A grassroots group has formed in McKean County in response to the policies proposed by the Trump administration.
The group, Kinzua Indivisible Movement, was founded by Les Jordan Jr. of Smethport. He said the mission of the group is “to watch for, and resist, efforts by the 45th administration to undermine our democracy with racist, authoritarian, unconstitutional and/or corrupt actions.”
Although the Indivisible Movement is politically motivated, Jordan maintained that the group is not a political party.
“We are often accused of being a political organization, but what we are is a group working in the political situation in our country and especially in our county. It’s important to make that distinction,” Jordan said.
Jordan explained that the “final straw” that made him form the group was the administration’s healthcare proposal that he said would have a devastating affect on McKean County.
According to the Associated Press, the latest revision of the proposal known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act, would cut Medicaid, which provides health insurance to over 70 million poor and disabled people, by $772 billion through 2026. The coverage losses would especially affect people between ages 50 and 64, before they qualify for Medicare.
The healthcare reform proposal is what concerns Harriet Nevil — a member of the Indivisible Movement and a retired nurse of 47 years — the most.
“Although I retired over three years ago, I still do consultant work specializing in geriatrics, so the healthcare reform that is being proposed is a big concern of mine,” Nevil said. “When I heard about the Indivisible Movement, I knew it would be an opportunity to educate the public about the dangers of the proposed cuts.”
Nevil explained that her fears of the healthcare reform made her want to research how many people the proposal would affect, specifically in McKean County. She went on to do the numbers, researching on the Department of Health Services website to find out how many people live in in McKean County and how many of those are on Medicaid. Her discoveries shocked her.
“Out of the roughly the roughly 40,000 people who live in McKean County, about 11,000 are on Medicaid. This proposal would affect over a fourth of our population, and I won’t stand for it.”
The group has intentions to appear on as many radio, television and other news programming services as possible, with guests speaking about their concerns for the local community.
When asked if the movement is considered a Political Action Committee, a type of organization that pools campaign contributions to donate for or against candidates, Jordan responded, “No we are not. Although we have members that are running and have run for political positions, they were already in that process before they joined us.”
The Indivisible Movement made an appearance in Pittsburgh back in June. While there to march in protest of the Trump administration, the march was cancelled due to a “suspicious package” that was thought to have been a potential explosive near the location of the march.
“We don’t know if it was left by someone against us, or in support of us, but I want to stress that we advocate nonviolence,” Jordan said. “We aren’t a group of anarchists seeking to destroy the government. We just want to safeguard our democracy, and our constitutional rights.”
Jordan is asking locals to come out and support the movement. And for those looking to join, Jordan wants them to know that “we are a group made up of Republicans, Democrats, and everything in between. You aren’t joining a political party, you’re standing with a concerned community.”
To find out more about the Kinzua Indivisible Movement, contact Les Jordan Jr. at KCindivisible@gmail.com.
