Tag Archives: democracy

Why Midterms Matter | Protecting Our Vote Protects Our Future

Protecting Our Vote Protects Our Future

Protecting Our Vote Protects Our Future

It’s Time to Look Toward Midterm Elections, Where the Real Work Toward Preserving and Protecting Democracy Happens

Mia Lazo
November 5, 2025

 

With the 2025 off-year elections behind us and the 2026 midterm elections just one year away, it’s a good time to start looking ahead to next year’s election.

It may be easy to dismiss midterm elections as less important than presidential elections. But midterms are where so much of the real work of democracy happens. Governors, senators, representatives, mayors, and local officials all make decisions that ripple through our daily lives. Whether it is health care, education, housing, or infrastructure, these choices impact us directly. 

Mia Lazo, an environmental studies major at Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles and a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK's Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.)

Mia Lazo

Today, threats to voting are real, starting with barriers to voter registration. 

Voter registration is more than paperwork; it is a vital first step toward protecting our democracy and building the common good. The common good depends on broad participation. When more of us are registered and engaged, government decisions reflect the needs of the many, not just of the wealthy or politically powerful. 

But there are constant efforts to impose burdensome identification requirements to voter registration being proposed by the President, members of Congress, state legislatures, and before regulatory agencies. The single demand of requiring U.S. citizens to show in person a birth certificate, passport, or other document proving citizenship when they register or re-register to vote could bar from voting as many as 21 million U.S. citizens who don’t have these documents readily available. This attacks women, Immigrants, those affected by weather disasters, working people, and those living in rural communities. 

Even more troubling, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently banned registering new voters at citizenship ceremonies, a time when new Americans should be most welcomed into democratic life. Add to that the growing restrictions on mail-in ballots, such as reduced drop boxes and stricter ID requirements, and you see the trend: Some of our lawmakers protect the elite by making it harder for so many of us to exercise our basic right to vote. 

My family has our own story of what can happen when We the People don’t have a say in our own future. My parents fled to the U.S. to escape the oppressive and corrupt Marcos dictatorship of the Philippines. In 2022, the son of the former dictator was elected president, as the wealthy wanted to protect their interests. While billions of pesos went into fraudulent infrastructure projects, cities living without infrastructure continued to suffer devastating floods. Typhoons damaged farms, roads, and other infrastructure, affecting nearly 907,000 families, or more than 3.4 million people (about the population of Oklahoma). With landslides, flashfloods, electrocution, and drownings, communities saw their homes washed away while those in power enriched the pockets of their billionaire friends. This kind of corruption does not happen in a vacuum; it thrives when leaders face little accountability and when citizens are too discouraged to demand better.  

The same risks exist here in the United States. When fewer people vote, including in midterms, entrenched politicians have more room to cater to their donors rather than the communities they represent. Just as Filipino citizens watch their tax dollars vanish into the pockets of the elite, people in the U.S. face leaders who prioritize corporate lobbyists over working families. The connecting thread is clear: Unchecked political power always bends toward self-interest. Voting is how we check it. 

Democracy does not collapse in one dramatic moment; it unravels slowly when people disengage, when voters participation falls, and when power ends up in the hands of wealthy elites able to buy figureheads and power centers in the government. By the time citizens realize what they’ve lost, it can be too late. 

In Venezuela, democratic institutions were slowly hollowed out, one law and one election at a time. Leaders stacked the courts with loyalists, rewrote the constitution to expand executive power, and silenced opposition through censorship, harassment, and arrests. Elections became hollow performances to legitimize those already in power. The cost to ordinary citizens has been catastrophic. A country once among the wealthiest in South America now suffers from hyperinflation, poverty, and chronic shortages of food, medicine, and electricity. Millions have fled in search of stability, and those who remain endure long lines for basic goods, while corrupt elites live in luxury.

Here in the United States, we still have the tools to prevent that fate. Tanks in the streets may grab headlines, but the quieter erosion of voting rights is the greater danger. That is why registering now to vote for the 2026 midterms matters. Government leaders already line the pockets of their wealthy friends through tax cuts. But every voter registration represents a person who is ready to hold people in power accountable. Every ballot cast is a reminder that this country belongs to all of us, not just the privileged few.

The example of the Philippines shows us what happens when corruption goes unchecked. My family back home knows it more than anyone else. Venezuela reminds us how quickly democracy can unravel. But the U.S. has a chance to choose differently if we show up.  So,  please check your voter registration, start thinking about your voting plan for next November, and encourage your loved ones, your colleagues, your neighbors, and even the barista who makes your coffee to do the same.  

Visit vote411.org to register to vote, check your registration status, and more. 

Mia Lazo is an environmental studies major at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles and a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

Hispanic Heritage Promotes Democracy and Dignity

Hispanic Heritage Promotes Democracy and Dignity

 

My Responsibility is to Help Build a Future Where We All Have a Share in the Decisions That Shape Our Destiny

Jonathan Alcantara
October 6, 2025

 

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. The following is Part 2 of a two-part reflection by Jonathan Alcantara of Marquette University. (Read Part 1.)

Jonathan Alcantara, a 2025 Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK's Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.)

Jonathan Alcantara

In addition to undeniable economic and cultural contributions, the Latino community also participates powerfully in the democratic process. In particular, young Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic of voters, and our voices will shape the future elections. However, targeted voter suppression tactics like disinformation and misinformation, lack of access to absentee ballots, limited early voting, and bans on students using their school IDs at the polls continue to create barriers for young Latino voters.

So, over the past two years, I’ve served as a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow, working with other students and young adults in Wisconsin and across the country to foster a safe environment for civic engagement and support voter registration on our campuses. All of the meaningful conversations I’ve had with my peers on campus and with community leaders show and remind me that our democracy is stronger when we all participate and a lot weaker when we’re separated and pushed out.

