GRASSROOTS ALEXANDRIA

by Jonathan Krall

On March 12, 2024, after nearly two years of steady effort by a coalition of Alexandrians, the Alexandria City Council passed a resolution in support of Medicare For All, adding to the national map of Medicare For All support. The coalition consisted of Grassroots Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution Northern Virginia, and Tenants and Workers United. This is how we did it.

In many instances, a successful coalition shows that their persistence is greater than the decision-makers’ patience. The price of persistence is time, effort, and (whether we like it or not) higher standards of conduct.

Speaking to City Council

People who speak to City Council for the first time are given a lot of latitude. Some repeat popular myths, such as the myth that most politicians are corrupt (they are not). Others claim that every vote is rigged in advance (also not true). Some cite “facts” that don’t add up. Some are insulting. They are given a pass because public speaking is not easy, because many speakers are inexperienced, and because most political issues are more complex than they seem on the surface. As activists who show up month after month, we ourselves are expected to “learn the ropes.” We no longer get a pass.

Continue reading “How We Succeed, part 3: the price of persistence”

by Jonathan Krall

On March 12, 2024, after nearly two years of steady effort by a coalition of Alexandrians, the Alexandria City Council passed a resolution in support of Medicare For All, adding to the national map of Medicare For All support. The coalition consisted of Grassroots Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution Northern Virginia, and Tenants and Workers United. This is how we did it.

This is part 2 of a 4-part story. Part 1.

During the long months of intermittent Public Health Advisory Commission debate over aspects of public health deserving of their advice (Medicare For All was not deserving), we turned to the public. In July 2022, we posted action-alert messages, asking our supporters to write to the commissions.

As our institutional support campaign seemed to fall on deaf ears, we built up our public support campaign. In October 2022, we drafted a petition and started gathering signatures. While gathering petition signatures for Medicare For All, we received kind words of support from the public. We also received more than our share of skepticism.

Skepticism

Personally, I know I am not the only one who has little faith that Congress will soon deliver the healthcare, public safety, immigration reform, or life-improving climate action that a majority of Americans are asking for. I am not the only one who feels like they’re screaming for billionaire taxation, social security that gets stronger instead of weaker, and a housing safety-net that isn’t a prison. However, even as my faith in American democracy wanes, I follow tradition and fight on.

Continue reading “How We Succeed, part 2: public support”

by Jonathan Krall

On March 12, 2024, after nearly two years of steady effort by a coalition of Alexandrians, the Alexandria City Council passed a resolution in support of Medicare For All, adding to the national map of Medicare For All support. The coalition consisted of Grassroots Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution Northern Virginia, and Tenants and Workers United. This is how we did it.

This is part 1 of a 4-part story.

What is power?

Power is the ability to get a decision-maker to do the right thing when they would prefer to do otherwise. Even when we ask a decision-maker to support a cause that they already favor, they can be hesitant to take action. They might be busy with the annual cycle of meetings. They might not have confidence in public support for this particular “right thing.” When we asked our city council for a Medicare For All resolution, we were adding to their workload.

Coalition power is temporary. Our coalition came together around a specific goal. We built tools, such as flyers and petitions. We demonstrated our power by showing up in public and in the media. Fortunately, power is attractive. When our coalition becomes attractive enough, decision-makers join us. When enough decision-makers join us, we win.

Continue reading “How We Succeed, part 1: visiting commissions and gathering receipts”

by Shira E. and Beth S.

^{Caption: Candidates Aguirre, Bagley, Chapman, and Gaskins respond to a question about holding the school board accountable (photo by Jonathan Krall)}

On May 2, 2024, Grassroots Alexandria partnered with Tenants and Workers United and the Northern Virginia Branch of the Democratic Socialists of America to host a City Council and Mayoral candidate forum. The event took place outdoors at the Tenants and Workers parking lot and was simultaneously translated into Spanish. One out of three Mayoral candidates attended (Alyia Gaskins), as well as ten out of twelve candidates running for City Council: Canek Aguirre (D), Sarah Bagley (D), John Taylor Chapman (D), Abdel Elnoubi (D), Jacinta Greene (D), Kevin Harris (D), Jonathan Huskey (D), James Lewis (D), Kirk McPike (D), and Jesse O’Connell (D). Greene and Elnoubi, current ACPS School Board members, had to leave the forum early to attend a school board meeting.

