How can you be an advocate for humanity this week?
Querida Amiga,
Last week I spent time reflecting on my family’s immigration story. Much of our story includes hard physical labor. On my maternal side, that labor was largely in the fields of the Central Valley as farmworkers. After pondering the ways that my family paid for my US American story, this past week I watched in horror as farmworkers are sacrificing their bodies to pay for their US American story. I am sure many do not make the sacrifice only for themselves but also for future generations.
Images of people working in the fields enveloped in smoke or with raging flames behind them were scattered across my social media and news feed this week. It wasn’t a loud uproar of injustice. It was a spattering of people asking us to be grateful for those picking our food.
Yes, I am grateful to the workers in the fields for the food that they provide for my table. And I want to know how we create a more humane system for food production that does not require people to pick strawberries in the middle of a wildfire. I refuse to accept that there are no solutions to this.
We are innovative human beings who can create new ways of being. We have done it so many times over in our centuries of existence. However, innovation and action do not come without will. There needs to be a willingness to care about human beings and their livelihood beyond what they can produce. Unfortunately, we have been trained to see the value of human life in connection to what we are able to generate. In turn, we see ourselves as valuable and worthy only when we hustle. We are valuable and worthy, regardless of what we churn out. We should all be cared for regardless of our production.
A few years ago my mom had kidney cancer. As word spread of her diagnosis, she started to learn of other people who she grew up with who were survivors or were still suffering from kidney cancer. As she talked to them, wondering about the strange coincidence, and reflecting on their childhood, a common thread popped up. Stories of them running and playing in the fields around their home while planes flew over them spraying. We don’t have a scientific study about what happened to them, but I believe that their bodies were reacting years later to toxic injustices they endured as children.
I wonder what will become of the bodies of those who are currently working while breathing in smoke and removing ash from their eyes. They continue to toil in the fields today. Tomorrow there will be physical, mental, and emotional reactions that emerge from the toxins they have endured. Will we still be grateful for their labor? Will we find ways to care for them as they care for us?
Will we be willing to sacrifice for them as they do for us to be able to eat?
As you know, I am an action-oriented person, I cannot share my thoughts without some calls to action. Some actions I offer for you to consider:
Vote! Do the people you vote for believe in climate change? Do they have a track record of supporting farmworkers? If you have not done so yet, register to vote. Take the time to do your research and vote for everything on your ballot. Elections are bigger than a presidency. Local elected officials have just as much, if not more, impact on our daily life. Check out Vote with Love for resources to be a more informed voter this year.
Report farms you observe have their workers out in hazardous conditions without any protective gear. You can anonymously report farms through this link.
Donate to groups who are out in the fields engaging with the workers and farms to assess conditions and advocate for safety and more humane working conditions. I chose to donate to the United Farm Workers (UFW) this week. There are also a variety of smaller funds being collected in local communities. With a little research, you can find many ways to consider giving.
Quiero saber de ti. How can you be an advocate for humanity this week? What innovative solutions do you have to increase our humanity towards marginalized groups?
Un abrazo,
Michelle
P.S. Our first virtual community space was last week. It was a wonderful way to release the week and set intentions for the coming week. We want to do it again! Let me know if you prefer a different date and time than Friday afternoon. I’m willing to play with different dates and times to make this accessible to more folks. Let me know what you need!