Despite the inequalities, political tensions, and fearmongering, our lucha and resilience still define us. Across the nation this month, Latino communities are finding ways to gather and celebrate their heritage while navigating their fears. In cities like Chicago, Madison, and Appleton, Wisconsin, festivals celebrate with live music, dances, and traditional food. They also have workshops and representatives talking about healthcare, business inclusion, and professional leadership.

However, many events have scaled back and have even been postponed because of the possibility of immigration raids, but one thing’s for certain, seguimos unidos y en solidaridad, no matter the obstacles. Our culture is still alive not only in the happy moments but also in times when we must pivot, adapt, and continue showing up for one another through advocacy.

What ties all of this together is the set of values that go with the Latino community. We strongly believe in familia, dignidad, and oportunidad, which are values that anyone, regardless of their background and what they look like, can recognize as important. My Catholic faith reminds me that these are more than just cultural values; they are moral truths: that every person is made in the Imago Dei and deserves respect, freedom, and the chance to grow and thrive, no exceptions. In our faith, we say, cada persona es hijo de Dios, every person is a child of God. And that truth calls us to treat every person with the same dignity and respect.

Looking ahead, I see a hopeful future where our cultura is not only honored by others but fully integrated into the story of this country. A future where Latino students, like me, succeed in college without the barriers that are currently holding us back, where workers earn livable wages that match their contributions to our country, where families can live without the fear of leaving their house for five minutes, and where our voices are fully recognized in the public.

This vision is attainable, and this is why Hispanic Heritage Month matters. Is it about honoring culture? Yes. But it’s also about defending human dignity, expanding and growing economic opportunity, and strengthening our democracy. For me, Hispanic Heritage Month is both personal and shared. This month calls me to remember the resilience of those who came before me and to act with the knowledge of my responsibility for those who will come after me.

This month, I celebrate my heritage not only by remembering the past but by helping build a future where every family, Latino or not, can live, work, and thrive con fe, esperanza y orgullo, no exceptions.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

We Must Help Folks to Vote

We Must Help Folks to Vote

National Voter Registration Day Reminds Us That This Land is Our Land

Theresa Lindberg
September 16, 2025
Theresa Lindberg, a 2025 Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK's Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.)

Theresa Lindberg

I love folk music. My love first started in elementary school when my teacher played “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. With his simple melody and distinct tune, Woody galvanized the country with each line. His unifying message resonated with Americans, becoming an anthem for many Americans who felt the government wasn’t representing their interests. 

I think Woody knew something we all struggle to believe now: that we have collective power as people. But billionaires make this hard to believe when they are allowed almost entirely to fund political campaigns. After all, our elected officials are meant to represent us, not the top one percent, right? It’s important to keep this in mind on National Voter Registration Day (September 16).

No matter the amount of money in our bank account, we all value the freedom to choose our elected officials. But some politicians are supporting undemocratic legislation that favors their own interests over those of their constituents. Here’s the issue: our government system has become increasingly unresponsive to the needs of the people to win favor with the top one percent.

With increasing numbers of voter registration forms going missing, lost absentee ballots, and the consideration of restrictive voting bills like the SAVE Act, more marginalized groups, including rural communities, Black and Brown voters, folks with disabilities, and elderly people, are targeted. We all want to live in a world where each of these voices, including our own, is equally valued.

I saw this play out myself last fall when I helped register several hundred people to vote on my campus community here in Milwaukee. I had countless conversations with students and other community members who all said the same thing: registering to vote feels impossible.

And getting to the polls? Even harder. In the case of my friend Grace, we mailed in her request for an absentee ballot three months before the November 5 election and followed up with local election offices, calling the county clerk in both Milwaukee and Appleton.

She never received her ballot. I ended up driving her four hours round-trip so she could vote in person instead. But what would she have done without access to a friend’s car?

Unfortunately, due to the poor organization of absentee ballots and state laws that varied in their restrictions, many eligible voters were prevented from registering and blocked from the polls.

My belief in Catholic Social Justice teaching inspired me to serve as a voting rights advocate last fall. Whether we are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh, people of faith value representative democracy. We know what’s happening is wrong, but together we can protect our right to representation.

I especially like this line in Woody Guthrie’s song, “this land was made for you and me”. Together, we can protect our right to vote! Today, on National Voter Registration Day, let’s remind each other to get registered and to make it to the polls in November. By doing so, we continue to build the beloved community where our shared values are at the center.  

So, this National Voter Registration Day, put on some Woody Guthrie or your favorite folk singer and do your part. Call a friend to catch up and ask if they are registered! Have you changed addresses recently? Check your own status; it might have changed. And don’t forget our power as a collective. After all, this land is your land, and this land is my land. 

Theresa Lindberg is a student at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee and a returning Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.). 

Forfeit Not Your Soul

Forfeit Not Your Soul

Authoritarian Takeover of DC is a Crisis for Racial Justice and Democracy

Min. Christian S. Watkins
August 29, 2025

As I stood and bore witness to the Braddock’s Rock unhoused encampment behind the U.S. Institute for Peace of all places, I held a sign that read “What’s This Cost You? Mark 8:36,” referencing Jesus’ question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Concerned clergy and service provider staff convened on August 14 to assisted unhoused neighbors as they relocated. In doing so, we witnessed the crime of Christ being evicted – a violation of our sacred call to care for all people.

In recent weeks, the poorest residents of the city of Washington, D.C.—the heart of U.S. democracy—are being disappeared from our communities: tents torn down and belongings discarded, communities of resilient survival scattered like dust in the wind.

Clergy and service provider staff gather as the Braddock's Rock unhoused encampment is cleared on Aug. 14.

Min. Christian S. Watkins, (second from left) of the NETWORK Government Relations Team joins other clergy and service provider staff as the Braddock’s Rock homeless encampment is cleared on Aug. 14. The move came as part of President Trump’s militarized takeover of Washington, D.C.

