Five years ago, I said
Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. Guess what day it is? Nope, not hump day. It’s the kickoff of “WISER Wednesday.”
The WISER Wednesday email has two purposes:
- Please provide data that includes Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous American, and Multiracial women regarding current events and policy issues.
- Challenge our perceptions of language, such as the terms “women and minorities”—who exactly are the women?
- Create a space for our staff to develop and refine their policy voices.
Over the years, WISER’s staff, Himaja Nimmagadda, Jerry Pender, Lily Johnson, Beayonie Washington, guest contributor Sacha Blalock, and I have sent 261 emails. Looking back over the emails, I am proud of our growth and the topics covered. Yet, I am saddened by how much of what we wrote about during the pandemic is still relevant.
Same ol’, same ol’
Four years ago, on this day, Himaja wrote, “You don’t have to be fine; you just have to be honest.” Many of us are not fine—mentally, physically, or financially. The deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, where people are peacefully exercising their First Amendment right to assemble and protest immigration enforcement raids, raises questions about honesty.
Honestly, how do we determine who is an American? During the pandemic, Himaja noted that the American flag is a silent symbol of American identity. Is the presence of the American flag enough? Is it sufficient to have been a productive “citizen” for decades?
No.
Countless reports are emerging about mothers and fathers being deported after living in the U.S. for decades. The U.S. has a long history of separating parents from their children, from the displacement of Indigenous American children to the injustices of slavery. In more recent times, the issue of incarceration has also led to the separation of families. Jerry reminds us that as the incarceration of women increases, so does the likelihood that more mothers will be imprisoned, leaving many children without their mothers.
Be mindful of distractions
We must not allow the protests to distract us from urging Senators to vote to protect program funding for the most vulnerable. Even girl math, as Lily reminded us, cannot make the numbers in the Big Beautiful Bill make sense. I’ll end this email with two questions I’ve asked before: “How do you model inclusion?” and “What can you do to move us towards a more inclusive America?”
