Hatred in America

I remember my parents telling us, one time and one time only, that the only difference with the couple that lived on the side of us was that they went to a different “church”than we did.

Mr and Mrs Siegel were nice people. Their children were grown and moved away.

They were Jewish.

The only Jewish people in our suburban Connecticut neighborhood.

In the 1960s I guess that was a thing.

To me, they were just the Siegels.

I imagine my parents told us this because of some anti-Semitic concern at the time that they did not want us to buy into.

I never thought about it again.

There is such a hatred in America today.

A hatred I do not understand.

The pipe bombs and the synagogue killings are but the latest ramifications of this hatred.

It’s fine to disagree and to debate.

But insults and hate speech breed hate actions and those of us with a public voice have a responsibility to use that voice for peace.

My heart cries for my Jewish sisters and brothers, for the people of Pittsburgh, and for the all Americans.

We are better than this.

Open Letter to the Healthcare Workers of Rockville Hospital

My sisters and brothers of Rockville Hospital,

My name is John Brady and I am Executive Vice President of AFT Connecticut.  Prior to this, I was a nurse in the emergency department of Backus Hospital in Norwich.
Soon you will have an important decision that will effect your lives, the lives of your families, and the lives of your patients and community.
For perhaps the first time, you have a vote about what happens at your workplace.
Think about that.
YOU have a vote.
Has that ever happened at work before?

In 2012 we had the same vote at Backus.
Backus had changed.
It wasn't the community hospital that it once was.
Our opinion wasn't appreciated as it once was.
We were no longer caregivers, we had become an  "operating expense."
Our neighbors were no longer our patients, they were "stakeholders."
"Efficiency experts" had come through like a tornado and left a shell of a hospital in their wake.

I'll never forget sitting in the living room of an oncology nurse's home, with her and her husband on the couch.
We spoke about our common frustrations with the way things had become in OUR hospital and how, if we stood together, we could change that.  As her eyes started filling with tears her husband  took her hand.
She said, "John, they took away the peanut butter from MY kitchenette to save money.   Peanut butter that I would give on crackers to my patients if I could get their nausea to subside after chemo. When they did that, I said to my husband, ‘I have no hope."
"Today," she said, "you have given me hope."

Are things perfect today at Backus?
No.
But today, our members speak freely and advocate for ourselves, our patients, our community, and our hospital without fear.
When you vote UNION YES, you will join the nearly 10,000 AFT healthcare workers in Connecticut, 31,000 AFT Connecticut members, and 1.7 million AFT national members in having a voice in the workplace.

It is your decision, for maybe the first time in your working lives, your decision.
Better than hope, I promise that never again will you stand alone.

In Solidarity,
John

John Brady RN
Executive Vice President
AFT Connecticut

We Care

Members of the Ansonia Federation of Teachers were joined by AFT Connecticut, school administrators, politicians, and parents on Thursday in the cold for a rally at Ansonia High School.
The Mayor and Board of alders are illegally withholding $600k in resources earmarked for the schools.
Teachers after teacher came forward at the request of Local President Matt Hough to tell stories of the difficulty of teaching (and caring for) 31 second graders, 7 and 8 years old, of crying at home in the evening because they didn’t know if they could continue the next day, of telling their own children not to follow them into teaching, a profession they love but now find so, so difficult and frustrating.

We rallied in the cold because we care.

Yesterday morning AFT Connecticut members hit the doors with our sisters and brothers of the Connecticut AFL-CIO at multiple locations across the state to visit union households and explain to union members why the unions are supporting candidates who support working men and women. Some of those we door knock for our our own AFT members, like Martha Marx, who is running for state senate.

We run for office and door knock because we care.

Later yesterday, the Norwalk Federation of Educational Personnel celebrated those who survived cancer or other adversity. It was an outpouring of love.  The theme was “We survive because you survive,” which recognizes the that the strength of these survivors influences the lives of many others.

We celebrate because we care.

Finally, last night we gathered in Manchester to support Johanna Hayes, a National Teacher of the Year who is running for congress in Connecticut’s 5th CD.
She is an inspiration.
She rejects the argument that we must chose between a strong economy and a nation where everyone can have healthcare, education, fair wages, and a voice. She understands that they are not ideas in opposition to each other, they go hand in hand.

We support her because like us, she cares.

While at the Jahana event, we had the pleasure to see the Sikander Family. Salma was to be deported after 18 years but members of the community and Labor came forward in support.
Let Selma Stay
https://backusunited-john.blogspot.com/2018/08/let-salma-stay.html
 It was the great to see them again and know that when people stand to get her and support each other, good things can happen. 