And it didn’t stop there. After President Trump issued the Executive Order, collaborating law enforcement agencies intentionally targeted Black and Brown youth navigating the Metro and traversing D.C.’s streets working to deliver food.

The Trump administration wielded emergency powers to unnecessarily federalize the Metropolitan Police Department, deploying National Guard troops and slowly dismantling our sanctuary protections. They initially targeted our unhoused neighbors but soon expanded their scope to hyper-militarize and surveil Black and Brown youth and communities with merciless force. This naked display of power is sinful. God says, “Woe to those who trample on the poor.” (Amos 5:11) 

With President Trump naming only cities with Black mayors for future militarized takeover, it is clear that this is all a manufactured assault on Black political power – as well as a rehearsal for broader authoritarianism to envelop our country. This would decimate our collective future built on Constitutional aspirations and promises.

This unneeded hyper-militarization of a peaceful city is designed to send an authoritarian message rather than address any legitimate community needs. Rather than nurture democracy and the systemically disenfranchised, this misguided show of force is a distraction, a calculated attempt to shift the nation’s gaze away from far more dire crises:

  • Skyrocketing inflation and the international devaluation of the U.S. dollar, which erodes working families’ purchasing power. 
  • Administration ineptitude and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) failures, which leaves core agencies leaderless and ineffective, costing taxpayers more than the agency ever purported to strive to save. 
  • Cratering political support at home and abroad, as allies question America’s stability and credibility as a world leader, much less a moral authority. 

When leaders are cornered by their own failings, they often reach for the oldest tool in the autocrat’s playbook: stoke fear, unleash the military, and change the subject. This takeover is not happening in a vacuum. It is fueled by a Christian nationalist ideology that seeks to merge political power with a narrow, exclusionary version of Christianity.  

True Christian witness calls us to loving service grounded in humility and justice lending to liberation, not to bless state power when it tramples our neighbors, the people Christ admonished us to protect, serve, and defend and the integrity of the Church. If we do not name and resist it, we risk turning the cross of Christ into a banner for empire. 

As people of faith and moral courage, we MUST resist. 

Catholics and faithful allies committed to the common good know you cannot speak of justice when local police accountability is replaced by federal chains of command that answer political power, not community needs. You cannot claim security while criminalizing poverty and erasing the humanity of the unhoused.  

True justice cannot be militaristic or top down. It must be rooted in restorative, community-based care. The federalized, militarized response fractures trust and undermines local accountability. Faithful communities must speak truth to power.

Why We Need An Economy for All

Why We Need An Economy for All

Despite Major Setbacks Under the Trump Administration,
the Vision of a Better Tomorrow is Clear as Ever

Jane Sutter
Second Quarter 2025

Just five days before the inauguration of President Trump, NETWORK unveiled its An Economy for All policy agenda in a webinar that attracted more than 2,100 registrants. The agenda demands that elected leaders deliver what our communities need to thrive:

  • Jobs with paid leave and wages that cover our bills, retirement, and more
  • Affordable housing, food, and health care
  • Safe and welcoming neighborhoods
  • Clean air and water
  • A just tax code that ensures the wealthy pay their fair share
  • A just and humane immigration system
  • A politics responsive to the people, not the money
Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Interim Executive Director, speaks at an Ash Wednesday prayer service calling for a compassionate federal budget, March 5 on Capitol Hill. Photo: Catherine Gillette

Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Interim Executive Director, speaks at an Ash Wednesday prayer service calling for a compassionate federal budget, March 5 on Capitol Hill.
Photo: Catherine Gillette

In introducing the agenda, NETWORK Interim Executive Director Joan F. Neal noted, “We all recognize that these are challenging times for our country. Our democracy, our vision of a free, diverse, inclusive, pluralistic country is on the line, starting now.”

The challenging times became even more apparent as Trump enacted his “shock and awe” campaign and the House of Representatives narrowly passed its budget plan on Feb. 25 that extends previous tax cuts to billionaires and threatens to undo important safety net programs.

As the drama unfolded in Washington, NETWORK friends and collaborators witnessed the implications for their work on the ground.

Politics responsive to the people

When Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith, talks about activism,

Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith, participates in an Oct. 1 roundtable discussion in Allentown, Pa. During the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour.

Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER
Interfaith, participates in an Oct. 1 roundtable discussion in Allentown, Pa. During the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

he quotes Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortation of “the fierce urgency of now.”

A multi-regional, multi-faith, multi-class, multi-generational movement, building politically progressive organizations and working with more than 400 congregations in the Philadelphia area, the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania, POWER’s focus is on local and state issues (wages, equitable school funding, renewable energy, and more). However, Edwards calls proposals at the federal level “disastrous, [and] at the same time it’s also a distraction because people are panicking.”

What citizens need from the federal government, said Edwards, is a higher minimum wage and access to quality and affordable health care, housing, and schools.
“What we know to be true is that things only change when people, ordinary people, actually begin to organize and lift up their voices and not only vote but are able to, by the thousands, move their legislators…to a position that is in their own best interests, regardless of who’s in the White House.”

A just tax code

Tax policy expert Sarah Christopherson traveled with Nuns on the Bus & Friends “Vote Our Future” tour this past fall. She delivered a strong message: “Never let anyone tell you that we can’t afford to take care of our people, that we can’t afford to feed the hungry, that we can’t afford to have a good education for our children, that we can’t afford to get homes and have living wages, because there is so much money untaxed right now, and some of it will never go taxed, among the billionaire class.”

Sarah Christopherson is a tax justice advocate, seen here on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour.

