Monday, September 7, 2020
Yesterday on NPR there was an interview with Dr. Jose Figueroa about the reasons that Covid-19 is devastating Black and Latino communities. He gave several reasons including work in the foodservice industry for Latinos. He also discussed the fact that environmental pollution affects Black communities disproportionately. However, he did not include the fact that many nursing home and health agency staff are Black and more likely to be exposed to Covid-19. Where you work matters.
On this Labor Day we need to honor those who have given their lives working in unsafe conditions to save others. So many paraprofessional staff did not have access to PPE and contracted Covid as a result. We need to honor those doctors and nurses, part of our national workforce who also became ill and died.
And when we eat the food on our table, we need to remember that most workers in the food industries are not unionized and have few protections given them. Just as we made working conditions safe for some in a previous time, we need to make them safe for all in this time, today.
Prayer for the Day
Fountain of life, during a time of change and ferment;
We want to drink you in like cool water on a summer’s day,
To breathe you in as our lungs fill with the rich sea air,
To hold you in as you hold us.
Help us, Breath of life, to discern your vibrant presence among us,
As we seek communion with each other, through your grace.
Lifting our spirits through the One we follow,
Even Christ Jseus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Labor Day is dedicated to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.
Samuel Gompers, American union organizer (1850–1924)
We had violence directed at us by the growers themselves, trying to run us down with cars, pointing rifles at us, spraying people when they were on the picket line with sulfur.
Dorothy Huerta, Farmworker Union organizer
Blessed is everyone who reveres God, who walks in God’s ways.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy and it shall go well with you.
Psalm 128:1–2