Page 10 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2017

OPINION: Trump & Immigrants
By Shepherd Bliss
The Japanese American Citizens League held a “Day of Remembrance” at
Sebastopol’s Enmanji Buddhist Temple on Feb. 18. 200 people marked the 75th anniversary of the incarceration of over 120,000 innocent West Coast Americans of Japanese ancestry in internment camps during World War II.
Health Care Advocacy
“They were accused of a crime, sentenced without trial and locked up,” wrote organizer Jodi Hottel in the local daily newspaper. We “hope this reminder of the fragility of our civil liberties will prevent anything like this from happening again.” The event was titled “Protecting Human Rights: Solidarity in Diversity.”
By Mary Szecsey
Sonoma County Health Centers advocates for health care and public
awareness of community health centers on national, state, county, and local levels. Sometimes our advocacy efforts require us to mobilize our volunteers to show support for health care issues that concern our patients and participate in annual health care events in a variety of ways.
“We are rm in our resolve that this will never happen again,” declared Marie Sugiyama, now 81. She was interned and opened the panel of
Our local advocacy efforts have a need for volunteers to hold signs supporting community health centers for public awareness as a continuation of lobbying efforts at the state and national levels for healthcare reform during peaceful demonstrations.
six speakers of diverse ethnicities. She described the guard towers, barbed wire, and searchlights of her childhood.
The Redwood Community Health Coalition (RCHC) is a coalition of health centers in Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, and Marin works with legislators, policy makers, health care providers, health plans, and many other stakeholders to define and shape policies that benefit the health of our communities and the people we serve.
“A great injustice was done to Americans,” Sugiyama added. Over 30,000 Japanese Americans served in the U.S. military, helping defeat German fascism and the Imperial Japanese Government.
We extend invitations from RCHC and their partners for public support to our volunteers. Through RCHC we have invited volunteers to participate in Candlelight vigils in Santa Rosa during Wednesday Night Market in courthouse square and other peaceful demonstrations.
That Japanese Government had spies in the US, who failed to recruit any Americans of Japanese ancestry. No Japanese American was ever tried for being a spy. The internment was based on racist fears and lies, which the new president continues to propagate, especially against immigrants and Muslims.
At the state level we belong to the California Primary Care Association (CPCA), which represents community health centers throughout the state of California to our state legislature.
“We need to be guided by those ‘better angels’ President Lincoln spoke about,” said journalist and historian Gaye LeBaron, the panel moderator. “We have an important task—to protect civil rights,” declared African
Every year we attend a “Day at the Capitol” with appointments with our state representatives to discuss issues involving community health centers. In some cases, such as the state budget cuts that wiped out funding for our dental programs, the CPCA asks us to mobilize supporters to come to Sacramento and show support at the state capitol in peaceful demonstrations.
American attorney and civil rights pioneer Charles Bonner. He detailed three ways to do so: direct action, legal action, and legislative action. “We need to sue people who hurt people. This is the beginning of a movement.”
On a national level we belong to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which represents community health centers throughout the United States to the federal government.
“Our community is experiencing real fear,” said panelist Denia Candela, a dreamer and community activist who emigrated from Mexico. She described the uncertainly created by Trump deporting people, often separating parents from their children, and his positive references to the internment camps.
Every year NACHC hosts a National Health Center Week the second week in August to promote public awareness of the contributions of community health centers. In 2017 this will be August 7th thru 13th. Please sign up on our volunteer page and check the advocacy box if you are interested in this type of volunteer opportunity.
“Mother Earth feels what we are going through. She’s shaking and saying ‘Wake Up!’” said 66-year-old Native American public health administrator Cecilia Dawson. “It feels as if we are ghting again for what we were ghting for in the sixties.”
Protect Community Health by Taking Action Now!
California Health+ Advocates With a new President and Congress, healthcare laws in the United States are likely to change beginning in 2017, creating uncertainty for community health centers and their patients. The webpage link below is designed to provide you with the information you need to protect California’s Community Health Centers and their patients.
The nal speaker, Mubarack Muthalif of the Islamic Center of North Marin, began with the Islamic blessing and greeting: “May peace be upon you.”
http://capca.nationbuilder.com/healthcare_2017
“How many of you are willing to break a law to protect a Muslim, immigrant, or other threatened person?” asked David Ho man of the Interfaith Council of Sonoma County from the audience.
Save our Community Health Centers!
Attorney Bonner responded, “Any unjust law needs to be broken. We have to organize. When we do so, Trump will fall. We have to resist with love and compassion. Like hornets, if they attack one of us, we need to swarm.”
Sign up to defend Medicaid and federal Community Health Centers at http://saveourchcs.org/signup.cfm. This gets you signed up directly with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) for future call-ins and action alerts.
“We are all Americans—no matter what color or faith we are. An attack on one person is an attack on all of us,” added another person.
Tell your story!
Participants were informed of future meetings in the California towns of Sebastopol, Petaluma, Cotati, and Santa Rosa, where City Councils and faith groups are discussing issues such as sanctuary cities, the Standing Rock water protectors, and how to work together to build a mass movement of resistance and de ance.
Have you been positively affected by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)? Visit the website http://bit.ly/2111Wwfe to share your story!
10 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/17
“This has been an amazing afternoon,” concluded moderator LeBaron.
“I tremble about what this administration might do,” he continued, voice choking with emotion. “The Muslim registry is like the Nazis making Jews wear the star of David. We moved from being citizens to being suspects. Our mosques are attacked.”
(Dr. Shepherd Bliss {3sb@comcast.net} is a former U.S. Army o cer, United Methodist minister, and a retired college teacher. He has contributed to 24 books.)