Sarah Christopherson is a tax justice advocate, seen here on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Christopherson points out that there are 815 people in the U.S. who are billionaires (according to an analysis of Forbes magazine data). “They are collectively worth six trillion dollars. You could tax them and still leave each one of them with a billion dollars and simultaneously have universal pre-K, have free school lunch, have full Medicaid coverage…It’s phenomenal what you could do, and they would still be billionaires.”

Christopherson describes how Republicans in Congress seek to renew tax for the ultra-rich and pay for them with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, education, and health care subsidies and the threat of not curtailing the excess hoarding of wealth.

Protect people seeking asylum

At the Kino Border Initiative’s (KBI) Migrant Outreach Center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, staff and asylum seekers quickly saw the effects of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures. About 270,000 people who had registered for appointments at a Port of Entry to the United States were stranded in Mexico, according to statistics compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy organization.

Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, of Kino Border Institute signs the Bus during the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends site visit to the U.S-Mexico Border. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, of Kino Border Institute signs the Bus during the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends site visit to the U.S-Mexico Border. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

KBI offers meals, shelter, clothing, legal and psychological assistance, and more. KBI Feedback Coordinator Sr. Maria Engracia Robles, ME, said through an interpreter, “All those Americans who have a good heart should understand the migrants in the U.S. are not criminals.” They are working in jobs such as agriculture, jobs that American citizens don’t want to do. “They are people of faith, they are working people.”

The reasons for migration have changed in recent years, Sr. Engracia said. Formerly, most migrants were seeking employment in the U.S. In recent years, migrants are families fleeing from violence or persecution. Despite recent events, the center’s clients remain hopeful, Sr. Engracia said. “They are hopefully waiting, God improves their lives,” and waiting patiently. “They are very sad but very strong at the same time.”

Jobs with fair wages

With the new Administration and Congress, Ani Halasz is greatly concerned that workers will struggle even more to make ends meet. Halasz is executive director at Long Island Jobs with Justice (LIJWJ), which works with labor unions, faithbased and other organizations, and activists to create living wage jobs, support worker organizing, and demand corporate accountability. The group’s mission aligns with NETWORK’s 2025 agenda – building an economy that works for all.

“We’ve known for a really long time that wealth inequality was destabilizing for democracies, but it didn’t feel urgent. … Now we’re to the point that you can’t deny it anymore.”

A top concern for Halasz is the status of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In January, Trump fired the only female board member, leaving the board without a quorum. In February, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the shuttering of regional NLRB offices. The move will “make it almost impossible for us to protect the rights of workers in the future,” Halasz said. “It will be increasingly hard for workers to organize labor unions, because there won’t be an agency overseeing that, there won’t be a federal act protecting workers’ rights to organize.”

Other threats include a chilling effect on workers coming forward about wage theft and other exploitation, as well as Medicaid requirements that impose work requirements and exclude many immigrants.

“What we’re seeing happening right now in this country is the rolling back of almost every protection in this country that we fought for.”

Clean air and water

When Curtis Da’Von meets with citizens, his goal is to help them understand how things are connected between our environment and our everyday experiences. As part of his work as Southwest Pennsylvania Organizing Director for Clean Water Action, a national organization, he educates the community—including who have lost a loved one to violence—about the dangers of environmental lead on children and its connection to behavioral and developmental problems.

Curtis Da’Von of Clean Water Action gets a selfie with the Bus at the Oct. 5, 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends rally in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

Curtis Da’Von of Clean Water Action gets a selfie with the Bus at the Oct. 5, 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends rally in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios

“So often in communities of color, there’s issues of high violence and crime. So you can start to connect the dots,” he says. “You can literally look at a map and areas that are high in lead are high in crime.”

The Pittsburgh area, where Da’Von works, already lacks enough government funding to cover the needs to remove lead from homes. Funding cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency further jeopardize their work.

Staying hopeful

Pope Francis’s exhortation that people be “Pilgrims of Hope” in this jubilee year has become a rallying cry for NETWORK and its volunteers. As Neal expressed to webinar attendees, “Let us be inspired to move to action, and as we do, let us call upon the God we know we can depend upon to carry us through today, tomorrow, and however long it takes.”

For More Information:
Clean Water Action
Kino Border Initiative
Long Island Jobs with Justice 
POWER Interfaith
Sarah Christopherson 

Jane Sutter is a freelance journalist based in Rochester, N.Y., and is part of NETWORK’s New York Advocates team.

This story was published in the Quarter 2 2025 issue of Connection.

Stay Rooted for Action

Stay Rooted for Action

In Community With One Another, We Can Endure These Scary Times

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP

Over the past few months, I’ve spent some time with people across the country who really care. They are outraged and frustrated by the things they see every day from the Trump administration as they attack the funding our communities rely on, send ICE to raid our towns, give our data to private interests, and more.

NETWORK Advocates and others across the country want to make a difference. Many also express feeling overwhelmed and struggling to find hope. Many of us want to call for more from those who are supposed to represent us — from our elected officials to leaders in the church. Amidst what feels like a daily onslaught of bad news, what is ours to do? Here are some practices and reminders for staying rooted and active:

Ground yourself

This Administration wants us to feel overwhelmed and discouraged so that we won’t be motivated to push back against their power-grabs. That’s precisely why they are pushing their agenda forward with such speed.

Take a moment each day to ground yourself. Take a deep breath. Remind yourself that in this moment you are safe. Staying grounded and in a parasympathetic emotional state will enable you to be more effective in the work you are doing. Recognize that you are part of a bigger whole. At the same time, you are one person. One person doesn’t change the world alone. By trying to do it all, you will burn yourself out, and we can’t afford that!

Act from where you are

Maybe you’re surrounded by people who feel very differently than you. Perhaps your job is to build authentic connections with them, learn from them, and sow small seeds of relationship that might open up something new. Or maybe you’re mostly in relationship with people who share your perspective. Invite them to join you in taking action. Thinking together doesn’t change things; acting together does.

