“Democracy Dies in Darkness”

Washington Post

October 13, 2020, provided a surreal moment as I stood in line to vote, masked, socially distanced, with hands sanitized.

I thought of the many thousands of women who made this possible. They marched, were pelted with tomatoes, endured verbal and physical abuse, and were imprisoned so that I can stand in this line and vote, thanks to the 26 words of the 19^th amendment:  “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex,” signed in 1920.

Fast forward to 1965.  Unfortunately, African American women and Native American women were not included in the 19^th amendment.  With the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 poll taxes, literacy tests, and other means of discrimination were outlawed, and women and men of color were freed from one more barrier to vote. As we vote this year, we need to thank John Lewis and many others on the bridge to freedom for the right and opportunity to vote.

• In Texas and Ohio, the Governor is only allowing one ballot dropbox per county for those wishing to

  

  vote absentee. Harris Country has a population of 4.7 million residents and ONE dropbox. Franklin County, OH, where our Columbus Motherhouse is located, has 1.4 million residents, one dropbox and one early voting site. Some residents have to drive 30 miles to drop off a ballot.

• Postmaster Louis DeJoy has removed 671 letter sorters that can separate 35,000 papers in an hour. These are vital for counting votes rapidly.  In addition, he has removed numerous mailboxes around the United States and eliminated overtime for postal workers around the United States before a national election.
• Numerous polling sites have been eliminated around the United States, including 1,300 sites in southern states and 320 sites in Arizona. As a result, many voters are standing in line for six to eight hours.
• Some states that allow early voting are not allowing votes to be counted until November 3, which means we more than likely will not know the outcome of the election until much later. And the ever-present mantra of “election fraud” will be heard.
• In North Dakota in 2018, Native Americans were deprived of voting because they did not have a street address. Reservations do not have street addresses!
• In Dodge City, KS, the polling site was moved from a central location to the outskirts of town, more than a mile away from the nearest bus stop, making it difficult for poor and Hispanic citizens to vote.

The theme of the 2020 election seems to be “suppress the vote,” especially in areas where African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans live.

Congressional leaders and Presidents need to become interested in enabling free and fair elections by creating automatic voter registration, making voter registration portable between states, providing adequate numbers of voting sites that eliminate voters standing in line for hours, replacing antiquated voting machines (remember “hanging chads”?)  and providing less complicated mail-in ballots.  Add to the list the ongoing problem of foreign Russian interference (Russia, China, Iran) not being taken seriously.

There is a reason only 55% of eligible voters actually voted in 2016.  Barriers are real and will remain as long as we the voters do not demand that they change.

May your voting experience be unencumbered and a time of thanksgiving for all who made it possible.

2020 has been a year of endless harsh realities.  With over 219,000 dying of COVID–19, 30 million unemployed, businesses closing every day around the country, and the most divisive election to date, it is easy to lose sight of the next pandemic — homelessness.

In an interview with NPR, Cruz Santos said that she thought her life was finally turning around in early March when, after months of searching, she found a job at a shoe store. Two weeks later the store shut down, throwing her back onto the unemployment lines, and leaving her and her three school-age children at risk of losing the one-bedroom Bronx apartment where they live.  She says, “I don’t know what’s going to happen and if they’re going to kick me out of my apartment.  And that’s something hard, you know. You can hardly even sleep sometimes.”

She is not alone.  According to Zach Newman of the Aspen Institute, at least 30 million people are at risk of eviction, or not being able to pay a mortgage.  They are in danger of losing their homes because the $600 a week unemployment benefit from the federal government’s CARES Act has expired, and there seems to be no new relief on the horizon.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, on a single day, an estimated 292,623 single adults experiencing homelessness are over the age of 50, suggesting they may be uniquely vulnerable to becoming seriously ill during the pandemic.  There were 567,715 homeless in 2019.  Those who were fortunate enough to have an “emergency fund” have long since exhausted that small lifeline.

In the meantime, the three branches of government have played ping-pong with the lives of millions of Americans.  The House passed a bill to provide relief for those facing eviction, the Senate responded with a much smaller package, and the House countered with a bill that landed in between the original two bills.  The compromise offer was rejected by the Senate, and this bill, which could save 40 million people from eviction and homelessness, is in limbo.

With millions facing eviction, Senate and House members went home to campaign for reelection.  And with millions of people facing eviction, food insecurity for children climbing to as high as 17%, and more than 200,000 dead, the White House changed the script and called Senators back to Washington – not to help a nation in crisis, but to confirm a Supreme Court justice.

What is lost in this socio-drama are the millions of people who are suffering. People who simply want a job, food, and a roof over their heads. As winter comes on, those already on the streets and those fighting to keep their homes don’t need political posturing or “winning at any cost.” They deserve mercy.

Is anyone paying attention?

“Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream”

         Amos 5 – 24

When someone asks me what I do, I say I work for an organization that saves lives. That organization is Water With Blessings.  Since 2008, Water With Blessings has provided water filters to mothers in countries around the world lacking clean drinking water.  At present, we serve 48 countries, from Haiti to Uganda.  After training on the use of a water filter, these “water women” sign a covenant agreeing to share their water filter with three other families.  The training is both practical and spiritual, and the women are Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christian.  They understand the importance of community and of sharing the essential element of clean drinking water.

While we slept last night, 3.600 children died because of a lack of clean drinking water.  According to Water With Blessings, contaminated water causes 90% of the deaths of children under the age of five.  In Uganda, many parents do not name their child until after the age of two because many children die before that time.  We have seen, however, that the provision of water filters has greatly reduced the instances of cholera in Haiti – in our first 14-village campaign in Haiti, there have been no cases reported at all. Water filters from Water With Blessings, and the “water women” who share them, have become a lifeline for more than 400,000 households worldwide.

Water With Blessings is the good news regarding clean drinking water.  Most citizens in the United States take clean drinking water for granted, unless they live in Flint, Michigan or in Navajo Nation in the southwest, where 30% of the population do not have running water.

We need a reawakening of our responsibility to conserve this essential resource through personal and corporate efforts.  The eco-justice committee has provided numerous ways of doing just that.  (see Water Witness.) We must be watchdogs of legislation on the state and national level that negatively impact our water.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 established the basic structure for regulating discharge of pollutants into the water of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface water. The Clean Water Act, under the EPA, has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry, and is a good example of bipartisan efforts to serve the country’s health and the earth’s health.  Democrats and Republicans overrode President Nixon’s veto, and he signed the bill.

According to Clean Water Action, sadly, we retreated on the protection of the Clean Water Act in 2019, when the federal government wiped out protection for the streams that feed the drinking water for more than one in three Americans, and that filter pollution and protect communities from flooding.

We can create more good news by our conservation efforts and our voices, even in the midst of multiple crises.  The need to protect our most essential resource remains in our hands.