Whereas       the foundation of any nation are the institutions that lay the structure for the people’s development, and

 

Whereas       according to the United Nations the five basic institutions in a community are; education, health care, housing, food production and                                      delivery systems and clothing, and

 

Whereas       through qualitative and quantitative data we know that in Black, Brown, Indigenous and Working-Class communities’ structural racism                                 has sabotaged basic quality of life institutions that most of White America take for granted, and

 

Whereas       The mandate and metrics for equity must be determined by the people directly impacted, and

 

Whereas       through hundreds of listening projects, town hall meetings and engagement with grassroots organizations the Equity or Else campaign                               has engaged thousands of people across the country on the impact racism has had in education, housing, health care, Food production                                 and delivery systems, the environment, youth investment, immigration, senior rights and economic development, and

 

Whereas       in May of 2022 representatives from organizations across the country reached consensus on the visionary Equity or Else Quality of Life                                  Platform, which makes clear recommendations for education, housing, health care, Food production and delivery systems, environmental                            justice, youth investment, immigration, senior rights and economic development, and

 

Whereas       in September of 2022 the Equity or Else Quality of Life National Platform was released as a living, breathing document that can be used to                          shape racial equity policy at the local and federal level, and

 

Whereas       the Equity or Else campaign is localizing this agenda in communities across the United States, and

 

Whereas       the Equity or Else campaign is calling on local and federal government to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to racial inequity, expressed                              through policy and practice.

 

                        Be it Resolved.

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This body is in support of the Equity or Else Quality of Life Platform as reflected by the passage of this resolution.

Racial inequity is not about a single issue, but a belief system that poisons every issue that impacts human life.

This resolution expresses a commitment to change that belief system by listening to the wisdom of

impacted communities to craft and pass transformative legislation that advances racial equity across issue.

To quote U.S. Congressman Jamal Bowman, “we say

Equity or Else because without Equity, you have FACISM.”