White Plains Solidarity March Celebrated Diversity
Saturday’s gathering at the fountain plaza in downtown White Plains attracted about 100 people according to media reports. The rally was organized just a few days earlier to allow people not making the trek to Washington, DC, or Manhattan, who wanted a chance to express their views about democracy, human rights, justice, pluralism and other issues as millions did across the globe on Saturday afternoon.
Many Westchester residents took busses to the nation’s capital to join their local government representatives in a strong showing for women’s rights and issues of diversity. Others made their way to New York City where the call was loud to make New York a pillar of progressive ideals and a safe haven for all peoples.
The White Plains demonstration was organized by Laurie Rigelhaupt and Alex Zackrone and supported by the WESPAC Foundation.
The organizers in White Plains said a lot of people were scared and worried. “Whatever he (President Trump) does, we (the people) are going to be there to oppose him at every step. We know what he is going to do and he started immediately.”
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach gave an impassioned comment saying, “We elected a president, not a king. The democracy is ours.”
One representative from the Hudson Valley Community Coalition spoke out about her experience as an immigrant to the United States.
Now a U.S. citizen, having voted for the first time in November’s election, working as a social worker and a mother of three, she described the trip she made at age nine from Peru to escape poverty and the violence of the Shining Path. “My mother wanted something better for me. I am my mother’s American Dream. I want my children to grow up in a country that accepts all, that gives opportunity to all.”
NYS Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) traveled with a busload of locals to Washington where they sported pink crowns representing the Statue of Liberty in New York State. Paulin has worked long and hard over the years for women’s rights and the rights of all people in New York State.
NYS Senator Andrea-Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) spoke to the crowd in New York City. “We are New York. We are moving forward,” she shouted. “America is not the project of a single person. The most powerful word in a democracy is the word ‘we’.”
After the day of global demonstrations Nada Khader, WESPAC Foundation Director, told The White Plains Examiner that there were many things that could be done locally.
With a broad agenda, Khader explained WESPAC’s vision going forward. “We support single-payer universal healthcare and continued women’s reproductive freedom rights. We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ community, and we are ready to stand with them in defending the progress made in securing their rights. We support a strong public education system, tuition free university education and forgiveness of student loans. We support the movement for guaranteed minimum income whether by guaranteeing living wage jobs to every person in Westchester or by a universal minimum income plan as is being implemented in places around the world to eradicate poverty. This approach requires investment in skills training and more, with the transition to renewable energies creating an important portion of these new jobs.”
“We support NYS farmers and would like government, hospital, university, and school cafeterias to purchase a greater percentage of their food items from New York farmers. This step alone would create thousands more jobs in upstate New York to respond to the guaranteed demand of local agricultural products. It would also increase the quality of food at these institutions and would help develop a sustainable local economy. We stand in solidarity with the Muslim, Sikh, Arab, South Asian, Asian and other immigrant communities and reject racial profiling. We want major investment in affordable housing projects in Westchester County, including decent, safe and secure housing for very low-income people. We would like this investment to be based on a needs assessment, using the guideline that a household should not be paying more than one third of its income on housing needs,” Khader outlined.
WESPAC also promotes the strongest protections possible for undocumented persons who are here to stay and who are part of our families and communities. “We will work to support a path to citizenship for undocumented persons,” Khader said. “Locally, we do not want local law enforcement departments to contact ICE for assistance on the basis of a suspect’s or arrestee’s race, ethnicity, national origin, or actual or suspected immigration status. We do not want local law enforcement departments to accept requests by ICE or other agencies to support or assist in operations that are primarily for immigration enforcement. And, we do not want any local law enforcement department to sign on to a 287g program that would seek to deputize local police officers to authorize them to enforce federal immigration status violations.”
WESPAC supports the right of undocumented residents to apply for a NYS driver’s license. “We would like Westchester County police chiefs, mayors, supervisors as well as Town Boards and Common Councils to all follow the lead of the Village of Ossining, the Village of Port Chester and the Village of Mamaroneck, which have all already passed resolutions in support of driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, and to send a strong signal of support to Albany so that this policy becomes law this year.”
We fully support the recommendations made in our former President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Khader continued. “For those police departments in Westchester that are doing the right thing, this is your moment to shine and to share your policies with the public. Here in Westchester County, the Westchester Coalition for Police Reform is organizing an important forum in early April 2017 where we are inviting members of the independent civilian review boards of New York City, Syracuse and Albany to come to Westchester County along with representatives of their police departments to share with the public the successes and limits of their independent police oversight initiatives.”
Khader also expressed concern for the environment. “We would like our county and municipal governments to fully support our transition to safe, renewable and clean energies and to help us all be more prepared for more frequent major climate events. We want low-income communities to be especially supported in this transition process. We want our county to be both pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and include investments in continually improving our public transportation system.”