Continue reading “Mayoral and City Council Candidate Forum”

As many of you may be aware, a growing coalition of individuals and groups, acting under the banner Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Specifically, they are calling for the Alexandria City Council to join cities across the USA by passing a ceasefire resolution. On February 5, 2024, Grassroots Alexandria voted to join this coalition.

Please Act: there is no time to spare

1. Please support the call for a ceasefire by requesting a yard sign: https://bit.ly/m/ceasefirenow
2. Please write to city council with a simple message: Please support human rights by calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
3. Please sign a petition calling for an Alexandria ceasefire resolution: https://www.change.org/p/alexandria-calls-for-a-permanent-ceasefire-now
4. Individual activists can join this growing coalition: http://bit.ly/alx4pal
5. Organizations can join this growing coalition: https://forms.gle/zCceX1weKs

Continue reading “Please support Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights”

by Cedar Dvorin

As a Medicare counselor, the most frequent question is “Why is it so complicated?” In my 20 years with the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, I’ve helped Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers with the many decisions and choices they are called on to make. A common problem is the continued high expense for those who need care for vision (other than eye diseases), hearing, and dental. My work shows that Medicare has become overly complicated for current enrollees. It needs a reset. If given a chance, currently proposed Medicare For All legislation would do exactly that.

Continue reading “Current Medicare Enrollees Should Support Medicare For All: Here’s Why”

by Jonathan Krall

In January 2023, Alexandria city announced a BIPOC Small Business Grant Program to address negative pandemic-era impacts on local businesses, impacts that were “particularly felt by Black, Indigenous and people of color (“BIPOC”) owned businesses due to structural barriers and discriminatory financial lending practices.” Sadly, an “equal protection of the laws” lawsuit alleged discrimination against White people, causing Alexandria “to scrap the grant program.” Reacting to this lawsuit, Meronne Teklu of the Economic Opportunities Commission told me that “City Council needs to push back without compromise; these people want us to believe that reparations of any kind are illegal.” Ms Teklu, and City Council, recognize that it is unjust to treat people “equally” in a society that routinely produces “tailwinds for White people and headwinds for Black people.” Shouldn’t we be allowed to measure and address the impacts of systemic injustice? In some areas of law, the answer is yes. We need to expand that “yes.” The key is to focus on, and push back against, the very real impacts of racial disparities.

As activists, it is up to us to choose where and how to spend our energy and how we frame our messages. In a nation where White people are implicitly raised to be ignorant of racism, how do we identify and oppose racism? How do we address systemic racism, where no specific person can be identified as the cause of the harm? In many instances, as in pandemic impacts on Black-owned businesses, we have numerical measures. As reported by ALXnow, in the USA, “Black-owned businesses were disproportionately hit by the pandemic, showing a 28% earnings decrease in 2020 compared to a 15% drop for White-owned businesses and a 17% overall decline.” The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia found that 79% of White-owned firms received all of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding they sought, compared to 43% of Black-owned firms. In our quest to push back against systemic racism, instances where we do have clear evidence of racially-disparate impacts seem like a good place to start.

Continue reading “Is Antiracism Still Allowed?”

by Jennifer O. and Jonathan Krall

The ever-expanding privatization of Medicare should be of concern to Alexandrians who have Medicare. Alexandrians over age 50 cited aging-related health concerns as one of the community’s top health issues. More than a third of residents worry about paying rent or mortgage. Low-cost healthcare is even more important for low-income seniors and people living with disabilities. The more we learned about the privatization of Medicare, the more alarmed we became. Fortunately, there is hope. Growing nationwide support for universal healthcare suggests to us that Medicare should be expanded not exploited.

Requested action: Alexandrians can join the action by signing our petition: please tell City Council to pass a Medicare for All Resolution for Alexandria.

Continue reading “The Alarming Privatization of Medicare Should Alarm You Too”

by Jonathan Krall

In our work, we often focus on injustice and inequity. We ask for policy changes, such as restorative practices, that reduce injustice. In these discussions we have not always centered the issues of dignity and respect. Thanks to a podcasted interview with Judge Victoria Pratt, author of The Power of Dignity, we now have better vocabulary with which to articulate the importance of dignity and respect. According to Judge Pratt, procedural justice is the recognition that dignity is a human right and that any system that does not treat people with dignity and respect is unjust. Here in Alexandria, we can apply this lesson by asking that our police officers, in non-emergency situations, always practice respect.

Continue reading “What is Procedural Justice?”