On Feb. 1, ralliers gathered around noon in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The Republican Party was gathering at the Greenbrier, a lavish resort, to plan its agenda for the year, one focused on cutting vital safety-net benefits and selling off our infrastructure to the highest bidder.
Just outside the doors of the retreat is a population that would be devastated by the cuts those inside envision, a population in need of better social services and infrastructure. That population, many of whom are White, working-class Trump voters, is increasingly coming together with a diverse set of communities across the country to battle the Trump administration ever more effectively.
But they can’t do it without a fight. Some of us from several states showed up to participate in the gathering and send a message: “Hands off! Hands off my healthcare! Hands off public infrastructure! Hands off the safety-net services I need to thrive!”
We met at the Center for Community Change at U and 16th streets here in Washington, D.C., and headed to Charleston, West Virginia, by bus. Fellow Street Sense Media Vendor Angie Whitehurst was a participant, which caused excitement for me!
After arriving in Charleston, we had a meeting the night of Jan. 31 as we ate dinner and were welcomed. West Virginia is a state of contrast: gorgeous trees, waterfalls, rafting and coal pollution that blows up to the top of the sky. Fracking in the northern part of the state has also contributed a fair amount to local pollution.
The next day, we went to see the president and let him hear a piece of our minds. He was not going to get away with laying out feel-good generalities that have racist overtones.
Several of us spoke on disability rights and the Disability Integration Act. Resources are needed so that disabled people can live in our own homes. We need to protect our citizens’ right to live as equals, even though some of us have limitations. We need attendants and personal assistants to work with us in our homes. We need home and community services that allow us to live in our homes, an option that is much cheaper than institutional care. After all, we are all able-bodied only temporarily, destined to become infirm as we age.
Please call your senator and representative and ask them to sponsor the Disability Integration Act, which is stuck in the Judiciary Committee.
It was an honor to stand for our rights and our safety net with all at the Resistance Rally outside of The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