Set realistic expectations

We don’t have to look for big actions that will have big results. Focus on small actions that will have small results – and then do them regularly. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) said, “There is no action too small because when we all act together, even in small ways, it adds up to something huge.”

Do your part and nobody else’s

You are not alone. You are part of a wide community of people working to make this country a place where everyone can thrive. Our faith assures us that our work today is part of a bigger picture of God’s justice.

We have to share the workload. Each person doing their own part well allows us together to do great things well. It could be going to a lobby visit, writing a letter to the editor, donating your time or money, or distributing Know Your Rights pamphlets at your parish. Start by looking for one concrete thing you feel called to do and focus on that. Trust that other people also really care and are doing their parts as best they can.

Focus on action, not fear

What is happening in our country is scary. But autocrats rely on fear. Their power is built on illusion and intimidation. They have no power if we refuse to be intimidated. At the end of the day, we have to choose compassion and solidarity over fear. As the first letter of John says, “Perfect love casts out fear!”

Find joy, celebrate successes

Though there will be setbacks along the way, there will also be successes. For example, our collective pressure recently forced the Trump administration to roll back their devastating federal funding freeze. Even if temporary, these wins matter! No matter how small, celebrate those successes. Find joy in the community you’re building. These are the things that will sustain us.

Find compassion

The Administration’s actions are hateful, and we must answer with compassion. Find compassion, including for yourself and those around you. Reach out and check in on neighbors. We don’t need people showing up perfectly. We just need to show up.

Collaborate

Connect with other groups in your local area. Attend their events and build relationships there. And then invite folks you meet there (and folks you already know) to join you for NETWORK events. That’s how we keep growing and stay connected and effective! Friends, when we act together, we have enormous power. Our pressure is working, so we must keep it up. Together.

This story was published in the Quarter 2 2025 issue of Connection.

Juneteenth 2025: Black Liberation Demands Truth, Repair and Justice

Juneteenth 2025: Black Liberation Demands Truth

Min. Christian S. Watkins, Government Relations Advocate
June 18, 2025
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” — Pope Francis 

I grew up before Juneteenth was a federal holiday; it was a cherished time for family reunion. Kinfolk from all over Texas, northern Louisiana, and other cities of the U.S. Black diaspora would come together. I remember the BBQ and the trail rides, the laughter and love celebrated amongst each other — even as we slaughtered each other at the dominoes or spades tables — all culminating in communal worship at the closest family church. I never knew that people outside of Texas didn’t know what Juneteenth was, let alone had the blessing to celebrate family, safety, and survival as we did.

Some of my fondest memories were cultivated at Juneteenth reunions, and they planted in me strong values of freedom, solidarity, and community. Even though many don’t gather and celebrate as families from diverse areas now because we’re mainly struggling to make ends meet and survive daily challenges, the values are still deeply rooted within.

No matter our color, zip code, or what’s in our wallets, we all want to live in a nation where every person is treated with dignity, where families can thrive, and where truth shapes justice. That vision is sacred—and it’s one Black Americans have long fought to bring into being.

This Juneteenth, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice joins the celebration of Black liberation and resilience in the United States. We honor the ancestors whose lives were sacrificed and those who survived the chains of slavery, the freedom fighters who defied Jim Crow, and the generations of movement builders who continue to press forward in bending the long moral arc more toward justice. And today, we are grateful for the fierce advocacy and legislative efforts of Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Summer Lee, Hank Johnson; Sen. Cory Booker; and others. Together with our communities, they are continuing to push for Reparatory Justice and carrying forward the legacies of the late Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and John Conyers. The congressional briefing on May 13th on “Why We Can’t Wait: Advancing Reparative Justice in Our Lifetime” was a testament to the collaborative efforts to make justice happen. Their individual and collective work over decades has won rights and protections that uplift all of us. (See below to learn more about current reparatory justice legislation.)

But full freedom has never been fully delivered. Our celebration is not complete without a call to action. Juneteenth is not only a commemoration of delayed freedom, but also a demand for complete freedom. And complete freedom requires truth-telling and repair of past harms, and a commitment to present and future equity.

A Juneteenth Commitment to Truth and Repair

For over 150 years, many lawmakers have chosen policies that have denied Black Americans the full promises of emancipation. Economic justice, political equality, and social dignity were promised—but never delivered. This Juneteenth, we recommit to changing that.

The Urgency in 2025: Threats to Our Freedoms and Black Dignity Today

Some politicians, including the current Administration, are working to divide us by race and distract us from their true agenda: hoarding power and wealth while cutting off our communities from what we need to thrive. By targeting Black communities, these lawmakers weaken our whole country.

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has engaged in:

  • Civil Rights Erosion and Equity Rollback: President Trump’s Executive Order 14151 has abolished federal diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates, while key civil rights enforcement arms in agencies like Education and HUD face debilitating cuts, revoking decades of equity progress.
  • Defunding of Essential Services: The Administration’s budget proposals slash funding for HUD by 43%, dismantle Head Start programs, and eliminate public housing support—threatening Black families, single mothers, elders, and children across the country.
  • Economic Assault: In addition to HUD disruption, education and health programs face devastating cuts, displacing families and widening the racial wealth gap.
  • Police Accountability Reversals: Consent decrees and oversight agreements in cities like Minneapolis and Louisville have been canceled, signaling a retreat from justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others.
  • Public Servants Purged: President Trump has arbitrarily removed over 130,000 public servants—many of them Black, Brown, and women— for not passing ideological loyalty tests. This undermines decades of equity in hiring and workforce stability, and ruins the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
  • Environmental Racism Neglect: The Trump administration has gutted the EPA’s environmental justice initiatives, despite overwhelming data showing that polluting corporations deliberately build toxic facilities in Black communities, polluting their air, water, and land.
  • Cultural Suppression: Artists are being surveilled and prosecuted for their speech, while courts strip away protections from state violence.

