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Newark Latest US Community to Declare Support for Medicare for All
"It is absolutely reprehensible that the United States, the richest country in the world, does not have free universal healthcare when most of the other wealthy nations provide this benefit to their citizens," said one advocate.
Mar 02, 2023
Spurred by a statewide organizing effort by Our Revolution, the city council of Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday passed a resolution officially declaring support for legislation to expand Medicare to all U.S. residents, guaranteeing healthcare as a right.
"The Municipal Council and the mayor of the city of Newark, Ras J. Baraka, supports and urges Congress to work toward the immediate enactment of the Medicare for All Act of 2021 (H.R. 1976) by assuring appropriate and efficient healthcare for all residents of the United States," reads the resolution.
Our Revolution New Jersey has now successfully pushed 15 cities across the state to pass similar resolutions, while more than 100 counties, cities, and towns across the U.S. have backed Medicare for All.
\u201cHere\u2019s to our 15th #MedicareForAll municipal Resolution in NJ! So happy to see the local progress! These are the days & results I live and work for as an organizer. Onward!\u201d— Anna-Marta Visky (@Anna-Marta Visky) 1677784732
In recent weeks, Cleveland and Boulder County, Colorado passed resolutions. Other cities backing the legislation include Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles.
Newark's resolution was applauded by the People's Organization for Progress, a grassroots group based in the city.
"It is absolutely reprehensible that the United States, the richest country in the world, does not have free universal healthcare when most of the other wealthy nations provide this benefit to their citizens," said Lawrence Hamm, the group's chairman. "The resolution brings us one step closer to making Medicare for All a reality in the U.S. during our lifetime."
Campaigners in New Jersey have ramped up efforts to convince local lawmakers to back Medicare for All—which is supported by nearly 7 in 10 Americans—following a 20% premium increase in the state health benefit plan. The out-of-pocket healthcare cost hike came on the heels of a vote by lawmakers to allow the state health plan to operate as a for-profit entity.
"At a time when health insurance companies are making record profits, plans to increase health care costs for New Jersey public employees are a betrayal of thousands of hardworking members of Newark's municipal family, who are already being harshly impacted by rising costs of living," said Baraka when the premium increase was announced in September.
Nearly 20% of people under the age of 65 in New Jersey do not have health insurance, and a report released in September by Healthcare Value Hub showed that 36% of state residents were unable to get care when they needed it due to medical debt.
"Medical debt represents a crushing weight on many families in our community," said Matt Dragon, co-chair of Our Revolution Essex County. "Deferring or skipping medical care due to the cost exacerbates the health impacts for individuals, creates higher costs down the road, and in some cases ends in a loved one gone far too soon. Medicare for All also represents a racial justice policy as uninsurance rates in Black and Hispanic communities outpace those of white populations."
Our Revolution New Jersey expressed gratitude to Baraka, who championed the resolution.
"Medicare for All represents conscientious policy that is not based on zip code, class, economic status, etc. but is designed for everyone," said Baraka. "Here in Newark, we make sure that the needs of our residents are at the forefront of our initiatives, policies, and legislation through an equitable lens. The passing of today's resolution affirms our stance and makes clear: Newark will always work to advance the quality of life of its residents and having affordable and adequate healthcare is important to our community."
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Activist Pressure Pauses Newark Fracked Gas Project
Environmental justice campaigner Maria Lopez-Nuñez stressed the need find an alternative to the proposed power plant that "does not hurt the lungs of our children and in no way contributes to climate change."
Jan 14, 2022
Faced with strident opposition from community and climate activists, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday intervened to stop a vote on a controversial fracked gas power plant in Newark pending further review of the project's environmental impact.
"Delaying this project is the right thing to do because new facilities should serve and protect overburdened communities--not increase harm and pollution."
Insider NJreports that the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) heeded a request by Murphy, a Democrat, to cancel a scheduled Thursday vote on a contract for the $180 million plant in the ethnically diverse Ironbound neighborhood of Newark's East Ward. The Ironbound already has three power plants.
Murphy spokesperson Alex Altman said that "the pause will allow the project to undergo a more thorough environmental justice review and robust public engagement process, ensuring that the voices of the community are heard."
Maria Lopez-Nunez, director of environmental justice and community development at the Ironbound Community Corporation, said in a statement that "Gov. Murphy has reaffirmed his commitment to environmental justice by canceling today's vote."
"Our community needs a real process to evaluate alternatives to the power plant like the one N.J. Transit has initiated for their resiliency project right next door in Kearny," she continued, referring to the state-owned public transport system. "We need to bring in real resources and experts to find a solution that does not hurt the lungs of our children and in no way contributes to climate change."
\u201cStop the fracked gas power plant in Newark! For racial justice, environmental justice, climate action and sanity. Here is Maria Lopez-Nunez: no more sacrifice zones. #environmentaljustice #climatejustice\u201d— ProtectingOurWaters (@ProtectingOurWaters) 1642171263
Cynthia Mellon, co-chair of the Newark Environmental Commission, said that "delaying this project is the right thing to do because new facilities should serve and protect overburdened communities--not increase harm and pollution."
"We need a real process that centers robust community engagement to achieve a solution that protects public health today and a safe environment for future generations," she added.
The prospect of the new 84-megawatt plant--which would provide backup electricity in the event of emergencies like Hurricane Sandy in 2012--has ignited protests and other community opposition.
