🚨Today, I received a DM from a neighbor that I haven’t met before, and I am completely aghast. He told me that his wife received my absentee ballot, which had me so confused...because I just received my ballot in the mail. How could he have my ballot when mine just arrived?🧐 1/ So I called him & opened all 3 of my family’s absentee ballots, and here’s what I found:
🗳My ballot envelope had my mother’s ballot in it.
🗳My partner’s envelope had another neighbor’s ballot.
🗳My mother’s envelope had yet another neighbor’s ballot. 2/

September is #HealthyAgingMonth! All NYers should be able to age in place with dignity, & in their communities. As a caregiver for my mom who is living with Alzheimer’s disease, I know firsthand the challenges facing seniors & caregivers & how they’ve been exacerbated by COVID-19 I’m running for City Council because I want to ensure that this city does all it can to support a care economy that is made up of mostly women, people of color, and immigrants. More here from @CaringAcrossGen: caringacross.org/carepaper/

Over the last few months, we have seen #COVID19 ravage Black families and communities across the U.S., as a result of government policy failures and a complete abdication of responsibility by the federal government. While we have seen a rise in Mutual Aid efforts, rooted in the traditions of African and Indigenous people, we know now more than ever that for better or worse, the government has immense resources and plays a central role in providing critical services for our communities.

Yesterday, I announced my historic campaign to become the first openly gay Black woman elected to the New York City Council. ✊🏾🏳️‍🌈 I had previously been speaking with neighbors and community members about my campaign, but put all fundraising efforts on hold when the Covid-19 pandemic began ravaging our communities.

In 2013, I was a young professional working and living in Washington, D.C. when my mother first started exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s disease. As the only child of a single mother, I spent an entire year traveling back and forth every weekend to tend to my mother’s needs; until I was finally able to return home to Brooklyn to care for her full-time.

🧵: Today, the narrative has been that Black folks aren’t out here leading in the work—and specifically on #NYCBudgetJustice. Here are 10 Black folks whose organizing & leadership have paved the way for all the “new folks” to follow (in no particular order)... 1. @AnthoninePierre at @BKMovement, who has built a grassroots movement in central Brooklyn & has been unapologetically leading us to true transformation. Anthonine has been LITERALLY EVERYWHERE since the pandemic broke. If you know, you know.

For #BlackHistoryMonth, I wrote about the interconnectedness of Black and Queer histories. I want to reinforce that message, especially during this Pride Month, as we see Black, Queer and Trans people marching nationwide for dignity and justice. gaycitynews.com/black-history-… We follow in the steps of the Black & brown trans folks who led the Stonewall Riots. As stated in my piece, “For some, courage has to be summoned. For others, bravery comes without choice. For the Black queer community, our leadership has so often been tethered to our survival.”

There is so much beauty in being Black. There is strength, resilience, creativity, power, and dynamism. There is also pain, suffering, and exhaustion. This pain has been particularly present as COVID-19 has disproportionately swept across Black communities nationwide. And even amidst a pandemic, Black lives continue to be threatened and stolen in other ways too—through state sanctioned violence & white supremacy and patriarchy.

Thread: I noticed today in my home station that the BK bound 2/3 train has a newly installed HUGE GATE that I presume will close the turnstiles at night to prevent fare evasion. I was so bothered by this, that I made a point to go across the street to the Manhattan bound side... to no surprise, the Manhattan bound side does not have the same gate. This is a clear demonstration of @NYCTSubway making geographic and perhaps race based decisions to criminalize poverty. For those heading to jobs in the city, fare evasion is not a concern; but...

All power to the people! ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

A deal made “for the ppl” w/out direct input from the ppl, is no deal at all. In Brooklyn, we fought hard against Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park — a development that the ppl didn’t want, but was built anyway through eminent domain & State control There are kids who have grown up & never known what it’s like to live without incessant construction impacting quality of life and the environment. We have not yet seen the 1,000s of affordable units, public park, or school that were all promised.

At his #StateOfTheCity address, @BilldeBlasio spoke about the challenges of caring for parents, children, & loved ones while working full-time jobs. I know this challenge firsthand, working for @cmlauriecumbo and caring for my mother living with #Alzheimers. Several years ago, I moved back home to be with her in the house I grew up in. My partner and I pay out of pocket for my mother’s care bc our elder care/health care system is broken. We both work long days and barely make it home to see her.