These attacks harm everyone, but especially the dignity, freedom, and futures of Black communities. They are not just policy differences—they are a systemic assault on justice, truth, and human life. In this context, reparations are not only just—they are urgent.

A Continued Faithful Response is Necessary

As Catholics, we are called to repair what has been broken. We believe in resurrection power—that new life is possible even after the most morally-reprehensible, state-sanctioned death. In this nation, crucifixion has fallen most heavily on Black bodies. Juneteenth is a resurrection moment—proof that even after the deepest injustice, new life is possible.

Our tradition teaches that truth must precede reconciliation, and that repair is a spiritual discipline. As Pope Francis reminds us, “Every human being is precious.” That sacredness demands a public reckoning with the truth and a commitment to systemic transformation, so that all of us can thrive.

The Catholic tradition compels us to address injustices directly. In particular, the Catholic Social Justice principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, the common good, and the preferential option for the poor are not theological abstractions—they are mandates for action.

Our Call to Action

This Juneteenth, NETWORK calls on Congress and the President to:

  • Declare that racial repair is not optional—but essential to the soul of our nation.
  • Pass H.R. 40 and the Reparations NOW Resolution.
  • Enact the TRHT, Tulsa-Greenwood, RAP, and G.I. Restoration Acts. (See below to learn more).

We also call on Catholics and people of faith to:

  • Celebrate Black dignity with more than words—with policy, action, and repair.
  • Pray for the courage to speak uncomfortable truths and pursue bold justice.
  • Preach the truth of Juneteenth—not just as history, but as present-day struggle.
  • Lobby and organize for reparatory justice in parishes, schools, and communities.

Juneteenth is not just a day of remembrance—it is a holy invitation.
Let us finish the work.
Let justice roll. Let truth rise. Let freedom be full.

Amen.

Reparatory justice is a comprehensive vision of thriving communities. We renew our urgent support for a suite of reparatory justice legislation, including:
  • H.R. 40/S.40 – Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act of 2025 – Reintroduced in the House on January 3rd by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, with over original 70 co-sponsors. Reintroduced in the Senate on January 9th by Sen. Cory Booker.
  • H.Res.414 – The Reparations NOW Resolution of 2025 – sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee, introduced on May 15th – A declaration that the time for study is over and the time for federal action on reparations is now. Press release, photos, and videos.
  • S.Con.Res.19/H.Con.Res.44 – The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Commission Resolution of 2025 – co-sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker & Rep. Jasmine Crockett – A national commission for truth-telling, racial healing, and transformation that names 1619 as the founding wound.
  • S.1051 – Historic Greenwood District – Black Wall Street National Monument Establishment Act of 2025 – Introduced on March 13th co-sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. James Lankford.
  • H.R. 1725/S. 3257 – G.I. Bill (Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren of the Institutionalized Generation) Restoration Act of 2025/2023, introduced on February 27th and sponsored Rep. Seth Moulton in the House, and by Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2023 in the Senate, the bill will deliver G.I. Bill benefits to descendants of Black WWII veterans unjustly denied support, unlocking opportunities long withheld.
  • H.R. 2952 – Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson – Protecting Black artists from the criminalization of cultural expression in a federal criminal or civil case.
  • H.R. 3466 – The Tulsa-Greenwood Claims Accountability Act of 2021, sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson – A remedy for descendants of the 1921 massacre, restoring access to courts and justice.

These are not radical proposals—they reflect the heart of Catholic Social Teaching: the call to human dignity, solidarity, and the preferential option for the poor. As a Catholic organization committed to justice, we proclaim that reparations are not a radical idea—they are a moral obligation, and our only path to a future of freedom for all of us.

Take Our Juneteenth Field Pledge

In the light of truth, I confess the destructive reality of racism—not with shame, but with responsibility and hope.

I remember the wounds of slavery, segregation, and stolen opportunity.
I affirm: Black lives are sacred. Black history is American history.
As taught by Catholic Social Teaching, every person bears the Imago DEI—God’s sacred and uniquely diverse image—and justice demands both acknowledgment and repair.

I renounce comfort that comes at the cost of another’s suffering.
I choose solidarity over silence, truth over denial, and reparations as a necessary act of restorative justice.

Rooted in the dignity of all people and the call to the common good, I recommit to the long work of racial healing, to honoring Juneteenth not with sentiment, but with action.

By God’s grace, I will journey in truth.
By Christ’s help, I will labor in love.
By the Holy Spirit’s power, I will stay in the struggle—until justice rolls down for all.

Amen.

Laudato Si’ at 10 Years: A Decade of Prophetic Witness for Our Common Home

Laudato Si’ at 10 Years:

A Decade of Prophetic Witness for Our Common Home

Drake Starling
June 5, 2025

Ten years ago, Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato si’, shook the world and stirred the consciences ofPope Francis Appears before crowd people across faiths, beliefs, and the world. Pope Francis invited us into a radical reflection on how we relate to the Earth, to one another, and to the generations yet to come.

Laudato si’ was a clarion call to conversion—ecological, spiritual, economic, and political. And 10 years later, its message has only grown more urgent.

A Prophetic Vision

Pope Francis did not merely write about climate change — he extended a call for climate justice. It was a call about dignity. It was a call about systems. He named the ecological crisis not as a technical problem with a technical solution, but as a moral crisis born of the “throwaway culture” that treats both the Earth and its most vulnerable people as disposable.

Francis called for an “integral ecology,” one that recognizes the deep interconnectedness between environmental destruction and social injustice. As he framed it: “The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” are one and the same. Pope Francis put forth a vision of our future in which all creation, including humanity, thrives. This vision spans from breathable air, clean water, and healthy soil to clean energy systems, dignified jobs with good conditions and wages, and quality education, health care, and housing for all.

