Democratic friends have called, inquiring about how they can help a food bank — and they don’t have as much money as Trump and his friends have gotten by hook and crook.
The people in need are just hardworking, honest and caring people wanting to help those who have even less than they have. They think about the children, the elderly, handicapped, unemployed, the underemployed, the laid off from several paydays and understand that whatever they have, those I have named have even less, and they want to share what little they have with others.
Those are the people I’m proud of and the ones I call whenever I have something I can share.
Through challenging circumstances, I’ve not had a paying job since 2022, when I became ill and faced being unable to continue working. During my illness, I was threatened with being relieved of duty if I didn’t resign.
During the worst illness of my life, I realized how uncaring some people can be and how insensitively they act toward others who are experiencing significant difficulties. That didn’t matter to those forcing my resignation.
God blessed me with the opportunity to save a portion of what I earned through the years, and when I was forced to live on fewer earnings, I have learned to do that. While my income is lower than ever, I still feel an obligation to share what I have with others who may have even less.
This goes on in America for those who have nothing. Many hardworking individuals are looking for their next meal, while their Republican representatives have shown little attention to these concerns. I see it happening with the government to whom we pay taxes.
Our government is now being just as mean-spirited to the people elected to represent them. For too many, cruelty is the order of the day. Many people have more food than they need, while others are threatened with having nothing.
Those who could remedy the problems stand idly by with neither care nor concern. Some people withhold what they have and act in opposition to sharing with others.
How do you have the gall to take food from the mouths of poor babies, the handicapped, the elderly and so many have-nots? Sojourner Truth, who had nothing at times, once said, “If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?”
How do you work so hard to fire or lay off people who want to work, but are barred from doing so? How do those in charge of the well-being of people simply go home for weeks at a time, and not even remain in Washington to try to resolve the problem of hunger? Why does a judge have to order them to do their jobs after many weeks of procrastinating and neglecting their duties?
Well, those are questions Republican Party leaders are not concerned about resolving.
We witness a failure of our government as Republican leaders stand by with no concern for their fellow citizens to have access to health care at an affordable rate. When asked about their health care plan, they can only say they have a “concept” for a plan!
Vice President J.D. Vance said, “Things are going to get a lot worse.” Well, silence is only fatal if we let it be.
E. Faye Williams is president of The Dick Gregory Society.