What I Needed…

By Joyce Davis

When it comes to politicians there are not many topics they can relate with everyday Americans on. For the most part most politicians are bred to be politicians. They come from families that put them in the right schools and get them connected with the right people and voila, a politician is born.

America is constructed of not just the rich but a variety of poor people and middle-class people that keep America functioning. The rich usually put people in power that advocate for them even though they don’t make up the country. Millionaires make up only seven percent of America but it is the millionaires and billionaires that push the direction of where our country is to go.
I am an American that grew up poor. I know what it is like to go hungry because you don’t have money for food. I know what it is like to be homeless and not have a home to call your own but hope that someone would have a place for you and your kids on their couch or on the floor to keep you from having to sleep outside with the elements. The question is how can the people in government give help to those they know nothing about? How can you tell someone what they should put up with when you yourself have never encountered anything of the sort?

The people in Congress and in the Senate are made up of rich people. People who do not usually have to make a decision on paying the light bill or paying rent. They usually do not have to rob Peter to pay Paul. I am not saying at all that they do not care but that they may not always understand what we go through.

Last year someone came to my view when she was running for office. Cori Bush. I say her name and I get choked up about her because of her story. She was an American that ended up homeless with two kids. She even had to sleep in her car at times with her kids. I hate to say that I did not think they would put her in office. I thought people wanted someone with means to represent them. No, she was not homeless when she ran for office but she did have that as part of her story. I am so glad to know that I was wrong. They embraced her. Her first run against Democrat Congressman Lacy Clay was unsuccessful in 2018 but she tried again in 2020 and came out victorious. Proving if you keep at it you can make a difference even though you are going against a twenty year veteran.

America is definitely going through some changes since Covid happened. Last year over 53 million people had to visit food lines. Some of these people for the very first time. Congress has had to do what they could to keep people from being evicted. For Republicans their talking points are usually “these people” did this to themselves so they should get out of it themselves. Not worth raising the national debt to help the poor.

Cori Bush did something we do not usually see in Congress. We see Congress people protest with others because they want to be seen standing up for the people but to my recollection I have never seen a Congress person sleep outside for days in order to protest for people who are about to be evicted. I saw her speaking to an interviewer so passionately on how she could not understand how Congress could leave when we had so many people about to lose their homes. “How can they go on vacation at a time like this?” she asked. I was in awe seeing her fighting for others when she could have easily gone home and sent out a million tweets on the subject for others to see how important this was to her.

She is what we need from our leaders. I don’t want to wish anyone to be homeless or food insecure but I do think they should all know what it is like to have those thoughts. These people in power convince us that they care about us and our needs so that we can put them in office but then get in office and have a million reasons why they could not get something done. Her protest was not the only reason Biden signed to protect people from evictions but it was noticed by Biden and the administration.

Thank you, Cori Bush, for standing up for those who barely have representation. Thank you for not just being a bunch of words that are meaningless. Thank you for putting yourself in a situation that could have been triggering all to support those who needed someone to speak for them. Thank you, Cori Bush, for being just what I needed to see. It is hard not to give up on politicians when they all have their own agendas and we Americans seem to be secondary. It was refreshing to see that you did not go home because America was more important to you.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]