Joey here.

Thanks to all who joined us on November 16 for the Ride for Human Rights online “salon”!  We told some stories and made new friends.

To see the video, click here.

We’re 952 miles into our Pandemic Ride.  We have “reached” Cokeville, Wyoming, in our 42nd state (39 actual, 3 virtual).

Farther east, 14 states have towns, counties, or both, named “Wyoming”.  In various First Nations languages, Wyoming means “large flatlands”.

Our Rides have taken us to some Wyomings.

We hope next year to bike to the State of Wyoming.

Years ago, Jeffrey previewed it by car.

Wow!

This Wyoming monument in Eastern Shoshone Nation territory is a few feet from the (perhaps apocryphal) resting place of Lewis and Clark’s guide Sacajawea and two of her sons.  The inscription captures the gratitude and peace we feel as we roam our great country.

Until we can return to the Wide Open Land, we’ll keep pedaling around NYC.

In heavy rain, we biked through Central Park.

It reminded us of last year’s ride through California redwoods, where we also were the only fools on the road.

The pandemic has forced us to mark time, Ride-wise.  No long trips.

We who believe in justice for those who fear persecution and seek refuge in our big, rich, beautiful country, also have been forced to mark time.

We are waiting for change in 2021 that will help us set things right.

It is a fact that since 2017, our government, in our names, has broken our own immigration and asylum laws.  It has betrayed the legal, ethical, and religious values we Americans claim to hold.

Some Americans think this is fine.  They say the United States is “full”, has no room for asylum seekers, not even for the unprecedentedly tiny 2021 quota of 15,000 refugees.  (Fifteen thousand refugees in the U.S. is equivalent to one person in a crowd of twenty-two thousand.)

Fed propaganda, some Americans fear that refugees and asylees are “bad people”.  (Refugees, asylees, and immigrants altogether, have lower disease and crime rates, and higher labor force participation rates, than the America-born.  Refugees pull their weight, don’t bring in drugs or COVID-19, don’t rob banks, don’t shoot up houses of worship.)

We must help the new administration as it works, in our names, to repair what is broken in America.

We Americans must respect our neighbors old and new.  Accept everyone’s desire to contribute to our mutual community.  Offer our help to all in our country who need it, regardless of immigration status or politics.  Insist that our elected officials do the same, in our names, as required by our laws.

The new administration can start by obeying the Refugee Act of 1980.  It still is good law, but for nearly four years, it has been broken and abused.

We hope you’ll join us as a voice for change, for human rights.

And let’s amplify our voices by supporting Human Rights First.