John,

This Black History Month, Black Americans are still fighting for human rights and human dignity in the country they built.

Amid escalating anti-Black attacks—against civil rights protections, affirmative action, race-based programs, and public services that millions of Americans rely on—we must “turn to our collective vision for the world that we want,” says Robin D.G. Kelley.

Kelley, a historian and author of books about radical Black working-class struggles for a better world, has said that “fighting for something, for a new way of life is different from just fighting to survive.”¹ In addition to expanding the social safety net, he wants to transform society.

We cannot nibble around the edges, as too many of my colleagues in Congress want to do. We live in a country that spends trillions on war while the cost to end homelessness is just $11 billion, and the cost to end lead poisoning is $60 billion. We have the money to end poverty, feed everyone, house everyone, provide universal healthcare and clean water for all, and more—but our government’s priorities are fundamentally broken. It’s on the people to build powerful movements to change that.

Will you sign on to demand transformative, life-affirming policies that help dismantle systemic racism—including investments in Black communities to reverse centuries of disinvestment?

We must not only close the still-growing gap in health and wealth between Black and white families. We must also demand a government that actually ensures everyone’s needs are met, that invests in life rather than war and death, that puts people over billionaire profits, and that enacts reparations for centuries of racist injustices.

In Congress, I will keep pushing for bold policies to end systemic racism and help marginalized families thrive. I will keep demanding investments in healthcare (including Black maternal health), childcare, paid leave, reproductive justice, education, and housing for all.

I will keep holding my colleagues accountable for upholding the Constitution and serving their constituents rather than their stock portfolios. And I will continue introducing bills to provide direct cash assistance for people in need—including a universal income for families with children, money for paying utility and water bills, and support for homeless youth.

But the federal government’s institutions have never moved without being pushed by the people. Right now, the people need to get even bolder with their demands for better.

Please sign on to demand our federal government invest in life and in our communities’ needs, especially Black communities who have faced systemic racism for hundreds of years.

Together, we will keep demanding a government that ensures everyone’s equal rights and puts people first, not billionaires. We will keep demanding justice and equity for all. No matter who’s president, we will keep growing the movement for a country and a world where every family can thrive with dignity.

In solidarity,

Rashida

¹ Visions of Liberation: Robin Kelley on Black and Working Class History, Culture, and Dreams of a Better Future.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Sat, Feb 22, 2025
Subject: Sign on to demand life-affirming policies that help dismantle systemic racism.
To: [email protected]

John,

Trump and his cronies are trying to dismantle crucial programs and services that uplift Black people and benefit countless communities across the country. We need to be pushing for the exact opposite, for life-affirming policies and services that help dismantle systemic racism.

For example, I introduced the Restoring Communities Left Behind Act to provide $5 billion to expand access to homeownership, increase housing options, and rebuild neighborhoods that have struggled from years of forced segregation and disproportionate disinvestment.

I founded the Congressional Mamas’ Caucus to advocate for mothers of color and for policies including Black maternal healthcare, affordable childcare, paid family leave, and reproductive justice.

I’ve also introduced policies to provide direct cash assistance to people in need, including to end child poverty, address youth homelessness, and pay for life-saving utility bills. I’ve supported policies demanding reparations for Black Americans and an end to the still-growing racial wealth gap.

This Black History Month, will you sign on to demand U.S. governments—especially our federal government—invest in Black communities? Instead of funneling more of our tax dollars to billionaires, we must close the still-growing racial wealth gap and address systemic anti-Black racism.

This presidential administration’s Department of Justice is ending its civil rights division’s enforcement of anti-discrimination policies. Meanwhile, the Department of Education’s civil rights’ office has ordered schools to end race-based programs or risk investigations and cuts to federal funding.

The White House and right-wing elected officials are escalating long-standing attacks on anti-racist protections for Americans. Multiple leaders of Project 2025 are white supremacist eugenicists who want segregation—they have spread lies that white people are more deserving and that white men are the true victims of racism.

They’re using an old playbook to consolidate power and wealth: They’re trying to pit us against each other and block multiracial solidarity so there’s less resistance to their efforts to get even richer at our expense. We must respond with the opposite. We must turn toward each other and build solidarity with our most oppressed neighbors.

Our federal government has the money to feed everyone, house everyone, provide universal healthcare, ensure clean water for all, and more. We must demand a government that ensures these human rights and invests in our communities’ needs.

As Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." Rather than spending trillions of taxpayer dollars on war, we must push for life.  

Can you sign on today to demand life-affirming investments in our communities, especially in Black communities that have faced centuries of racist disinvestment?

Thank you. Together, we will keep demanding a country and a world where all people are free and all people can thrive with dignity.

In solidarity,

Rashida