With a short supply of face masks across the country and a shorter supply of political action and accountability at the highest levels of government to mobilize for front-line workers’ safety, it’s easy to overlook some of the inspiring ways that communities are getting results. But solidarity is growing: A new movement, #MasksForThePeople, launched last week as a crowdfunding effort to raise $1 million for protective gear, and support is coming in.
In the span of a few days, the campaign raised more than $100,000, a fraction of the billions (or trillions) this moment calls for, but the community cash is adding up. Each $10,000 provides masks and sanitizer for up to 5,000 people, thanks to civil rights leader Mike McBride and political comedian W. Kamau Bell, who co-lead #MasksForThePeople on the humanitarian hope that collective action can overcome contagion, corruption, and unequal power structures that disproportionately affect people in poverty, especially in communities of color, and anyone on the front lines.
