Car Protest to Demand Utility Restoration
CLEVELAND -- Wednesday, April 29 saw a well-attended, car-based protest that drew urgent attention to the need for a utility shutoff moratorium during this pandemic.
How can you wash your hands if you don't have water? How can you homeschool your children if you don't have power and the internet?
Activists from all over the city gathered downtown for a short and socially-distant rally, followed by a protest caravan around the Cleveland Public Power and Cleveland Public Water buildings. More than 50 cars participated, honking horns and bearing signs with a clear message: utilities are a human right.
Ohio Citizen Action and its allies in the End Poverty Now Coalition got the message acrossed to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson that now was a time for compassion and accountability. You can still sign the petition, urging the immediate reconnection of utilities for any residents currently without them, as well as the suspension of penalties and reconnection fees for the duration of Ohio state of emergency and stimulus efforts to drive our economic recovery.
More photos from the event: