This is a rant.
Those of you who call yourselves liberals, progressives, leftists, Democrats, humanitarians, environmental and justice warriors, activists, feminists...whatever label or box you identify with—where’s the outrage about Puerto Rico and the US VI? There is a Unity March for Puerto Rico planned — how many of the groups you are part of are backing it? Have spread the word?
Many of you here at Daily Kos spent two or three days online squabbling in Hillary/Bernie/ DNC/Brazile fights while folks in Puerto Rico are drinking and bathing in sewage tainted waste water. I counted about 35 stories here, give or take a few, under #DNC and the same type of knee-jerking at other blogs with a similar demographic to this one.
Take a look at #PuertoRico here — over the same time span, deduct the stories by staff writers.
Y’all loathe Trump — yet let him get away with presiding over the deaths of our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico.
Maybe we can just ask football players — led by Colin Kaepernick to #TakeaKnee for Puerto Rico, since at least they demand media attention. Baseball and basketball players have been doing an amazing job of fund-raising. So have pop-stars and celebrity chefs.
I expected a lot more from the left of center and liberals.
Puerto Ricans on the Island can’t vote. They need the rest of us to be their voice to pick up the flag and carry it for them.
You can stroll into any store and buy water. Your lights are on. Your kid’s schools are open. You — even many of our nations poorest — got street lights in the neighborhood. You ain’t washing your drawers in a stream. Traveling to get water from makeshift water stations.
This was published in October. It is now November and this is still the situation in many parts of the island.
.
You ain’t worried about a plague of scabies or a pandemic of pink eye. Alicia Schartz, a nurse reports:
Schwartz, who grew up in Puerto Rico but moved to New York when she was 21, said she’s seen a lot of cases of conjunctivitis, better known as pink eye, and scabies, a contagious skin infestation. Scabies is already difficult to treat; it requires thoroughly cleaning all sheets and clothing. But here, where people don’t have much access to clean water, Schwartz said it will be particularly tough to stop its spread.
Every damn Democrat in the House and Senate needs to just stop for an hour — and jointly point a finger (preferably the middle one) at Donald Trump who was elected to be the President of the entire United States AND the Territories
This sparsely attended gathering on the Capitol steps is not enough:
I’m not anti prayer — however you can’t drink prayer or wash clothes in it.
The hypocrite Talibangelicals on the Right clasp their hands in prayer for the “unborn” — well there are a lotta pregnant moms in PR who have to worry more now about Zika.
I want to hear from all the pink hat wearing women — who seem to have forgotten their sisters stuck in PR.
Rainbow flag wavers — plenty LBGT folks in PR.
Immigration activists — PR doesn’t just have U.S. citizens on the island — there are migrants (and ICE) there too .
AARP — lotta seniors dying in PR with no power for dialysis or oxygen.
If you are already doing something — Bless you.
If you are not —shame on you.
Write a letter to the editor of you local paper. Call your TV station and ask why PR and USVI are not headline news.
Puerto Ricans are suffering.
Some people here joined #SOSPuertoRico and committed to write and republish pieces. They did and still do. Thank you.
I look at these tweets and worry:
Flint has 97,386 residents. It is not on an island.
September 7th Irma hit Puerto Rico and the USVI. Some people have had no power since then.
Yes, some programs like Democracy Now! are airing reports — like this one
Not enough. And unless we all raise our voices to address the “austerity board” that now controls PR the destruction of the island will continue.
We all have a lot on our plates. Elections coming up on Tuesday, Trump is fighting to gut the ACA, Congress and tax cuts, DACA, CHIP not refunded, war, Russia, gerrymandering and voter suppression, assaults on women...
Guess what — we will always have piles of stuff on our political plates.
Make some space to add rice and beans and mofongo, with a side of clean water to your meal.
Call and write your elected officials. Push Schumer and Pelosi to stage a massive Senate and House protest. Write Letter’s to The Editor. Call your news outlets. Write stories.
Help make tweets and facebook posts about Puerto Rico go viral. Get your friends involved.
As a long time AIDS activist I know that Silence=Death.
I also know that Voices=Life
Puerto Ricans need your voices.
Please post your suggestions about what you plan to do and how you can help to comments.
Keep the focus on Puerto Rico and the USVI.
Thank you.
Rant over.