Regrouping, Reflecting and Moving Onward!
In spite of the rain last Thursday, a group of us gathered together for the fourth anniversary recognition of the DC Guaranteed Income Coalition. With solemnity and resolve, we created space for and shared our fears around the new policy landscape that the federal election results created. But, we were buoyed by the words of encouragement to one another, by the stories that were told in short films and audio recordings from our story collection, and by the people in the room. The music of Violinist Heru Peacock was a balm to our souls. Approaching the tough road ahead requires us to gird up our loins and to do so in league with one another. The fight for economic justice for DC residents and workers has never been easy, yet we’ve persisted, and thereby we possess many skills for what lies ahead.
I give my deepest thanks to all who supported the event, particularly Worker-Leader Venorica (Vee) Tucker, of Let’s GO DMV and ROC-DC, who secured the beautiful space at the International Trade Center, from our generous partners, on a complimentary basis.
And, our year is not over yet. Tomorrow, on Tuesday, 11/19, Mother’s Outreach Network and the Caregivers D.R.E.A.M. will be partnering to offer a free low-income tax credit education and brief advice legal clinic event on Zoom. Geared toward parents whose children have disabilities, the workshop and clinic is part of our awareness-raising campaign and legal program. Register here: bit.ly/ParentsTaxClinicNov19.
Additionally, we invite you to our final event of this year, the first Community Conversation session. The informal talk will feature stories from the DC GI Coalition’s guaranteed income pilot partners’ participants.
Finally, thank you for committing to our work. Yes, at times our spirits will falter. Today I leave you with one of the most powerful incantations for resilience: Still I Rise, by poet Maya Angelou.
Still I Rise
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
In Solidarity,
Melody
Melody Webb
Founder and Executive Director
Mother’s Outreach Network / DC Guaranteed Income Coalition
Community Conversations will launch at Edgewood Community Farm hosted by ReDelicious DC Food Lab Coop. Join the teach-in as we break bread around the topic of guaranteed income. Listen and learn. The Conversations will start in December: We can’t wait to see you on December 8th at 3:30 pm! Bring a side dish, your family members, or just yourself, we will have enough for all.
Join our Parents’ & Workers’ virtual low-income tax workshop and clinic on Tuesday, November 19th, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM! We’ll provide a workshop and free brief 1-on-1 advice on the federal Child Tax Credit, the DC EITC, and more. Register here: bit.ly/ParentsTaxClinicNov19
Finally, to learn more about or to get involved with the DC Guaranteed Income Coalition:
