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Child
Care
Providers
are
Fighting
for
Detroit
Families
By Kimie
Jones
via Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- The
hot day
just
kept
getting
hotter
as we
marched
through
the
former
Confederate
capital
toward
the
statue
of
General
Robert
E. Lee.
The
temperature
reached
105
degrees
that
day, but
I wasn’t
thinking
about
the
heat. I
was
thinking
about
the
little
children
I teach
and all
the
families
that
depend
on me.
Last
week I
jumped
on a bus
to join
thousands
of
workers
from
across
the
country
for the
first-ever
Fight
for $15
convention
in
Richmond,
VA. Fast
food
workers,
janitors,
security
officers,
adjunct
faculty,
child
care
providers
and
other
underpaid
workers—mostly
people
of
color—were
there to
connect
our
movement
to the
legacy
of
slavery
and
segregation.
The
Fight
for $15
is about
winning
a living
wage and
a path
to a
union
for all
workers.
As a
child
care
provider,
I felt
it was
important
for me
to add
my voice
to speak
up
against
the
poverty
wages
that are
hurting
so many
families
of
color.
I see
first-hand
how
children
and
parents
struggle
in
today’s
economy.
For
almost
ten
years
I’ve run
a child
care
center
from my
home. I
started
providing
child
care to
families
from my
church
that I
knew
desperately
needed
help
finding
affordable
child
care.
According
to the
U.S.
Census
Bureau,
African
American
parents
earn 40
percent
less on
average
than
white
families
even
though
we work
at a
higher
rate,
which
means
child
care is
an
important
need for
our
community.
Too many
parents
are
caught
in a
cycle of
working
low-wage
jobs to
keep
money
coming
in, but
not
making
enough
to
afford
the
child
care
they
need.
Sometimes
I have
to buy
diapers,
or get
paid
late
because
the
parents
of the
children
I care
for are
struggling
to get
by.
There
are
months
that I
only
have a
little
left
over in
the bank
after I
pay my
bills.
When I
add up
the
hours I
work and
my
wages, I
make
about
$8.50 an
hour.
But I do
it
because
I love
kids and
I know
how
important
the work
I do is
for
families.
We’re
not just
babysitters;
child
care
providers
provide
healthy,
safe
learning
environments
for
kids.
Many
child
care
providers
in
Detroit
are in
the same
boat as
me.
That’s
why we
went to
Richmond
to march
as part
of the
Fight
For $15
movement.
We want
to
provide
the best
early
education
for the
children,
but too
many
good
child
care
providers
have had
to shut
their
doors
because
of the
poor
pay.
We’re
calling
for
greater
investment
in child
care so
working
parents
have
better
access
to
affordable
child
care and
providers
like me
can be
paid at
least
$15 an
hour.
At the
two-day
convention
we stood
beside
civil
rights
leaders
and
union
members
and
raised
our
voices
to bring
to light
the
economic
and
racial
disparities
among
workers
across
the
country.
We were
speaking
up for
the 64
million
workers
in this
country
who are
paid
less
than $15
an hour,
who we
will
turning
out to
vote
this
presidential
election.
It was
hot, and
we were
tired,
but we
didn’t
quit.
And
being
with
other
child
care
providers
and the
other
members
of this
movement
only
inspired
me to
keep
going.
By
coming
together,
we can
work
together
to win
at least
$15 and
a union
for
providers
and
high-quality
child
care
that is
affordable
for all
American
families.
Kimie
Jones is
a child
care
provider
from
Detroit.
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