Dear Friend,

We’re just few weeks into 2021 and things are already abuzz! We are excited for the new year and the opportunities created by fighting back from the last four years and planning for a brighter future.

2020 was a challenge. It was also transformative. We developed our members and staff to bolster our ability to provide critical support and organize our members. We continued to shift, learn and stay connected to our community and respond to the crisis. It has allowed us to deepen our engagement with members, especially low-wage workers, essential workers, and those facing heightened economic and health, and safety challenges as a result of the pandemic.

Our community is experiencing record-high unemployment. Those that are working are reporting low health and safety protocols, lower wages, hours reduced, etc. Some members are not able to go back to work because they can’t afford childcare. We know that the long-term effects of the pandemic will continue to loom over us.

We are proud of our community response during the pandemic. The crisis brought to light what we already know - systemic barriers disproportionately affect immigrant communities of color like ours and we need to invest in our members and our community to develop their political understanding and their knowledge to build power.

We have built power in the face of chaos, daily attacks from the federal government and a world-wide pandemic that hit our community harder than many. But our members persist, resist, and are ready to take action in 2021. And in 2021, we are going to do just that. Below are some highlights of what’s to come:

Closely coordinate with our members and member leaders to understand and respond to ways the pandemic is affecting them.
Mobilize, strategize and build to win legalization for ALL, which includes a pathway to citizenship for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) holders, Dreamers, and all undocumented people.
Develop and pilot with member leadership a political education curriculum for our community that includes topics such as labor issues, immigration history, racial justice movements including anti-blackness in our community, etc.
Formalize a membership ladder within Adhikaar that segments members based on their engagement at Adhikaar. Each level will offer training and engagement opportunities to develop leadership and engagement in advocacy.
Push for big workers rights campaigns this year: the Domestic Workers team will move forward on the New Jersey Bill of Rights campaign and an NYC level issue platform for the mayoral elections. The Nail Salon team will continue to advocate for the Nail Salon Accountability Act in NY state, and explore state structural changes to address industry-wide improvements for workers.

For the next several weeks we will share with you how we build power in 2020 and our plans moving forward. Stay engaged and support our work. Donate to Adhikaar to directly support this critical work, especially during these challenging times.

DONATE HERE