Justice for Today and Tomorrow

Today, I was in Center City grabbing some coffee and running errands. I had finished all my errands and walked down into City Hall, when I saw a group of people gathered around a person experiencing homelessness. They had extended a bag filled with a water bottle, snacks, and I assume some gloves/socks/clothes to the individual, and then took a picture of their children with the individual and the bag they had given.

I am not discounting the charity work that is necessary and needed in our current society, and how there needs to be greater services for those housing and food insecure, but I was enraged when I saw that scenario. People who are experiencing homelessness are not props to be shared on social media outlets. They should never be used to show that "you are doing a good deed". Mercy or Charity work is not for social media clout, it is to help an immediate need from the goodness of your heart or your moral code.

However, issues surrounding housing and food inequality will not be solved by charity work. Charity work needs to be reinforced with justice. Justice means lobbying for housing equality that guarantees rent control, affordable housing, safe landlord practices, accessible and affordable transportation, housing as a human right, as well as food as a human right, and labor practices that sustain a person, rather than draining that individual.

Justice work means that handing out bags of food, water, and clothes will never need to happen again. Justice creates a system where no one is on the street, where all people are treated the same, and no one is discriminated against for their race, ethnicity, ability, sexuality, gender identity, status, and class.

We currently exist in a society that simply works to disenfranchise the many to enhance the already privileged. That doesn't mean our future has to operate in the same capacity. Use your financial capacity to support businesses, and candidates that fight for equity in our systems. Use your privilege to speak out on injustice and be an inclusive ally. Challenge the status quo and individuals who spout racist and nationalist propaganda.

Our society needs all of us to work, organize, and vote so that it will be a community for all, rather than our current tired system of oppression. We all must learn to do no harm to each other, but take nothing for granted. Charity and Justice must work together to tear down the walls of hate and oppression, and welcome all into the community of love and equality.

As Always,

He Climbs Mountains