This Labor Day, as I take the helm of the Partnership for Working Families, I’m reflecting on the value and dignity of our labor, and also the value and dignity of our lives.
My heart has been heavy since the events of Ferguson. A mother senselessly lost her child, and Michael Brown’s killing has exposed the brutal fact that our lives are not equally valued.
From 2006 to 2012 in the United States, a white police officer killed a black person at least twice a week. That black people in our communities must proclaim that #blacklivesmatter reminds us that there are fundamental issues of inequality based on race that we must overcome before fully achieving the worker rights that we celebrate on Labor Day.
Nearly two million people have been deported by the current administration, separating countless families. That immigrant communities must declare #Not1More deportation is another reminder of the unequal value placed on different lives and the underlying issues that prevent many from fully participating in our economy. Read more...