Poor people demand to be heard; launch assembly, march for June

Contact: Faith Morris |  faith@culturelifeinc.com | 312-813-6965

              Martha Waggoner | mwaggoner@breachrepairers.org

A movement, not a moment: Poor People’s Campaign launches Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 18

The Poor People’s Campaign held the national launch press conference for its assembly and march planned for DC in June, led by impacted people, faith leaders, economists and others laying out why this nation must lift from the bottom up to save democracy.

The national co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival (PPC:NCMR), Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, opened the news conference on Friday, Jan. 14. They were joined by impacted people, grassroots leaders, and religious and labor leaders. 

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, made a special announcement and Rev. Dr. Alvin Jackson, the national executive director of the Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls closed the program. 

Poor and  low-wage impacted people told their stories and those of millions of others: their frustration with the way politicians treat the 140 million poor and low-wealth people in this nation. They focused on their commitment to shift the moral political narrative;  build political power;  engage in nonviolent direct action and put before the nation a Third Reconstruction agenda to save this democracy from the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, denial of healthcare, the war economy and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism and white supremacy.

“Hear us as we are rising up against your oppressive policies. Hear us as we march for democracy. Hear us as we speak the true narrative of 140 million,” said Denita Jones of Dallas, an impacted person and leader in the Texas PPC. “Gone are the days that you tell us there isn’t enough. Gone are the days when you try to divide us. Those days are gone. Hear me and hear us well. The moral resurrection is upon you, and it’s time to decide now, which side are you on? June 18th, 2022, in Washington, D.C. That is your deadline. Decide now!”

Pam Garrison, tri-chair of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, said the state campaign is “going to bring the country roads to DC. We know these interlocking injustices are caused by a failed system that has prioritized the corporations and filthy rich over the people. We're their expendable commodity. It doesn't have to be this way. Nothing would be more tragic than to turn around now. Join us on June 18, 2022.”

Callie Greer of Alabama, whose daughter died of breast cancer because of a lack of Medicaid expansion, said: “The reason I’m helping to mobilize folks to DC for the June 18th for the Moral March in Washington, D.C., Is to remind those that have been elected to work for the betterment of all of our lives. (During the pandemic), we have not decreased in numbers, but actually have grown.”

Emilee Johnson of Mississippi, a survivor of sex trafficking who was previously incarcerated, said she has worked every day since the pandemic began almost two years ago. 

“I’ve risked my life and my family's life trying to earn a living. I am a single mother of four, working two jobs seven days a week for the last four years and barely making ends meet. I am tired!! …. I  stand with the Poor People's Campaign because we are in desperate need of this Third Reconstruction.”

The Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls “is not just a day,” Bishop Barber said. “It is a declaration that we won’t be silent anymore. It is the declaration of an ongoing, nonviolent, truth-telling multiracial, interfaith moral movement that’s been building for three years. We are a moral fusion movement with a complete Third Reconstruction agenda that now has 45 state coordinating committees, over 2,000 clergy who lead congregations, economists, voting rights lawyers and 200 partners that reach millions of people.” 

“We are nonpartisan but not non-political. We will shift the moral narrative. We will mobilize and build political voting power. We will utilize, where necessary, nonviolent civil disobedience. We will make real policies to fully address poverty and low wealth from the bottom up through living wages, environmental and voter protection and housing policies as outlined in the congressional Third Reconstruction resolution.”

“We are not in this for a moment but for a movement,” Bishop Barber said. “Our deadline is victory.”

Rev. Dr. Theoharis referred to a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: “There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way.

“Our democracy is on its deathbed,” she said. “When we have the level of poverty, despite living in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, and have fewer voting rights than we did 50 years ago despite people dying for those rights, we need to sign up ambulance drivers. We are signing up to be ambulance drivers, readying ourselves to save the heart and soul of our democracy.”

Religious leaders representing millions of people also spoke, including Jim Winkler, president, National Council of Churches; Rev. Terri Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson, co-chair, Unitarian Universalist Association Poor People’s Campaign Leadership Council; and Dr. Wendsler Nosie of the Apache Stronghold.

The National Council of Churches represents 37 member denominations with 100,000 local congregations and 30 million church members.

“We will be there because we face a constellation of crises that must be addressed by people of faith,” Winkler said. “… a growing gap between people of wealth and those of low wealth; a pandemic that is being ignored at the risk of death by too many people; a militarized nation that must turn to the ways of peace; the intensifying reality of climate change;  the death-dealing impact of systemic racism; and the attempts to take away the right to vote from the American people.”

Rabbi Pesner said it was important as MLK Day approached to honor King’s “legacy and demand legislation to protect the sacred right to vote that MLK and other civil rights leaders – including many Reform Jewish rabbis – fought for,” Rabbi Pesner said. “Reform Jews believe that the selection of our leaders is not a privilege but a collective responsibility.”

Rev. Owens said the Disciples of Christ will join the assembly and march because “this movement is not about an event, a rally, or even a march.  It is about changing the moral narrative of this country so that we are committed to action that will eradicate poverty, racism, voter suppression, and any other injustice that diminishes our humanity.  From the ground up, every voice must be heard.”

Dr. Nosie said: “What’s really important is we understand that Mother Earth is being destroyed. … (We need) to work together so we can have a clear understanding of building a better world for everyone because we’re all being affected by it.”

Rev. Dr. Johnson spoke of the urgent need for voting rights protection: “We can’t get justice for our communities unless we get access to the ballot for all.”

Mary Kay Henry, president of the 2 million-member SEIU, said the country cannot waste this opportunity “to bring forth transformational change. “Any economic recovery must include good union living wage jobs for home care workers and all essential workers that we’ve heard from today.”

Voting rights attorney Caitlin Swain, co-director of Forward Justice, said that despite the rolling coup of voter suppression laws in states now, the 140 million poor and low-wealth people “will save and expand this living democracy and our north star will be the Third Reconstruction of America.” 

Dr. Sachs will lead a cohort of economists to research and develop a groundbreaking pandemic report card commissioned with the PPC:NCMR that will be released in April.

The report card will “tell the truth about what’s going on in this country – who’s working around the clock, getting infected and dying so that rich people” can stay safe. Six Americans had $950 billion in personal wealth as of Jan. 14. This really is a sickness in this country,” Dr. Sachs said. “And it is pulling us absolutely apart at the seams.

Lawyer and economist Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director for the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice, will also lead this effort.

Two members of Congress who have led efforts to address poverty, low wealth and interlocking injustices responded to the need for a moral movement: Rep. Barbara Lee of California, who introduced the Third Reconstruction: Ending Poverty and Low Wealth from the Bottom Up, a House resolution with over 30 co-signers; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. 

“It’s un-American not to serve justice for all,” Rep. Lee said. “The only way Congress is going to move is because of the people and the power to the people must be heard in the halls of Congress.”

Sen. Warren said: “In this crisis, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass critical legislation that supports working families. We have a chance to rebuild our economy so it works for everyone. We have a chance to address this moral crisis that has trapped Americans in a cycle of poverty.”