Expanding the fight for the public’s health will be increasingly necessary in the months ahead. Indeed public health – which we understand as fostering every person’s wellbeing, safety and creating conditions for all to thrive – is central to any social movement struggle, and particularly urgent under the new changed conditions. It is clear that the new US administration has no plan to govern or even loosely pretend to address our health. If the Biden administration quietly but systematically dismantled much of the pandemic and public health infrastructure, from medicare access to data collection and reporting, the Trump administration promises frontal attacks. Indeed, appointments like RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz intentionally mock science-based public health. This changed landscape will bring in many newcomers to the struggle for public health and, we hope, show people engaged in interconnected struggles, the necessity of safeguarding everyone’s wellbeing.
At People’s CDC, we will continue demanding and building a positive Public Health infrastructure that is trusted by and responsive to community needs and based in scientific realities. To those joining the fight, we say, “Welcome!” and offer the following bits of advice for engagement:
- We Keep Us Safe: Require masking at all your in-person events, in combination with as many Layers of Protection as possible. Wear a mask in your music videos, in your organizing events and meetings, during public speaking, in group photographs, and in class at university. Masks protect us from catching and transmitting harmful viruses and bacteria, and against wildfire smoke. Masks also send a message that, in the face of a political economy that prioritizes profit over people, we recognize all our health is interconnected. As mask ban bills gain traction in many states, the visual of the masked face in public space becomes an important symbol of anti-fascism, collective liberation, and bodily autonomy. Normalizing masking combats the narrative of “mask as threat” that these bans depend on. For more information about combating mask bans see https://peoplescdc.org/no-mask-bans/.
- Follow the Science. Work to counter the known anti-science positions of the Trump-Vance administration. Engage with your communities to share trusted science-based information and knowledge about vaccine safety and efficacy. Avoid sharing medical and public health misinformation. Be wary of those trying to sell products to make you feel safer. Instead, connect with others to build concrete campaigns to win policies we’ll need to protect each other as public health infrastructure and its regulation fall under continued attack: paid sick leave, universal healthcare, affordable housing, harm reduction, etc.
- Connect the Dots between Climate Crisis and Public Health. Climate crisis is increasingly impacting our mental, spiritual, and physical health. From the wildfires in California to the hurricanes and floods in the South and East, our depleted public health system is woefully unprepared to address the acute and lasting effects of these traumas. Exponentially rising temperatures also exacerbate a huge array of existing human illnesses and create fertile conditions for the emergence of new viral pandemics. Every year deaths from heat increase without mitigation of cause. Climate justice and a public, not private, healthcare infrastructure is necessary now. Link up with people working to combat climate change.
- Commit to Community Care. Public Health, and indeed, our survival, requires engaging in our local communities. Find, grow, and nurture your community. Join or develop a Tenants Association. Join the growing number of people organizing unions at their workplaces. Then, fight for contracts that articulate clean indoor air standards, meaningful quarantine and isolation policies, and robust parental leave. Have a local mutual aid group? Library? Community Garden? Check them out! The more organized we are in our everyday lives, the more power we have and the better able we are to support each other.
- Redistribute Resources. Have money? Redistribute it to small projects in your local area that have visible effects towards meeting community needs. Also give money to those supporting movements for liberation. Palestine is everywhere.
- Act Beyond Borders. Work to counter the racist and xenophobic messages coming from the Trump-Vance administration. Be wary of efforts to individualize “Us” and to marginalize “Them.” Do not talk to ICE. Oppose mass deportation and support local migrant resource centers. Create safety-plans with your neighbors for how to support immigrant and unhoused individuals in your neighborhood.
It is time to go on the offensive. It is not time to protect the status quo. The US public health system has already failed us. We need to move forward to organize for and engage in projects that meet the needs of the health of our communities. Resist both the empty promises offered by a cheap “Hope” that you were sold by a political party and the hopelessness peddled by those that benefit from your doing nothing. Instead, find the joy in doing the work towards our collective liberation. There are so many wonderful people to connect with! Can’t wait to see you (r masked face!) in the (proverbial) streets!
Head over to PeoplesCDC.org for toolkits on making your organizing and resistance covid-safer and more inclusive. Reach out to us if you need a public health expert to speak to your organizations about layers of protections, or the connections between climate crisis and community health. And, we’d love to know what public health issues you care about, what resources you have to share, and what you’re working on in order to build the public health infrastructure we need to live healthy, joyful lives. Contact us at info@peoplescdc.org to share your ideas, your work, and your questions.