millions of people around the world .
The timeline is astounding .
It ’ s a testament to science first and foremost .
Earlier this year I was skeptical of the prognostications of having a vaccine within a few months—mainly because of the gaps in our knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 and the immune response to it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technologies for some of the candidates .
I was wrong , and I couldn ’ t have been happier .
But as my Yale colleagues Jason Schwartz and David Paltiel , new CDC Director Designate Rochelle Walensky , and Harvard Medical student Amy Zheng have warned in a new paper and op-ed in USA Today : Vaccines don ’ t save lives ; vaccinations save lives .
The point here is that in clinical trials vaccines are evaluated in controlled settings , which are never reencountered in the real world .
With vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience ?
Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation ’ s journalism while you complete your gift list .
What my colleagues point out is worth discussing here , because it ’ s about how we must face the next few months together .
The main take-home message to all of us ?
Keep stocked up on masks , keep up the social distancing , and refrain from indoor gatherings .
Why do we need to do this still , if a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ?
It ’ s because in the context of a raging pandemic—lots of transmission in the community—even a vaccine that looks spectacular in clinical trials will have trouble competing with the force of infection that an uncontrolled epidemic of a highly infectious pathogen presents .
This will be easier said than done .
Not only may the arrival of vaccines in and of themselves discourage mask wearing and other public health measures ; most of these vaccines have shown efficacy in preventing severe disease rather than in preventing transmission of the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the elderly , we are likely to see the first effects of the vaccine in a decrease in death rates .
We keep telling people this is not like the flu .
However , as the fatality rate drops , Covid-19 is going to look a whole lot less dangerous to many people , potentially further discouraging basic public health protections .
We still haven ’ t invested in helping ordinary Americans to take up , adhere to , and maintain these kinds of individual behaviors .
We haven ’ t made it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Never Going Back to Normal What my colleagues also point out is that while we have had an Operation Warp Speed for vaccine research and development , we need one now ( actually , we needed it yesterday ) for vaccination .
Vaccination campaigns are run by the states—and they ’ ve been warning for months that they simply do not have the resources to do this successfully .
The failure of Congress and the Trump administration to provide these needed resources even now that vaccines are on the verge of FDA authorization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity to start to put this pandemic behind us .
Furthermore , the companies that make the vaccines we are going to rely on simply aren ’ t equipped to meet global demand , which means the United States may not be able to meet ambitious goals for vaccine rollout as other countries demand access to these products as well .
At the same time , more and more Americans are saying they won ’ t take a vaccine : In May , according to the Pew Research Center , 27 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ probably ” or “ definitely ” not get a Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available .
By November , that percentage was up to 39 percent .
My colleagues warn in their paper that going slow or low—that is , having a sluggish vaccination rollout or too many people opting out—can water down the real-world effectiveness of a promising vaccine .
All of this is sobering stuff .
The arrival of vaccines against Covid-19 is a spectacular achievement and the investment of the Trump administration in this process was one of the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
But they didn ’ t follow through .
All of this downstream work now—keeping public health measures in place to give the vaccines a leg up in containing the pandemic , ensuring fast rollout to a broad swath of Americans—is up to the new Biden administration and a Congress that may or may not want to cooperate ( if you ’ re reading this in Georgia , I am talking to you , voters ! )
.
And it ’ s up to us , too .
Twenty twenty has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re going to have to keep at it , with the masks and the social distancing , is depressing .
I know .
But there is light at the end of the tunnel .
Vaccines are the vehicles—at least in part—that will get us through the darkness .
But the urgency of the journey means keeping the pedal to the metal now .
The more we can stick it out and do our part , the greater chance of success for this massive vaccination campaign .
And though we are all relieved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rearview mirror in 2021 , we can not demobilize , stop organizing .
We need to ensure that the Congress steps up with a pandemic relief package to underwrite the direct needs for getting this vaccine out to the millions who need it , while helping all of us to hold on for a few more months with the social and economic aid we require .
We are so close .
We can not give up now .

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First, the good news. Only a year ago, SARS-CoV-2 emerged on the world stage, slowly growing into the pandemic we know today. A year later, multiple vaccines against this new virus are on the verge of being distributed to millions of people around the world. The timeline is astounding. It’s a testament to science first and foremost. Earlier this year I was skeptical of the prognostications of having a vaccine within a few months—mainly because of the gaps in our knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 and the immune response to it, and the reliance on novel mRNA technologies for some of the candidates. I was wrong, and I couldn’t have been happier.
