For Immediate Release: January 20, 2021

Contact: Louie Tan Vital, 425-330-5787, louie@megaphonestrategies.com; Cabot Petoia, 828-899-9239, cabot@megaphonestrategies.com 

Racial Justice Group on the Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris

“Progressive grassroots organizing sent Biden to the White House, Dem leaders owe us people-centered policy”

*** Interviews available, email acre@megaphonestrategies.com***

Nationwide In response to Biden’s Inauguration taking place today, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) released the following statement: 

“We congratulate the newly inaugurated Biden-Harris Administration at this truly historic moment. The incoming leadership and days of transition find our nation at a crossroads. With Democrats now in control of the White House and Congress, it is clearly time for a new agenda, one that centers progressive demands and puts the people first,” said Vasudha Desikan, Political Director of Action Center on Race and the Economy. “The new administration must address the issues most pressing for the people who worked tirelessly to get them into office. The grassroots leaders that turned out the vote in Black, Brown and Native communities in the midst of a pandemic, economic upheaval and against fascism.” 

“We’ll be looking for this Administration and the 117th Congress to deliver on the most pressing issues that will put our communities from crisis into recovery. That looks like a fully funded plan  to address Covid-19, including free and accessible testing and treatment, cancelling rent and mortgages and housing policy that puts us on a path to a Homes Guarantee to deliver safe, affordable and sustainable housing, the cancellation of student debt; support for defunding the police and putting our public budgets into solutions that actually keep people safe and provide necessary public services; and for the stranglehold that corporate power has on our democracy to be released through bold policy action by the federal government. 

“The white supremacists storming the U.S. Capitol a few weeks ago is not just evidence of racial strife, but of the alarming amount of power that has been ceded to right wing ideology and at the table of “compromise” which vilifies progressive policies that put people first as “radical”. The Biden administration’s messages around ‘unity’ and ‘decency’ must be reinforced with real, tangible action that centers the safety and wellbeing of Black and Brown people. It’s time for Democrats to be accountable to the people who continue putting them in office and not sell out our interests in the name of moving forward.” 

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