Thanks for giving Arise for Social Justice credit for every demonstration in the greater Springfield area in a column published on Dec. 14th by Ron Chimelis, "Rally denouncing anti-Muslim bias missed its audience: Viewpoint" but let's reiterate that Jewish Voice for Peace initiated and organized the recent rally denouncing anti-Muslim bias.

We would like to answer your question, "Have a steady drumbeat of similar protests soured the senses of people, some of which might otherwise pay some actual attention to this one?"

The column also suggested these questions might be on people's minds:

"You are always complaining." "Don't you have a job?" "If you hate this country so much why don't you leave?" "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Arise for Social Justice hears and reads these kinds of comments and questions daily, whether in-person or in the comments section of a Masslive article about a demonstration in which we planned or participated. The steady drumbeat of activism at Arise over the past 30 years has certainly solidified our position in the Springfield community. We are indeed, as you say, "...that ubiquitous agency seen at the forefront of just about every social protest in Greater Springfield." With no state or federal funding, this is truly a testament to our persistence and resilience in the face of seemingly ever growing inequalities and other social justice organizations and advocacy groups going belly up.

In the past, Arise has been a driving force behind Springfield switching to ward representation, a move that precipitated Springfield's first majority black city council. We continue our work protecting the people of East Springfield from the devastating health consequences of Palmer Renewable Energy's desire to build a heavily polluting biomass plant in our community. Meanwhile, we are also working productively with Mayor Domenic Sarno's office to create and implement a city climate action and resiliency plan that will improve our air quality and help curb Springfield's high asthma rates. We helped organize a vigil December 17th for Destiny Gonzalez, a 7 year old that was struck and killed by a car last year crossing the street on her way to the central library. We also helped a community member put together a petition to have a crosswalk put in place to prevent another tragedy from happening in the same spot again. We are a multi-issue, low- income rights organization. We provide a platform for folks to come together and identify common issues, and empower them to stand up and achieve the change they want to see in their community.

The right to peaceful assembly to address public grievances is a first amendment right and necessary to a functioning democracy. Far from 'un-American', the right to protest is fundamentally American and a right we respect, whether we agree with the protesters or not.

We are not a group who simply satisfy ourselves with our complaints. We help people find jobs so they can sustain themselves. We help homeless singles and families find shelter when the shelter that isn't supposed to turn anyone away, turns them away. We help people get the health care and services they need, even when those responsible have ignored them. We help people defend themselves when the system fails. We have been pressing for humane criminal justice and policing reform, long before the issue found its way into the national news. We are in the process of building Springfield's first community land trust. We are pushing for police officers to wear body cameras on duty in order to increase officer and civilian safety, and save the city money in lawsuits. We will continue to work with those who want to solve problems and call those out who don't.

The reality is that all of the issues that Springfield and the rest of the country (and the world) are facing are not happening in a vacuum. They are connected. We cannot protest islamophobia and ignore the US war machine that precipitated it and continues to enflame it to this day. We cannot protest racism against people of color in this country and ignore the failed drug war that disproportionately profiles them and sends them to prison.

We love our city, and we love our country. That is why we feel it is our duty to speak up and take action, and in fact, that is exactly what our country was originally about. Our steady drumbeat of action is as American as apple pie, and it is necessary now more than ever. We want the same things everyone else wants; safe neighborhoods, an end to homelessness, an end to hunger and domestic violence, an end to environmental degradation, an end to corrupt political campaign funding, although we have different ideas on how to get there. The purpose of Arise is to build political power for those of us who have been left out of the system so we can get what we need to survive and thrive.

To attempt to minimize the vital work that Arise and other social justice organizations do every day, is to be dismissive of the issues that the majority of the residents in Springfield face. We build coalitions because the many different forms of oppression are inseparable and our strength is in the collective struggle for social justice and human rights.

Frank Cincotta, Brenda Lopez, Arise for Social Justice, Springfield