But as my Yale colleagues Jason Schwartz and David Paltiel, new CDC Director Designate Rochelle Walensky, and Harvard Medical student Amy Zheng have warned in a new paper and op-ed in USA Today: Vaccines don’t save lives; vaccinations save lives. The point here is that in clinical trials vaccines are evaluated in controlled settings, which are never reencountered in the real world. With vaccines, context is king (or queen). Looking for holiday gifts with a conscience? Check out The Nation Shop and help support The Nation’s journalism while you complete your gift list.
What my colleagues point out is worth discussing here, because it’s about how we must face the next few months together. The main take-home message to all of us? Keep stocked up on masks, keep up the social distancing, and refrain from indoor gatherings. Why do we need to do this still, if a vaccine is being handed out across the country? It’s because in the context of a raging pandemic—lots of transmission in the community—even a vaccine that looks spectacular in clinical trials will have trouble competing with the force of infection that an uncontrolled epidemic of a highly infectious pathogen presents.
This will be easier said than done. Not only may the arrival of vaccines in and of themselves discourage mask wearing and other public health measures; most of these vaccines have shown efficacy in preventing severe disease rather than in preventing transmission of the virus. As we roll out vaccination in the elderly, we are likely to see the first effects of the vaccine in a decrease in death rates. We keep telling people this is not like the flu. However, as the fatality rate drops, Covid-19 is going to look a whole lot less dangerous to many people, potentially further discouraging basic public health protections. We still haven’t invested in helping ordinary Americans to take up, adhere to, and maintain these kinds of individual behaviors. We haven’t made it easy for them. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. My Homeland Is Being Ruled by Terror. The World Must Pay Attention. Manny Maung More From Gregg Gonsalves These New Alzheimer’s Drugs Are a Travesty July 27, 2023 It's Not “Unreasonable” to Want to Change Our Rotten Health Care System June 1, 2023 Now More Than Ever, We Need to Fight, Not Despair May 11, 2023
What my colleagues also point out is that while we have had an Operation Warp Speed for vaccine research and development, we need one now (actually, we needed it yesterday) for vaccination. Vaccination campaigns are run by the states—and they’ve been warning for months that they simply do not have the resources to do this successfully. The failure of Congress and the Trump administration to provide these needed resources even now that vaccines are on the verge of FDA authorization is kneecapping states just when we have an opportunity to start to put this pandemic behind us. Furthermore, the companies that make the vaccines we are going to rely on simply aren’t equipped to meet global demand, which means the United States may not be able to meet ambitious goals for vaccine rollout as other countries demand access to these products as well. At the same time, more and more Americans are saying they won’t take a vaccine: In May, according to the Pew Research Center, 27 percent of Americans said they would either “probably” or “definitely” not get a Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available. By November, that percentage was up to 39 percent. My colleagues warn in their paper that going slow or low—that is, having a sluggish vaccination rollout or too many people opting out—can water down the real-world effectiveness of a promising vaccine.
All of this is sobering stuff. The arrival of vaccines against Covid-19 is a spectacular achievement and the investment of the Trump administration in this process was one of the only bright spots in their response to the pandemic. But they didn’t follow through. All of this downstream work now—keeping public health measures in place to give the vaccines a leg up in containing the pandemic, ensuring fast rollout to a broad swath of Americans—is up to the new Biden administration and a Congress that may or may not want to cooperate (if you’re reading this in Georgia, I am talking to you, voters!).
And it’s up to us, too. Twenty twenty has been the worst. To hear that we’re going to have to keep at it, with the masks and the social distancing, is depressing. I know. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines are the vehicles—at least in part—that will get us through the darkness. But the urgency of the journey means keeping the pedal to the metal now. The more we can stick it out and do our part, the greater chance of success for this massive vaccination campaign. And though we are all relieved that Donald Trump will be in the rearview mirror in 2021, we cannot demobilize, stop organizing. We need to ensure that the Congress steps up with a pandemic relief package to underwrite the direct needs for getting this vaccine out to the millions who need it, while helping all of us to hold on for a few more months with the social and economic aid we require. We are so close. We cannot give up now.