Seemingly overnight, COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. However, in the united states, one of the many things our federal, state, and local governments have failed at is responding rapidly to the needs of the most vulnerable citizens who otherwise have no protections in the midst of this global pandemic. These communities being: BIPOC, trans and queer people, sex workers, unhoused people, IV drug users, and—perhaps most importantly—the people who exist at all of these intersections. Community organizers around the country are taking action to provide mutual aid, but that work—while vital—does not make up for the work our governments are failing to do.
As a result of this, many people around the country have released—either as one organization or a coalition of organizations and citizens—demands to local governments insisting that they do the necessary work of caring for and providing for their citizens. Or dealing with next level civil unrest until they do.
From occupying abandoned homes, to demanding moratoriums on rent, mortgage, utilities, and other payments; from calling for a reduced police presence in poor and Black neighborhoods, to demanding moratoriums and delayed arrests of people who commit minor offenses and the release of all people in ICE detention centers.
Here is a developing list of organizations around the country and their demands for their respective governments. This list will be updated as frequently as new demands are released by community organizers and organizations around the country:
ATLANTA:

NEW YORK:


Proud to partner with NY Lawyers for the Public Interest @NYLPI on this effort. #LetThemOut ! https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4agp4w/thousands-of-doctors-demand-ice-release-detainees-to-stop-a-covid-19-disaster …
Thousands of Doctors Demand ICE Release Detainees to Stop a COVID-19 Disaster
ICE won’t close its overcrowded detention centers to stop the coronavirus. Doctors say people are going to die.
vice.com
RECOMMENDED: CAPITALISM IS THEFT: A WEAR YOUR VOICE READING LIST
VIRGINIA:

PENNSYLVANIA:
COUNTRYWIDE:
Da'Shaun Harrison
Da’Shaun Harrison is a Black trans theorist, storyteller, and community organizer in Atlanta, GA. Harrison has risen to national acclaim with the release of their debut title, Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness—published in August 2021. Belly of the Beast won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction, and since then, Harrison has been the recipient of ProjectHEAL’s “Inspire Award” along with several other media and literary honors. Harrison lectures on Blackness, fatness, gender, and their intersections. Harrison currently serves as Editor-at-Large at Scalawag Magazine and is the co-host of the podcast “Unsolicited: Fatties Talk Back.” Between the years 2019 and 2021, Harrison served as Associate Editor — and later as Managing Editor — of Wear Your Voice Magazine.