That vision changed the game. It catalyzed action among Catholic institutions and beyond: schools divested from fossil fuels, parishes installed solar panels, and Catholic climate activists joined movements demanding systemic change—from local resilience efforts to global climate negotiations.

Where Are We Now?

Ten years on, the planet is hotter, and the climate crisis is accelerating. Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities—those who have contributed the least to global emissions—suffer the harshest consequences of climate-related disasters, like wildfires, floods, and droughts. All the while, fossil fuel corporate executives, their lobbyists, and the politicians they bankroll continue to block meaningful solutions so they can keep on polluting and profiting. In fact, instead of protecting people and the planet, they hoard profits and power—leaving frontline communities to pay the price.

This is what we are witnessing today, as the Trump administration and some lawmakers in Congress try to slash funds for clean energy programs and roll back regulations for clean air and clean water for their own greedy reasons.

Yet, there is hope.

The spirit of Laudato si’ is alive. It’s alive in Indigenous land defenders resisting deforestation. It’s in young people demanding climate action. It’s in Catholic Sisters’ growing community gardens and doing advocacy work in Congress. It’s in the international Laudato Si’ Action Platform, where Catholic institutions commit to a just ecological transition. It’s in public and low-income housing where the Inflation Reduction Act funds programs to replace unsafe gas appliances with clean energy units. It’s in Catholic parishes across the country with Laudato Tree and Care for Creation teams.

And, it’s alive at NETWORK. In 2022, we successfully advocated for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA moved us into action for climate justice. It delivered well-paying green jobs, growth in solar and wind energy marketplaces, and more. Today, we’re working to protect and expand the progress of the IRA.

A Challenge for the Next Decade

As we mark this milestone, we must resist the temptation to sentimentalize Laudato si’. It was—and remains—a disruptive document. A holy provocation. A moral compass in a time of ecological unraveling.

In Laudate Deum, his 2023 follow-up encyclical, Pope Francis reminds us that the time for reflection has passed. Now is the time for bold action. His urgent call demanded that we confront the systems of power blocking change and act with those on the frontlines of ecological and human suffering.

NETWORK’s An Economy for All policy agenda responds to Pope Francis’ call. Guided by our agenda, we are together advocating for policies that make it possible for all of us to live with dignity—with clean air and water, dignified jobs and wages, and political systems responsive to the people, not to those with the most money.

Will we move beyond words to put this vision into action? Will we choose fossil fuel phaseouts over false solutions? Will we center the voices of those in poverty, the young, and the marginalized in our climate decisions? Will we let the Earth rest?

We owe it to our children. To the Earth. To our Creator.

A call to action on the 10th anniversary of Laudato si’
  1. Call your members of Congress and tell them to protect the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits. These vital investments help fight climate change, reduce harmful pollution, and build a future where all can thrive — especially those most impacted by environmental injustice.
  2. Share Laudato si’ with 10 people.
  3. Join your congregation’s care for creation efforts (or work with others to start one).
  4. Read about efforts to bring environmental justice to communities besieged by climate harm, like this one about Black women in Louisiana taking on polluters.
  5. Learn more about environmental injustice in your community with the environmental justice data project action portal.

As Pope Francis wrote, “All it takes is one good person to restore hope.” May we be many.

Welcome, Y.A.L.L.

Welcome, Y.A.L.L.

Young Advocates Leadership Lab Promotes Political Engagement on College Campuses

Jane Sutter
September 5, 2024

Baylee Fingerhut, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, is one of ten students in NETWORK’s new Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.) Y.A.L.L. serves as a training space for faithful young adults to build the skills needed to be advocates for justice in the world today. Photo: Min. Christian Watkins.

When Baylee Fingerhut, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, read about a new program seeking college students to become advocates for social justice, she was intrigued.

“I thought how amazing it would be to be a part of that, not just something that would help me grow my professional skills and help me network but to be part of something so impactful, like this inaugural group of youth leaders who want to go out and advocate and make a change,” she says.

Fingerhut is part of the first cohort of ten students in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab. Y.A.L.L. is a leadership and advocacy skills development program for college students, serving as a training space for faithful young adults to build the skills needed to be advocates for justice.

Building Up Y.A.L.L.

 

Over the years, NETWORK has offered training for college students, but Y.A.L.L. offers a new, deeper level of engagement with young justice seekers. It’s a natural outgrowth of NETWORK’s vision to mobilize a diverse national movement of justice-seekers.

For Fingerhut, a public policy major, the opportunity to participate in Y.A.L.L. has given her the opportunity to both advocate for others and “do the grassroots, boots-on-the-ground work” such as registering fellow students to vote and having conversations with students about why their vote matters, she says.

Choosing the ten students for the inaugural class of Y.A.L.L. was a competitive process as 60 students applied, according to Chelsea Puckett, NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Outreach and Education Specialist, who acts as the convenor and staff liaison for the program.

Recruitment involved outreach to Catholic Sisters, advocates, and colleges where NETWORK had a relationship, as well as utilizing online tools for making professional connections with college students.

“We wanted to build a cohort of people to adhere to NETWORK’s mission of working for justice and equity for all people,” Puckett says.

Diversity of all kinds was an important factor. Not all the students are Catholic, but as part of the interview process, students were asked how their values, faith, or morals drive their advocacy work.

“We wanted to be inclusive of all different belief systems and backgrounds,” Puckett says.

Y.A.L.L. runs in two 13-week phases. The first phase took place from March into May, followed by a summer hiatus. The second phase will run from August into November. Each student commits to five hours per week and receives a competitive stipend.

Engaging With College Students

Katie Crump, left, and Anna Kopsick of the University of Dayton pose with the 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, the central resource of NETWORK’s voter education campaign. Crump, class of 2025, is a member of NETWORK’s Y.A.L.L. cohort.

