NATIONWIDE – On Monday, October 22nd, Bishop William J. Barber, II, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, executive director of the Kairos Center and national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, co-hosted a national virtual Get Out The Vote (GOTV) rally ahead of election-day 2024. The co-chairs spoke alongside a diverse group of clergy, poor and low-wage people, and allies to share crucial election resources to drive voter engagement and participation as well as amplify the voices of volunteer leaders who are working to mobilize 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters throughout the 2024 election season.
Bishop Barber opened the gathering by emphasizing the importance of the work of movement leaders and volunteers and why voting participation is critical.
“In the fight for justice, you must have articulation, you must have agendas, you must have agitation, you must have legislation, litigation, and voter participation,” he said.
He pointed to the example of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer as someone to emulate.
“Fannie Lou Hamer said that it was after she was told what she couldn’t do, after they shot up her house…it was after that that she became more determined to vote,” he noted.
Rev. Carolyn Foster, who serves as the Tri-Chair with the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign, spoke about her family’s personal history during the Civil Rights Era.
“I learned the importance of voting while growing up in segregated Birmingham during the fight for civil rights here in Alabama. People like me did not have the right to self-determination,” she noted. “Where my family lived, worked, and where we were able to go and what we were able to do was dictated by a system of privilege and power in the hands of a few.”
She urged people to vote so that they can reclaim their power.
“Yes, legal segregation may have ended but it has also evolved in the form of racial gerrymandering, voter suppression and purging of the voting list,” she said. “And we can change these tactics by voting for candidates who support the issues that matter to us.”
Zade Evans, a disabled trans veteran living on a fixed income who serves as a Tri-Chair of the Arizona Poor People’s Campaign, spoke about how he’s voting to protect his community from threats and alleviate the burden of student debt faced by his family.
“I vote to put an end to policy violence that puts marginalized communities like mine in the crosshairs of hate-fueled lies that impact real lives and families,” he said. “And I’m voting so that my wife of 27 years, an oncology nurse working beyond retirement age, can finally retire without the burden of student debt that has remained unchanged for more than 20 years, even after she worked on the frontlines throughout the pandemic.”
Shontya Lawrence, a childcare provider and member of the North Carolina Poor People’s campaign from Raleigh, North Carolina, spoke about the low wages in her field.
“We child care providers love our job. We have to love it – because the money isn’t keeping us here,” she testified. “I hear all the time people saying that our children are the most important resource that we have. Which makes me wonder if that’s true. Why am I still one of 3.5 million poor and low-income North Carolinians?”
She encouraged other poor and low-income voters to get to the ballot box to help win higher wages and support for child care.
“I always vote. It’s not an option. It’s the people we elect who make it so that people like me and my colleagues have to scrape to get by in the richest nation on earth,” she said. “We are the sleeping giant in this election and we are waking up and waking up our colleagues and communities to vote this year. We know that our votes are demands to pay us what we deserve.”
Rabbi Michael Pollack, executive director of March On Harrisburg and Tri-Chair of the Pennsylvania Poor People’s Campaign, explained how voting gives people a voice.
“Voting is an act of speaking, of using our voice. Elections are how we communicate and speak as a society to decide our elected officials. The right and obligation to communicate and speak is inherent to every one of us [and] is based on the reality of our own humanity that is endowed by our own creator. We need to use our voice and vote.”
Pam Garrison, Tri-Chair of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, spoke about poverty in her state and across the country.
“West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the nation. 656,864 low-income voters – and 85 million across the nation. We account for one-third of the electorate,” she noted.
She pointed to the power of moral public policy to alleviate poverty.
“We proved through COVID when policies are implemented for the greater good of the country to relieve some critical problems,” she said, noting that the expansions of the Child Tax Credit and Medicaid helped millions of poor people but were allowed to expire.
Garrison argued that voting was the way to win government support for policies like these again.
“If we want a government for the people, by the people, the people have to engage, they have to participate. That is our job, that is our duty – by voting. Because we are the swing vote.”
Rev. Wayne Wilhelm, Faith Tri-Chair of the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign, talked about voting as a way to lift everyone up.
“When we come together and lift up everybody we need to understand our power when it comes to voting,” he said. “Because when we vote we lift up our brothers and sisters. When we vote we lift up every person one at a time.”
Wayne Skattum, member of the Wisconsin Poor People’s Campaign, encouraged disaffected voters to get involved in the process.
“If someone thinks that their vote doesn’t count, I ask this question: If our vote doesn’t count then why is the status quo power and moneyed ruling class so intent on passing laws all across this country to disenfranchise whole blocs of voters?” he asked. “My answer is that they know we have power and are afraid of the power we have by voting. So vote! Our vote is power and our voice. Our vote will and is changing the narrative.”