P.E.I. social justice groups and coalitions deserve a cheer
Letter to the Editor by Marie Burge
Cheers to the social justice groups and coalitions working for social, political and economic change!
Full disclosure: I am an avid reader of my hard-copy of The Guardian (P.E.I.) and continue to encourage people, who can afford it, to purchase the full subscription in support of the future of print media. I always read the Jeers and Cheers section on the editorial page, concentrating on the cheers, happy to cheer on all acts of kindness and other achievements. As for the jeers, there is already an excess of these in the community at large.
The following comments are about the full column of cheers in the Dec. 27, 2024 edition of The Guardian. Great idea.
I added my cheer to each one until the last one, entitled “Cheers to the many volunteers who make lives easier and more enjoyable throughout the year.”
I have a jeer for what is missing in the “many volunteers” cheer. This is directed not only at The Guardian, but other media as well. It is also especially levelled at politicians, and all public policy makers. These influencers in our community seem to believe that groups inspired by the charity model are the only ones addressing the inequitable conditions in our communities.
What is missing in the final “cheer” is the acknowledgment of the wealth of organizations, which while supporting the need for charity, work continuously for social, political and economic change. These are made up of a wide range of people who devote their time and energy to work based on the model of collective human and planetary rights. This work typically has short-, medium- and long-term goals and much of the work is on a volunteer basis and involves ongoing research and learning. We are talking thousands of hours.
Each of these groups is often identified by their specific work for social justice. Here are some examples: ending gender-based and family violence; advocating for social, economic and political equity for women; protecting the rights of children, youth and the elderly; protecting the environment and mitigating climate change; protecting P.E.I. lands and water; advocating for a democratic electoral system; protecting the rights of workers; promoting Indigenous rights and reconciliation; advocating for the right to affordable housing; enhancing services for people with Parkinsons; advocating for the right to a basic income guarantee for every person; advocating for, and protecting, the right to universal health care; advocating for and protecting public services; protecting the specific rights of migrant workers; ensuring the rights of persons with ability issues; protecting the decision-making rights of people with intellectual challenges; enhancing global connections.
Over the years many of the organizations listed above have discovered the value of forming coalitions and networks. This is in recognition of the commonality of the root causes of the many human and planetary rights issues in which they are engaged. Thankfully, people of P.E.I. may have met some of these (about 10) partnerships in The Guardian through published op-eds, PSAs and news releases.
Generally, when politicians refer to volunteer groups they speak only of the charity sector, which is often a topic coming up only casually during election campaigns. There appears to be some fear of social justice organizations or else fear of acknowledging that they exist.
Marie Burge is a founding member and current staff person of Cooper Institute (1984), a community based, social justice and community education centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
This column is dedicated to Maureen Larkin (1945-2024) whose whole life was dedicated to the organizations and issues referred to above and whose funeral is being celebrated on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.