Do You Care?

Sarah is a rising Senior who will be working with National Domestic Workers Alliance this summer. She attended their national care congress in Washington DC.

My New York internship with the National Domestic Worker Alliance started a weekend in May and in Washington DC—along with 450 care workers who would be chanting and singing before the weekend was out. It began like any conference with the stuffing of nametags, the folding of brochures, and working the registration table for early arrivals with other NDWA staff and interns. But, I spent the next day in my role as Childcare Coordinator. The childcare givers were all members of the NDWA and they weren’t just playing “Duck, Duck, Goose” with the kids.  They helped the children understand what was going on downstairs in the conference. They drew pictures of domestic work, brainstormed why it is important, and even wrote some chants—like my favorite, “From Alabama to Brooklyn, Frisco to DC, I respect domestic workers come join me.”

In the afternoon, I was able to sneak into parts of two break-out sessions: “Caring Across Generations: Policy Changes to Inform the Way We Care” and “The Growing Care Economy & What It Means for Our Organizing.” Testimonials detailed the dangers of working in the home and the difficulties of finding reliable care for the elderly. I learned all about the rapid rate at which the care economy is growing, and the economic power this change gives care workers. Most all of the conference sessions were conducted in multiple languages to ensure everyone could participate: Spanish, English, Nepali, and Tagalog.

The congress focused on empowering their members and later that day they partnered with National People’s Action to let Washington hear what the 99% had to say. Hundreds of members piled onto buses without knowing where they were going, a signature of NPA’s 99% Power Actions—their extremely disciplined and well organized protests.

We met up with NPA again the next afternoon at their national conference, complete with marching band! First, to the FHFA’s office to call for the firing of Ed DeMarco.

Then to Wells Fargo to protest the funding of predatory lenders and private prisons used to detain undocumented immigrants.

Last stop…the White House for pictures, singing and a few chants.

These 99% Power Actions let me connect to the members in a new way as many of them stood with loudspeaker in hand to tell their powerful stories. I learned that the heart of NWDA is about story telling, about educating workers, and about advocating for their rights loudly and proudly. Can’t wait for June!

 

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