Call to Action on Public Safety — ‘We’re fighting for our lives.’

This holiday weekend brings with it both joy and fear for too many across our nation. That’s because, unfortunately, we have every reason to fear that this weekend will bring violence in our communities. As we spend this July 4th getting back together with family and friends after enduring a pandemic, we continue to face a daily pandemic of losing our children, brothers and sisters to gun violence.

As the leader of the region’s largest healthcare union made up of Black and Brown essential workers, and a resident of Chicago’s South Side, I’ve witnessed how working people put their lives on the line these last 18 months to save us. I’ve seen how too many more — especially young, Black men — have been locked out of employment opportunities and denied the ability to thrive. I’ve also witnessed how my neighbors live in fear, worried about getting home safely from work or letting their children play outside.

That’s why this July 4, I am issuing a public call to action to our elected leaders, demanding they fight for our lives.

I’m calling on our leaders to find real solutions for police accountability, direct substantial resources to the communities that need it most, and center the voices of Black and Brown workers who are yearning for a brighter future.

I’m also calling on our members and their neighbors to unite this weekend because together, as workers and as a community, we have the power to care for one another. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

But we also know it takes work, leadership, and resources to turn words into action and build the future we all want where each of us is safe and economically secure. That’s why we are demanding employment opportunities for our youth, public safety for our children and accountability from our public servants.

This weekend, we are praying and uplifting those who lost their loved ones to COVID as well as to violence on the streets of Chicago, St. Louis or Gary. One pandemic is, God willing, coming to an end, but the pandemic of violence continues and requires investment and attention at the same levels COVID-19 has received from our state and local governments.

Violence is a public health crisis that breaks our hearts and tests our spirit, but we aren’t giving up. Because this is our fight. We’re fighting for our lives.