Gothamist reports more than 100 people joined a virtual meeting on Thursday at which PVSC chairman Thomas Tucci announced the vote would be suspended in order to "move forward in a realistic, responsible, and environmental way."
Local resident Michael Habib spoke at the meeting, saying: "I have a nine-month-old son. It's honestly scary to me to see more of this coming in. We already have dirty water and dirty air and it doesn't make sense to me."
"We're already overburdened so putting more on this community doesn't make sense," he added.
\u201c"Only Our People Can Save Our Peoples."\n\nMuch love and respect to @IronboundCC and everyone else who worked on this campaign! \n\nFrontline community power stopped PVSC from starting to build another dirty energy plant in Newark, New Jersey. \n\n#StopDumpingOnNewark\u201d— Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) \ud83c\udf3b (@Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) \ud83c\udf3b) 1642110309
In a Wednesday interview on Democracy Now!, Lopez-Nunez said that "communities across New Jersey... have been dumped on, way before Murphy, for decades, by Republicans and Democrats."
"Our communities have been used as sacrifice zones. Here in the Ironbound we already have three power plants, three Superfund sites, fat rendering," she added. "During the Vietnam War... we had the largest production of Agent Orange. And it had a byproduct, dioxin, which is incredibly cancer-causing. That was being dumped into the river. "
"You name it, it's probably in our neighborhood," Lopez-Nunez continued. "We have thousands of trucks that serve New York City and the greater metropolitan area that barrel through the neighborhood to deliver things, putting that diesel pollution into the air."
She added, "A 4-year-old could stand on a street corner in Newark and look at the smokestacks and say, 'You shouldn't add one more."
Kim Gaddy, national environmental justice director at Clean Water Action and founder of the South Ward Environmental Alliance, said that Murphy has "demonstrated real environmental justice leadership" by postponing Thursday's planned vote.
"We have had enough," she said. "We cannot afford any new industrial smokestacks. Whatever their other intentions, they unavoidably poison our already too poisoned lungs and add to the climate emergency."
\u201c"We cannot afford any new industrial smokestacks. Whatever their other intentions, they unavoidably poison our already too poisoned lungs and add to the #ClimateEmergency "\nClean Water Action National #EnvironmentalJustice Director Kim Gaddy\n\n#ActOnClimate\nhttps://t.co/J40gSXatH9\u201d— Clean Water Action (Vote!) (@Clean Water Action (Vote!)) 1642177163
"There are better options out there for our lungs, our jobs, and our Newark Bay," Gaddy added. "We look forward to working with PVSC, the Murphy administration, and appreciate this pause to ensure we have the right process and get to the right result."
Lopez-Nunez noted that "our community is [a] majority Black and Latinx, working-class, immigrant community... And despite all of our socioeconomic issues, immigration issues, housing issues, we still fight to make sure that we're bettering our neighborhood."
"We have a vision for our community," she added. "We're just asking for a chance to fight for clean air and clean water."
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'Stand Up, Fight Back!': Newark Students Protest Charter Schools
Hundreds of students walk out in march demanding public schools over charters
Apr 04, 2014
Following moves by the state of New Jersey to defund public schools in exchange for a flood of privately run charter schools, hundreds of students in Newark walked out of classes in protest on Thursday.
According to the Newark's Star Ledger, almost 1,000 students from about nine schools gathered in front of City Hall around 1 p.m. with microphones and signs.
The protest was organized by the Newark Students Union, calling the protest the "March of Shame," specifically targeting Superintendent Cami Anderson's "One Newark" reorganization plan. The plan is set to close or downsize several public schools, fire a range of teachers, and move privately run charter schools into public buildings.
"Holding bullhorns and signs - some with the word 'liar' in bold letters above the silhouettes of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and state-appointed Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson - hundreds of middle and high school students walked out of schools and into the streets of this economically struggling city," Al Jazeera America reports.
"Newark students: stand up, fight back!" the students chanted throughout the rally.
"The Anderson administration is not afraid to take quality schools away but is scared of students engaging in their right," Newark Students Union president Kristin Towkaniek, told the crowd. "It's your right to be here."
"I'm walking out because the voices of the students need to be heard, and they will be heard," said Towkaniuk ahead of the march.
"They said (the plan) will make Newark schools better," Jose Leonard, a 16-year-old at Arts High School, told Al Jazeera America. "They've been saying that for 20 years and we haven't seen anything. It's like they don't care about the students."
The protest follows a growing trend in students putting their foot down in opposition to a countrywide trend of defunding public education.
As Al Jazeera America reports:
In February, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett canceled his appearance at a Philadelphia public school after students and teachers at the school planned a protest over his budget cuts, which forced many of the city's schools to cut all extracurricular activities. In Oklahoma, an estimated 25,000 converged on the capitol earlier this week to protest low school funding. Protests have also been held in Oregon and in Camden, N.J.
The protests in Newark aren't new, either. Last year, high schools students formed the Newark Students Union and held a protest in the city's downtown area, followed by another in March of this year.
"What's happening in Newark follows a national pattern as we see states fund schools less than they did before the (2008) recession started," said Jeff Bryant, a fellow the Campaign for America's Future.
American Federation of Teachers New Jersey has video of the protest:
#NPSWalkout2014NewarkStudents @RasJBaraka @UnitedNJ march against One Newark plan to close schools and lay off teachers.
\u201c"We'll tell the whole wide world that this is student territory!" #npswalkout2014\u201d— Newark Student Union (@Newark Student Union) 1396560884
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