Readers Write: Civil society, China's human rights abuses, the election, water pollution, COVID-19

I was recently profiled for my intention to volunteer for the Hennepin County bicycle and pedestrian count ("Bicycle counters hit streets this week," Sept. 7). I want to share my wondrous, almost cosmic experience.

My assignment was to tally walkers and bikers at an intersection in Golden Valley. By coincidence, I was across the street from my kindergarten. During the two-hour shift, I counted 115 people on foot or bike. I saw joggers and free-range teens, a mom collecting students on her cargo bike, a father wheeling children in a stroller, bicycle commuters, a high school mountain biking team and dog walkers galore. What a pleasure to see so many people enjoying the space we share.

Most surprising of all was a woman who approached me 30 minutes into my shift. She had been my high school English teacher and decided to visit after reading the article. I'm now in my mid-30s, so we're nearly 20 years estranged.

I hadn't forgotten her either. Mrs. Hill's class nudged me onto my academic path and she's responsible, in a roundabout way, for my career. She also inspired a lifelong hobby of mine, creative writing. My first published essay was in this newspaper as a part of the Mindworks series. I wrote it at a desk in her classroom in 2001.

What does this coincidence mean? I'm not sure. But as I biked home, I was reminded of the value of our institutions and shared resources: the infrastructure we build, the schools we grow up in and the newspaper we write together.

The year 2020 has taken an unusual turn for the human race. As we battle with coronavirus, social biases and unrest, we deeply reflect on our rights and responsibilities as human beings. This might be our most important time to act as individuals.

Resolution 274 presents an opportunity for such action in the U.S. Senate. It is "a resolution expressing solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners who have lost lives, freedoms, and other rights for adhering to their beliefs and practices, and condemning the practice of non-consenting organ harvesting, and for other purposes."

In a recent interview with Falun Gong practitioners published at Minghui.org, human rights attorney David Matas said, "If China had [faced] global pressure for transparency and accountability in its health system in dealing with organ transplant abuse, we wouldn't have this coronavirus now. And we are suffering the consequences now of turning a blind eye to organ transplant abuse."

Support for Resolution 274 signifies recognition of the nature of the Chinese Communist Party and its disregard for human life. Public exposure would also help rein in the CCP's reckless behavior which could prevent the next disaster, whatever that may be.

There is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and condemn perhaps the most egregious violation of human rights in our time. I am hoping that Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith will lend their support as cosponsors for this resolution.

"Committed," "compassionate" and "courageous" are just a few words one can use to describe Kendall Qualls, Republican candidate for the Third District. Qualls is a husband of 34 years and a father of five children.

Qualls believes that our country will not meaningfully resolve the significant economic, health and educational disparities between Black Americans and other groups until we address the single parent household crisis plaguing the African American community.

We deserve a courageous leader who is focused, disciplined and honest. Please join me in voting for Qualls for Congress; we need him!

When reading the Sept. 10 article "PFAS-laced water linked to infertility, prematurity," I realized that there was a key piece of the story that was missing.

It is deeply troubling that new research is presenting the first "causal links" between PFAS chemicals and reproductive impacts, and I appreciated your paper's coverage of this new study. At the same time — given that we are the middle of a global pandemic — it also seems important to bring attention to the fact that PFAS chemicals also are known to harm the immune system.

PFAS exposure weakens the immune response which has broad implications, ranging from reduced ability to fight off viral infections to increasing the number of people who remain unprotected from a disease after they've received a vaccination. This means that people who are exposed to PFAS may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 and its complications. It also means that people with PFAS exposure may be less protected by a future COVID-19 vaccine.

The pandemic is underscoring how our elected officials need to clean up PFAS contamination and make polluters pay for the mess they have created. We must also aggressively invest in stopping the use of PFAS chemicals and requiring the safest chemicals and materials. This is a public-health priority that can't wait until after the pandemic is over because pollution is affecting us now.

On Friday we commemorated the loss of 2,977 American in the terror attacks on 9/11. I lived in New York at the time and knew many people directly impacted by this tragedy, including a neighbor who was one of the firefighters killed that day. This was an unspeakable level of death and the nation mourned accordingly.

We are currently suffering an equivalent number of casualties from COVID every three to four days, yet the level of outrage and mourning seems lower. Many people seem unbothered and others seem to believe that this couldn't possibly impact them. I understand that it's easier to acknowledge and cope with a tragedy once it's over, but we need to start collectively recognizing the scale of this devastation and planning for ways to improve our ability to deal with largely preventable illnesses like this. After 9/11, we saw significant efforts and funding to address and prevent terrorism. Will we see proportional efforts to improve our health care and public-health infrastructures in a post-COVID America? In my view, that will depend largely on who we elect in November.

Thank you for the "Those We've Lost" column honoring local victims of COVID-19. They are all so well-written and interesting. I appreciate getting to know these folks just a bit through the loving words of those they've left behind. Peace to them.