Day 30: The Most Vulnerable Among Us

Wearing a mask is inherently empathetic. It requires that we, at least, be aware that there are other people in this world. Even if the only shared feeling is fear of a stranger breathing, it is a shared experience nonetheless.

This month, water and masks were hand delivered and distributed to the homeless population in Washington, D.C., including to one of their popular enclaves affectionately known as “Tent City.”

“America is back,” President Biden said today at the Munich Security Conference. “… We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people in this changed world. We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of history.”

Even for those off the grid, her people are still calling to shelter the tired, the huddled masses, the most vulnerable among us.

By the end of this chilling week, during which a frigid storm blanketed the pandemic with power outages, flooded homes from frozen-until-broken pipes, homes engulfed in flames from makeshift heating contraptions, food and water shortages and nearly 50 more deaths, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) helped raise $2 million in emergency funds for the hardest hit — Texas, the Lone Star State, which had deregulated itself from federal energy control.

And the Wilson Building in Washington, D.C. displayed green lights in a nod to the nations of the Paris Accord. The U.S. has officially rejoined the climate change agreement.