April 4th didn't just mark the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, it was also the 50th anniversary for the Poor People's Campaign. Led by Dr. King, the campaign called for 1 million people to come together in the nation’s capital to insist the government help the poor.
Dr. King’s proposal remains relevant today as we fight the assault on poor and working class people. In this battle, there's one bill in particular millennials should care about.
The 2018 Farm Bill, which was proposed by Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Michael Conaway, would increase hunger and hardship by cutting food assistance for countless struggling Americans, many of whom are black families. The bill would lead to more than the loss of benefits for over a million low-income households, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or seeing benefit reductions. SNAP is the largest and most effective anti-hunger program in the United States.
According to Feeding America, African-American households face hunger at a rate more than twice that of white, non-hispanic households. Getting enough to eat is a constant struggle for one in four black children.
The 10 counties with the highest food insecurity rates in the United States are at least 65 percent African-American. “To be ‘food insecure’ means the money available is not enough to secure the food that is needed,” says Tiffany Roberts, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta.
If you want to fight against the bill, follow the below steps:
Make a call to Capitol Hill: 202-224-3121
- Ask the operator to connect you to the Senator/Representative for your state.
- Ask to speak to the Member of Congress
- Be cordial and tell them your name, address.
- Explain why you believe the Farm Bill does not support poor and working families. Tell how the issue of food insecurity affects you and/or your community
- Thank the person for their time.
You can also tweet your member of Congress. In this political turmoil, we can no longer afford to be unaware of the issues that impact our communities.
