Apr 19, 2021 5 min read

monday good news, coming in hot 🔥

we've got overturning republican vetos, a fuck you to police, and coins for community healthcare workers. if that's not enough, your favorite libra moons have a new episode of upsetting the balance (linked below).

this man's veto got overturned last week 🥰

larry hogan, republican governor of maryland

not only did maryland dems repeal the police bill of rights, they punked republican governor larry hogan in the process. to be clear, this is reform not abolition and we need full abolition, but a win is a win.

"The passage of the bills does away with the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights, which provided police protections, including the removal of complaints after a certain amount of time had passed and a five-day waiting period for officers who were accused of misconduct to speak to internal investigators. The protections will now be replaced with a new procedure for handing down punishments for officers accused of wrongdoing. That process will be conducted jointly between police departments and civilians. The bills also implement a new statewide use-of-force policy, which, among other things, criminalizes the excessive use of force, mandates body camera use and restricts the use of no-knock warrants. Two other bills that passed after Hogan did not veto them allow the Baltimore Police Department to be controlled by civilians and permit an independent entity to investigate police-involved fatalities."

despite U.S. greed & violence, socialist countries create & secure vaccines! 💉

because western corporations have patented vaccines (get me out of this timeline), there have been huge global disparities in vaccine access. cuba, despite decades of financial violence from the U.S., has stepped up to create several vaccines & share them with other nations in the global south, including venezuela (who are also being bullied by the united states). the following excerpt includes quotes from president Maduro in venezuela.

"We’ve signed an agreement to produce in our laboratories… two million vaccines a month of the Abdala vaccine… for August, September, approximately,” Maduro said on Sunday in a television address, referring to one the four vaccines that are being developed by Cuba. The South American country will also take part in Phase 3 trials for the Abdala vaccine produced by its socialist ally...Meanwhile, Maduro said the country has also managed to secure funds to acquire 11.3 million doses through the World Health Organization’s COVAX mechanism – a global platform aiming to deliver 2 billion shots to poorer countries by the end of the year.The news came after the government claimed for months that sanctions imposed by the US prevented Venezuela from paying the $120m needed to obtain COVID-19 vaccines, but on Saturday it made the surprising announcement that $64m had been transferred to the Switzerland-based GAVI Vaccine Alliance...'We have already secured the rest to make 100 percent of the (payment) to the COVAX system,' Maduro said in a televised speech. He said the government had been able to access funds that had been “kidnapped” by the US."

community health workers get paid to help their communities here in new orleans. 🏘

the new orleans resilience corps has secured some serious funding to make sure we can stay above water and hopefully thrive. the project is current focused on supporting vaccination efforts.

"These community health workers are now being paid a livable wage with access to on-the-job training, which covers community organizing and healthcare. The paid training even teaches skills like conflict resolution and stress management, says LaTanja Silvester, the Louisiana director for Resilience Force who’s been managing the program. By the end of the training, the Corps members should have the skills and certifications to secure jobs in hospitals or clinics, like medical assistants or patient care technicians. All the while, the city is providing them with supportive services, such as childcare, housing, and laptops for those who need them, says Sunae Villavaso, director of the city’s Office of Workforce Development...These workers are the ones on the ground, knocking on doors, conducting wellness checks, delivering groceries, and convincing people to get tested and vaccinated. In some parts of the city, according to Resilience Force, COVID-19 testing rates have increased by 60 percent since the program launched in October. The workers are now pivoting to vaccine persuasion; they’re treating the vaccine like a “political candidate,” per Soni. And locals listen. These workers aren’t strangers or outsiders; they’re neighbors and friendly faces. They’re family. Already, the city is leading the nation in its number of vaccinations."

solidarity in overthinking ✊🤕

recorded in the weeks after increasingly visible violence against asians in america, the newest episode of “Upsetting the Balance” has our hosts talking about the impact of current violence on them as people and as asian and black women. as always, i am so grateful for their perspectives.

click to listen to the newest episode

as always, i hope this is useful

if it was and you've got five bucks a month to spare, click here.

with hope,

katie wills evans