On the anniversary of the Los Angeles Uprising last week Gloria Walton, SCOPE President & CEO, was in Washington DC for the launch of the ‘Putting Families First: Good Jobs for All’ campaign. She was there with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees International Union. “Putting families first means that everyone has the opportunity to a good paying job. Jobs that are safe and sustainable, with career paths that can support a family, particularly those that suffer from structural racism and discrimination” was the message Gloria delivered to a crowd of more than 300 attendees. SCOPE is one of the many organizations across the country joining the Center for Community Change, Jobs With Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Working Families, and the Center for Popular Democracy in ‘Putting Families First.’
With a focus on families, we’re ensuring that our communities are healthy and safe. Today that’s not always the case, especially in South LA. Not only are we environmentally burdened, but we’re also at the literal front lines when it comes to air pollution and toxic production compared to other communities in Los Angeles. South LA families have higher rates of cancer, low-weight birth of infants, asthma, and are chronically unemployed. Structural racism and discrimination created barriers to the kind of jobs that allow working families the opportunity to sustain themselves and establish career paths that others can follow.
Building a healthy and safe community will not be possible if we don’t have a government that places direct value in communities like South LA. We need accessible healthcare, libraries, parks, health and dental clinics and other resources and services that meet our needs. This will take a commitment to generating revenue in a way that’s fair and that begins to address accelerating economic inequality putting our communities back in balance.
“If we are not leading this fight with race and equity at the front and center, if we do not link economic and environmental justice efforts into a common movement, we will not build the power we need to win,” said Gloria. Join us in signing the pledge to put families first to change the political discourse and ensure that our elected officials hear the voices of those directly impacted by their policies. This is the first step in creating a new economy that puts families first and gives our communities the opportunity to secure stable jobs to support our families.
