These days, friends here in The Bronx, and all across the country, are telling me that they have stopped listening to the news. I can’t say the same, but in a way, I really do get the reason for that phenomenon.

It’s awfully hard to enjoy your morning roll and coffee, while hearing about the latest Draconian cuts to essential programs. It’s disturbing to hear about hungry children and about old folks scrambling to make the rent. It’s hard to hear about fired federal workers and about shuttered programs, both here and abroad, which have saved so many lives.

It’s alarming to learn of neighbors swept off our streets by masked individuals (ICE officers) to be sent to torture camps in El Salvador. All of this is taking place without lawyers, court hearings, or any mention of due process. A MAGA-controlled Congress has abdicated its responsibilities.

Meanwhile, we are all bracing for the prices on everything from our kids’ clothes, our medications, and our new cars, to shoot through the roof as a result of the Trump tariff wars. The chatter about Hilary’s emails seems oddly quaint now, as we wonder what defense secrets are currently being divulged to evil doers all over the globe in sloppy signal chats, carried out by Trump’s incompetent cabinet members.

For all of these reasons and more, the news of U.S. Senator Cory Booker’s recent 25-hour marathon session on the U.S. Senate floor gave me some hope. Every single thing that he said spoke to me and to many other heartbroken Americans. He talked about the suffering of ordinary citizens brought about by the many cruel and unjust cuts and policies enacted in the short time that this administration has been in power.

There was one bit that especially resonated with me, as the senator characterized our current situation. It was deceptively simple, but truly eloquent to my ears. Toward the end of his marathon, he explained, “This is our moral moment. This isn’t right vs. left, it’s right vs wrong.” Amen to that!

I hold on to the hope that Americans can finally overcome the hatred, embrace our diversity, and bring back the promise of an America that works for us all.

Silvia Blumenfeld is a retired therapist, writer, artist, and grandmother living in the northwest Bronx.

(Feature photo courtesy of Sen. Corey Booker via X).

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.