Ethel Kennedy, the ninety-year-old widow of Bobby Kennedy, recently joined a hunger strike to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The hunger strike, organized by various activists groups including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights nonprofit opposes recent policies which separate immigrant children at the border.
HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Kennedy, a human rights advocate, willingly teamed up with others in the “Break Bread Not Families” strike. Ms. Kennedy said in a statement,
“Generations of Americans did not toil and sacrifice to build a country where children and their parents are placed in cages to advance a cynical political agenda.”
She’s not the only Kennedy to join the protest. Forty other Kennedys vowed to protest with the hunger strike.
NEW: Ethel Kennedy, 90, announces she will join #BreakBreadNotFamilies hunger fast in McAllen, TX, alongside @KerryKennedyRFK, @RepJoeKennedy, @KeeganMKey, @DoloresHuerta & dozens more.
— RFK Human Rights (@RFKHumanRights) June 23, 2018
The strike began on Saturday and will continue for twenty-four days. The protest’s planned length represents the estimated count of two thousand and four hundred children who have been separated from their parents. The organizers of the protest have asked participants to fast for twenty-four hours, and to make donations to “Break Bread Not Families.”
Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy’s daughter, stated,
“We want to find a way for people who can’t go down to the border to actually do something themselves at home that is concrete and creates change, and this is what we’re calling on them to do.”
Joe Kennedy III, the Massachusetts representative and grandson of Ethel Kennedy, stated,
“For children being starved of contact with their parents, the irreparable harm inflicted by our government multiplies every single day kids remain separated from their moms and dads. Through the Break Bread Not Families Fast, we hope to underscore the urgency our nation faces to confront this moral crisis perpetuated within our shores.”
OTHERS JOIN ETHEL KENNEDY IN THE HUNGER STRIKE
Other famous figures support the strike and have signed up to participate. These celebrities include Keegan-Michael Kay, Alec Baldwin, Alfre Woodard, and Evan Rachel Wood. Both Massachusetts senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, will fast for twenty-four hours in support of the strike.
President Trump signed an executive order last week, allowing immigrant children to remain with their families at the border. However, the zero-tolerance policy is still in effect.
Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons
