How to obtain food while reducing risk of COVID-19; CD-3 candidate forum tonight; PRC District 3 candidate forum Tues; how to share your relief check; a look back at last week’s posts.
#Share Your Check: Support Those in Critical Need
#ShareYourCheck is an initiative being surfaced in various forms around the nation. Relief checks are beginning to hit bank accounts, and while for some they will be a lifeline, albeit an entirely inadequate one, or a cushion to protect you from uncertainty, for many the check will be an unexpected boon. To those individuals, Retake suggests that you make a family decision about how you want to use those funds. Some suggestions:
- #ShareYourCheck. Earth Care and YUCCA are launching a #ShareYourCheck campaign locally with proceeds from donations going into direct support for individuals with critical needs
- Donate to a Non-Profit. You might check out our Tithe Today page which lists eight very worthwhile organizations, most all of whom serve populations that are being impacted by the virus and/or are suffering financially due to the shutdown.
- Support Local Restaurants & Restaurant Workers. You may want find a way to support local restaurants and/or their workers. If your favorite restaurant offers gift certificates, you can buy a few and use them when the restaurant reopens. If you want to help restaurant workers, there is a national relief effort, The Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. If anyone knows of a local fund for restaurant workers, please let us know by writing to RetakeResponse@gmail.com.
CD-3 Democrat Congressional Forum, 7:30 Tonight
Hear directly from Democratic candidates for Congress today, April 13, in a virtual roundtable hosted by Taos County Democrats! Taos County Democrats Chair Darien Fernandez will moderate a conversation with John Blair, Teresa Leger de Fernandez, Laura Montoya, Joseph Sanchez, Marco Serna, Valerie Plame, and Kyle Tisdel. Email taosvotesblue@gmail.com for registration information. You must register to participate!
Zoominar with PRC District 3 Candidates
Tues., April 14, 6:30 – 8pm, Forum with both Democratic District 3 Candidates for Public Regulation Commission (PRC). The PRC plays a crucial role in trying to regulate our use of energy in NM and currently is caught in a battle with the Governor and the legislature over the scope of their authority, whether commissioners should be elected or appointed, and now, even where they will be physically located. Current Dist. 3 commissioner Valerie Espinoza is leaving the due to term limits. Two excellent candidates are running for her seat: Former Espanola Mayor and Santa Fe City Council member, Joe Maestas; and Brian Harris, who for thirteen years has either worked at the PRC or been a ratepayer expert advocate at their hearings. To receive a password to enter the meeting, register at this link.
Retake Radio with Navajo Activists
Retake recently interviewed indigenous activists Janene Yazzie and Kim Smith, two of the leaders of the Navajo-Hopi Nations COVID-19 Relief Effort. Talk about insightful perspectives, the discussion ranged widely from the virus to historic and systemic injustices that impact indigenous peoples and communities. You can listen to this full hour interview and any of our previous shows via podcast by clicking here.
How To Shop and Unpack Groceries Safely
For those struggling with the loss of a job or with significant pre-existing health problems, this pandemic creates massive challenges, challenges that would be far more manageable if our federal government were able to function coherently and abide by science, data, and the advice of experts. But you don’t have to be suddenly unemployed or suffering from a compromised immune system to be frightened of this virus and to want to do everything possible to stop its spread and avoid catching it yourself.
One of the most disconcerting things about the COVID-19 pandemic is the lack of certainty about how to behave to protect yourself and others while still maintaining some modicum of a sustainable life. While we can give up most of what causes us to venture from home, we must eat, and so we must either shop or have groceries delivered. I’ve read all kinds of “how to stay safe” articles offering contradictory advice. What’s more, what was true last month is no longer true, and so at times, we all feel somewhat helpless and uncertain.
NPR spoke with several infectious disease specialists to obtain a consensus view of how to protect yourself while shopping and then unpacking groceries: “No You Don’t Have to Disinfect Your Groceries. But Here’s How to Shop Safely.” The article suggests there is very little to gain from disinfecting packaging, and there are easier, more sustainable strategies to protect yourself. Check it out.
A Look Back At Three Important Posts
Each of last week’s three posts is worthy of review and there is a certain logic to moving through them in the order they were published, which is the sequence below. The first, “A Personal Plea,” focused on how the virus could cause us to reflect more about how deeply inter-connected we are and how the virus has exposed the limitations of the popular US mythology of the primacy of the individual. This post was shared and read by many, many folks outside Retake subscribers.
The second post, “A Tribute to Bernie,” examined his extraordinary contribution to moving the needle in public debate and where the movement must go next to move beyond just winning the battle of ideas and winning the battle for the power to implement those ideas.
Finally, at the bottom of today’s post, is a summary and link to “Could COVID-19 Trigger a Transformation? Revolution?” I think this may have been overlooked by many and yet, it may be the most important of the three posts as it provides a deeper examination of how, at this unique moment in time, there may be an opportunity to advance transformational policies. Even Republicans are discussing a need to consider forgiving student loans, and the entire nation is experiencing just how vulnerable we all are. If you missed this one, I strongly recommend checking it out.
A Personal Plea: We Are In This Together
Tuesday, April 7. This post is a short personal plea. If this virus has taught us anything, it is that we are all connected, we each impact one another, and in these times, we need each other. Suddenly all those people who previously played important but under-appreciated roles in our lives are providers of “essential services.” Our government is failing us in ways that are clear now, but will be even more devastating over the coming weeks. We need the best of each of us rise to the occasion.
Click here to read the full post.
Good News on Coronavirus & a Tribute to Bernie
Thursday, April 9. Social distancing is working as projected deaths decline. The post outlines how in some states, like NM, the curve has been reduced. While we are certainly far from over the hump, it was the first really heartening news in some time. The post is really quite inspirational. In Bernie’s talk he describes how the progressive movement over the last five years has essentially won the battle of ideas, but fallen short of winning the battle for power. He attributes this to how many people embrace those ideas or policies but do not believe that it is possible to achieve the power necessary. We include video from Bernie’s 2016 Santa Fe rally. A sweet memory.
Click here to read the full post.
Could COVID-19 Trigger a Transformation? Revolution?
Saturday, April 11. Our federal government is deeply flawed, leaving the poor to bear the brunt of the virus and allowing the rich to escape largely unscathed. But from this chaos the real heroes emerge: our states, our healthcare workers, our store clerks: us. This post knits together how America’s historic systemic flaws have been exposed. Many more people are now aware of how the system has contributed to their challenging life circumstances. It also connects our current political situation with times during the French Revolution; the civil war; before, during and after the Great Depression; and during Johnson’s Great Society. The post includes excerpts and links to articles from the NY Times, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic, as well as video from DemocracyNow! The video features Bernie’s message announcing his withdrawal from the race while continuing to advance the movement, followed by an amazing talk from Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky.
Click here to read this important post.
In Solidarity,
Paul and Roxanne
Categories: Uncategorized
We have been doing well with online ordering, delivery and curbside pickup. If you don’t go out anywhere and expose yourself in the first place, you can relax at home with a lot less anxiety. Glad we are in a position to do this. I don’t know how people who are forced to work in crowded places can handle it psychologically.
Thanks for making some sense of the conflicting advice about packages and their handling as well as what we really can do to help stop the spread of CoVID19. I also wanted to mention that, in case you don’t know, Rowley’s Farm Alehouse, offers order and pick-up, and also cooks and brings meals for the homeless at Pete’s Place. You can contribute to their fund for that – and they have great local beer!
I know of a few families who could absolutely use a stimulus check if there are those who want to donate. For instance, one family is undocumented and they live in a small trailer house with 3 kids. One of their children is DACA and the other 2 are US citizens. The mom was cleaning houses and the father construction. They don’t qualify for unemployment or the stimulus check. Another situation is 3 undocumented families from Equador living together in an apartment on the Southside. Their living room is sectioned off with a sheet for one family to live in and the other 2 families live in bedrooms. They worked at SF Ski Basin and other places around town. Same situation, they don’t qualify for anything. If anyone is looking to donate their check I can put you in touch directly to them (or through a translator to them). Sometimes donators may want to know directly where the money is going and the recipients want to thank them directly. I have a suspicion that we all collectively have enough, we just need to connect people.