AFT has a slogan-
We care
We fight
We show up
We vote

Our members are doing amazing work, in the classrooms, in hospitals and clinics, and in public service.
We care.

Inspired

I am sitting at the bedside of my friend. She is waiting to go in to have her port removed.
We were here 13 months ago to get it put in. In that time she has had chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
It’s a story many with breast cancer patients would be familiar with.

In that 13 months I have witnessed incredible strength and fortitude.
Not only has she dealt with cancer, she has done so in a way that can make one forget what she is going through.
She has maintained her house, cared for her family and rescued a puppy.
She has also continued to lead a 31,000 member diverse union with nearly 100 independent Locals, guided us through the Janus decision, increased membership engagement and increased our membership by 1000 members in this post-Janus environment. She has been a force in state politics, influenced national labor policy (serving as an AFT VP), and served internationally as a representative of Public Services International.

Any one of these accomplishments would be remarkable.
All of them together, at the same time as battling cancer, is nothing short of amazing.
And inspiring.

Lessons I learned at NIEA Convention in Hartford

When one People wish to dominate another People they often use genocide to strip them of their identity, their land, their language, their freedom, their religion, and their lives.
Colonists to this continent practiced genocide on the Native People.
This week I was honored to attend the National Indian Educator Association Convention in Hartford as part of the AFT delegation of educators, which included Jan and Mary Cathryn.
Honored because I am neither Native American nor an educator.
As I attended the educational sessions and spent time with my new AFT friends, I started to better understand the challenges they face in the classroom and how they approach those challenges.
Some of them are similar to all our educators and some are unique to them.
Just as I cannot fully understand what it takes to stand in the front of a classroom and teach, I cannot fully understand the impact genocide has played on other Peoples.
But I can begin to when I listen with an open heart.

To be sure, it was not the only time in history that genocide has been used by colonists to this continent.
And it continues.
Perhaps not as blatantly obvious now, but every time a person of color, a women, a member of the LBGTQ community, a speaker of a foreign language, or anyone else is discriminated, or held down in any way, it is being practiced.

One night, at dinner, I was asked how, as a white man, I seemed to understand the perspectives of the others in the room.
I’m not sure I truly do, but to the extent it is true, I think it’s because of how I was raised.
My parents taught us that all people are all the same, although they may go to a different church, have different color skin, speak a difference language, etc.
We were also taught that when our ancestors came from Ireland, they faced discrimination on this continent.
Years latter, I would learn that the English had stolen our language, our religion, and our land in our home country.

The question I ask myself is not how I, as a white man. can at least try to understand.
The question I ask myself is how can other white men cannot begin to understand.
All of us are immigrants to this continent and most of our Peoples have faced discrimination at some point in our history.
But many us seem to have forgotten.

Not surprising that I learned lessons at the convention.
It’s what educators do.

Thank you to AFT for this opportunity.
Thank you to my AFT sisters and brothers for sharing their time, their experiences, and their culture with me.
I hope you will all return to Connecticut, the Land of the long tidal river, often.
You are always welcome.

Thoughts on the Kavanaugh hearing

The Kavanaugh hearings had me fired up.
I wrote a blistering blog about his demeanor during his testimony, Trumps remarks about Dr Ford, about how America had once been a model for other nations to emulate, and about what we needed to do to get back there.
It was good.

Then I sat down to watch “Won’t you be my neighbor?” the story of Fred Rogers.

Mr Rogers tried to teach us that we were special just the way we are.
He told us to find the good in you and me.
Which reminded me of a song written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion, “Abraham, Martin and John.”

It was written in 1968 after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
It speaks to a time of sadness and grief, both for these 2 men and for what they stood for.
We didn’t know if this was the end of the dream of a better society. The country was at war and there was great racial division at home.

Dion’s words reminded us that we had been here before.
Lincoln, Jack Kennedy, King, and Bobby…….
Didn't you love the things they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?

All assassinated.
Yet the struggle for justice lives on…..
And we'll be free,
Someday soon it's gonna be one day.

In his own way, Mr Rogers told us to find the good in you and me, and to accept each other just the way we are. He taught tolerance, not hatred; and at the same time, for standing up for principles.
He also taught that it’s not an easy road, but it is the right one.
Abraham, Martin, John and Bobby paid the ultimate price for what they stood for.

Hatred will always try to divide.
We can’t beat it with more hatred.
We beat it by knowing what we stand for and not giving up on the dream.

Didn't you love the things they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?
And we'll be free,
Someday soon it's gonna be one day.

http://youtu.be/a5hFMy4pTrs