Thank You, Advocates

Domestic workers and Care in Action staff pose with Del. Michelle Maldonado (D - Prince William County)

This week, our team had the opportunity to join Care in Action for their annual lobby day at the Virginia General Assembly. Care in Action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States, including nearly 60,000 domestic workers in Virginia. 

What filled my heart is seeing more than 20 domestic workers – all women of color – travel from various localities to the state capitol to advocate for legislation that will improve their working conditions and long-term wellbeing. I especially love how these women are organized, engaged, prepared and confident. 

It’s because of their organizing power that Virginia finally removed domestic worker exemptions in minimum wage laws in 2020, the first labor protections for this workforce. Subsequently, Virginia became the first state in the South to pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2021 that extends basic worker rights. Without these protections, many workers tolerate low or no pay and abusive situations. 

If you’re wondering why these laws are necessary, Jim Crow laws designed by Southern lawmakers in the 1920s excluded Black workers from federal labor protections – specifically, domestic workers and farm workers. This included people like my grandmother who was a live-in nanny for many years. 

As the women in the room were sharing their personal stories, many noting their desire to be able to retire and find pathways to citizenship, I kept thinking about the power structures that minimize and devalue these individuals. Without their presence in the General Assembly building and courage to show up for their communities, their experiences may go unnoticed. And that’s not unique to this group of advocates. It’s something I’ve witnessed firsthand with many advocacy efforts involving youth, disabled persons, immigrants, rural families, etc.

This is the fifth General Assembly session where Shannon Strategies is providing advocacy and communications support for nonprofits working to improve our communities. Every year, we’re looking to do one thing: amplify the voices of underrepresented voices in the halls of power. This may be done by pitching stories, writing op-eds, hosting press events and leveraging digital media, but whatever tactics we deploy, we want to hear from impacted people – not the paid professionals.

Parents, individuals with Down syndrome and advocates with The Arc and Virginia Down Syndrome Association meet with state legislator.

I remember last year’s advocacy day with The Arc and Virginia Down Syndrome Association where parents shared they had been on the Developmental Disability (DD) Waiver waiting list for more than a decade. Some families have been waiting for 18 years. This waiver provides wraparound services, technology support, financial assistance, job training and services that help people with developmental disabilities to reach independence and be independent. 

I witnessed elected officials audibly gasp hearing about these wait times directly from parents, family caregivers and individuals with Down syndrome. They didn’t know.

However, thanks to their advocacy, the governor announced an additional $300 million over the biennium to fully fund the Priority 1 DD Waiver waiting list. 

This is the power of storytelling.

My grandmother passed in 2021 at the age of 97. I was grateful to share with her the historic legislation that passed to include domestic workers in Virginia’s labor laws before she left this world. I was able to do this thanks to the years-long commitment of domestic workers to push for change.

The hours of preparation, travel and meetings, have not gone unnoticed. Even when the outcome isn’t what we hoped for, you still show up. You regroup, strategize and try again. There’s no giving up.

You deserve to be recognized and this is my small way of doing so.

To all the advocates who are working to make transformational changes in our communities, thank you.