Attend AnytownKC 2020!
Due to the extreme burdens that the COVID-19 virus has placed on many of the communities and families that we work with, AnytownKC will be postponed for 2020. It is our hope that we will be able to offer a shortened version of our camp to delegates in the later part of the summer or the fall. Details surrounding these efforts will be released as soon as they are available and group gatherings are no longer prohibited.
AnytownKC has committed itself to empowering the youth of Kansas City and surrounding areas to make social change in their schools and communities by providing social justice education that addresses the many forms of “isms” that disrupt our society. It is imperative to also examine how we, as a society, respond in times of crisis. We are all seeing how issues of classism and racism are being exacerbated by this health care pandemic. Black folks are contracting COVID-19 and dying at much higher rates than other communities. The areas across the country where social distancing is seen as not working are also communities where families are more likely to live in food deserts and have to travel greater distances to find food. Low wage workers, who are more likely to be Black and Brown, are now considered essential but are not being provided with the pay or safety measures that would reflect that.
As is often seen in U.S. culture, when an issue arises that is negatively affecting Black families, Black people are blamed and scapegoated. However, we know that Black families are more likely to receive subpar healthcare and have less access to healthcare, are more likely to live in food deserts where fresh fruits and vegetables are not available regularly and are more likely to fill low wage jobs, now deemed essential, that don’t offer opportunities to work from home. We have also seen how the donning of homemade masks can pose a serious risk to Black and Brown people as they interact in normal ways but are deemed a threat by society. All of these factors, compounded with the U.S. government's inability to make testing widely available and provide clear messaging on how this virus is spread, has brought these race and class disparities to the forefront.
The AnytownKC staff encourages all folks who are able to continue the work of challenging and disrupting these “isms”. Steps like advocating for pay raises for essential workers, encouraging legislatures to create equity-based legislation that will halt evictions and freeze rents and provide healthcare for all regardless of employment status, and releasing folks from jails and prisons who are vulnerable or being held for reasons of inability to pay are imperative to creating justice. The disparities in our healthcare system have been amplified by this crisis. In these trying times, we must continue to ask ourselves how we can make society better for all of us. And we must refuse to return to “normal”.
We hope that you all are safe and able to find moments of peace in this traumatic global experience. Please email anytownkc@gmail.com with any questions.
https://nobodyisdisposable.org/
https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/if-covid-19-doesnt-discriminate-then-why-are-black-people-dying-at-higher-rates/
AnytownKC has committed itself to empowering the youth of Kansas City and surrounding areas to make social change in their schools and communities by providing social justice education that addresses the many forms of “isms” that disrupt our society. It is imperative to also examine how we, as a society, respond in times of crisis. We are all seeing how issues of classism and racism are being exacerbated by this health care pandemic. Black folks are contracting COVID-19 and dying at much higher rates than other communities. The areas across the country where social distancing is seen as not working are also communities where families are more likely to live in food deserts and have to travel greater distances to find food. Low wage workers, who are more likely to be Black and Brown, are now considered essential but are not being provided with the pay or safety measures that would reflect that.
As is often seen in U.S. culture, when an issue arises that is negatively affecting Black families, Black people are blamed and scapegoated. However, we know that Black families are more likely to receive subpar healthcare and have less access to healthcare, are more likely to live in food deserts where fresh fruits and vegetables are not available regularly and are more likely to fill low wage jobs, now deemed essential, that don’t offer opportunities to work from home. We have also seen how the donning of homemade masks can pose a serious risk to Black and Brown people as they interact in normal ways but are deemed a threat by society. All of these factors, compounded with the U.S. government's inability to make testing widely available and provide clear messaging on how this virus is spread, has brought these race and class disparities to the forefront.
The AnytownKC staff encourages all folks who are able to continue the work of challenging and disrupting these “isms”. Steps like advocating for pay raises for essential workers, encouraging legislatures to create equity-based legislation that will halt evictions and freeze rents and provide healthcare for all regardless of employment status, and releasing folks from jails and prisons who are vulnerable or being held for reasons of inability to pay are imperative to creating justice. The disparities in our healthcare system have been amplified by this crisis. In these trying times, we must continue to ask ourselves how we can make society better for all of us. And we must refuse to return to “normal”.
We hope that you all are safe and able to find moments of peace in this traumatic global experience. Please email anytownkc@gmail.com with any questions.
https://nobodyisdisposable.org/
https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/if-covid-19-doesnt-discriminate-then-why-are-black-people-dying-at-higher-rates/
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