Songs and invocations were shared at the Reno City Plaza. Organizers asked locals to get in touch with their senators to advocate for ending filibuster rules and push for initiatives to protect and expand voting access. But it wasn’t all business.
“It's been an incredibly hard year, and there's some healing we really need to do within ourselves and within our nation,” said Kimberly Carden, one of the speakers for the event.
Roughly 100 people were there, several associated with local unions. Ron Kaminkow is a railroad engineer who’s been an organizer for years. Currently, he’s the general secretary of his local union. In thinking about the effects of January 6th, he says while there’s division nationally, everyday workers share a lot more in common than what political debates would lead folks to believe.
“I've had some very good conversations with people at work about the situation,” he said, “and in many cases, I find myself in agreement on many, many levels with people who I am potentially politically across the aisle from.”
Kaminkow says addressing issues like healthcare, wages, and housing could work to unite communities at the local level.