With Y.A.L.L.’s focus in 2024 being voter education and mobilization, in the spring, students hosted voter registration drives on their campuses, staffing tables in prominent campus locations, such as outside a student center or inside a cafeteria. They used the opportunity to introduce the 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, NETWORK’s multi-issue voter education resource, to their peers.

At Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Y.A.L.L. leader Kaila Crouch and Puckett helped students check online to see if they were registered to vote.

“It’s something you don’t really think about until, unfortunately, it might be too late,” Crouch says. She notes that students who registered to vote at the Y.A.L.L. table seemed relieved and made comments such as, “Wow. I’m happy this is checked off on my list of things to do.”

Crouch, who will return to campus in the fall to study for an MBA, and Puckett also visited a leadership and development class of senior students to discuss multi-issue voting.

Y.A.L.L. participant Imani McClammy, majoring in political science at Barry University in Miami, Fla., enjoyed teaching fellow students about multi-issue voting, quoting a line she learned from Puckett: “We’re multi-issue voters because we live multi-issue lives.” She told students how true that is. “I care about housing, I care about education, I care about minimum wage. These are all things that impact our lives.”

Imani McClammy, class of 2026, Barry University, Miami

Participating in the Y.A.L.L. program has been revelatory, several participants say. Theresa Lindberg, a freshman majoring in English literature and Spanish at Mt. Mary University in Milwaukee, Wis., says she discovered in talking with students that “some people just are not going to be interested in voting.”

McClammy says she believes the biggest challenge on her campus is explaining to students why voting matters. When she hears students say, “I don’t like politics,” she tries to explain: “Your life is full of political issues, even if you don’t think so.” McClammy researches laws or potential legislation to use as examples of what affects students’ lives, and she encourages them to find out what legislation the candidates support.

Puckett says the on-campus experience has been revealing. “Students are busy people,” she notes. “To hear what issues matter to them based on what they’re studying or their lived experiences was really insightful as we continue this work with young people.”

Breaking Through the Noise

Chelsea Puckett of NETWORK assists a student during an on-campus voter registration event at the University of Mount Mary in Milwaukee. Y.A.L.L. events on campuses will focus on voter awareness and engagement.

A key part of the Y.A.L.L. initiative is the weekly virtual trainings offered to the participants and conducted mostly by NETWORK staff. For the spring effort, students participated in a variety of workshops, including how to conduct a voter registration drive, multi-issue voting, breaking through the election noise, deep canvassing and door knocking, and appropriate use of social media.

One key training was on how to have difficult conversations with fellow students who have different viewpoints. The Y.A.L.L. participants did roleplay to practice, Puckett says.

Lindberg says those exercises were valuable “because we live in such a polarized country.” McClammy agreed. “Doing that workshop helped me more in having those difficult conversations and always finding a way to tie it back to Y.A.L.L.’s mission—being multi-issue voters.”

Y.A.L.L. participants also spent time in the spring laying the groundwork for campus initiatives in the fall. This included forming partnerships with appropriate student groups, campus ministries, and political science professors. The core mission for the fall will be get-out-the-vote efforts, so students are planning voter registration drives at orientation events for freshmen and transfer students. They’ll also knock on doors in student housing and off-campus apartments.

Ishara Baez, a student in the class of 2025 at the University of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx, NY, is among the ten students participating in NETWORK’s Y.A.L.L. program.

Y.A.L.L. students will inquire if students have a plan to vote and if they have a way to get to the polls. For those hesitant to get involved in the democratic process, students will use their conversational skills to try to convince them to do so.

Puckett notes that NETWORK’s involvement on campuses has been met with a warm welcome. “We plan for these to be sustainable relationships over many, many years,” she says. A new cohort will be selected for 2025, Puckett says.

Fingerhut, at St. Joseph’s University, says she already had some background in Catholic social justice, having learned about it in classes, but she had never seen a tie-in with politics. Participating in Y.A.L.L. has been “transformative to see it come to life on a stage such as a federal election.”

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.) here. 

 

Jane Sutter is a freelance journalist based in Rochester, N.Y., and is part of the NETWORK Advocates team in New York State.

This story was published in the Quarter 3 2024 issue of Connection.

 

Presidential Debate Bingo!

2024 Presidential Debate Bingo!

Use NETWORK’s BINGO card to follow along the Presidential Debate on September 10

September 5, 2024

Who doesn’t like a good game of bingo while watching a debate?!

Presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will have their first debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 10 at 9:00 PM EDT on ABC. You can also watch the debate on Disney+ and Hulu.

Join NETWORK, our partners, and advocates across the country in watching the debate and playing BINGO along the way! While most bingo cards contain numbered squares, NETWORK’s nonpartisan bingo card features policies and actions that will bring us toward a future where everyone thrives, no exceptions. As you watch the debate, mark off any squares on your bingo card that you hear a candidate mention!  

Download and print out the 2024 Presidential Debate Bingo Card.

The 2024 election poses a critical choice to our country: will we choose a future where everyone thrives? You can use the bingo card to help you track what the candidates have to say on the issues, and discern how your vote will protect and expand a flourishing, multiracial, multi-faith democracy for all.

Don’t forget to let us know on social media if you score a BINGO! Post a photo of your bingo card and tag us at @network_lobby on Instagram or @NETWORKLobby on Facebook, and use hashtags like #MultiIssueVoter or #VoteOurFuture.

Download and print out the 2024 Presidential Debate Bingo Card.

Learn more about the issues and freedoms at stake this election with NETWORK’s Equally Sacred Checklist.

After you watch the debate… 

Vote Our Future logoMake a plan to VOTE! Head to NETWORK’s Be a Voter page to check your voter registration status, find your voting information, make a voting plan, and tell your family and friends to vote, too!