Our Moral Agenda
Poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, taking 800 lives a day. This is an abolishable and unnecessary reality.
We believe poverty can be eradicated through the enactment of a Moral Public Policy Agenda that lifts from the bottom so that everybody rises. Repairers of the Breach and our partners across the Moral Movement are calling on local, state, and federal governments to address the crisis of death by poverty, by enacting a Moral Public Policy Agenda that challenges the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation/denial of healthcare, the war economy/militarization of our communities, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism. We call on local, state and federal leaders to an enact the following agenda:
- Abolishing poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
- A living minimum wage of at least $15 +/hour (indexed for inflation)
- Full and expanded voting rights
- No more voter suppression
- Guaranteed workers’ rights & labor rights
- Healthcare for all
- Affordable, adequate housing
- Strong social welfare and safety net programs
- An end to gun violence, profit and proliferation
- Fully protected women’s rights
- Environmental justice that secures clean air & water
- Justice for all Indigenous nations
- Fully-funded public education
- Just immigration laws
- Addressing militarism and the war economy
- Standing for peace not war, calling for an immediate cease fire in Gaza that allows immediate humanitarian relief a release of all hostages, peace and justice be pursued, and an end to genocide around the world
- An end to hate, division, and the extremist political agenda
The Higher Ground Moral Declaration
The publication of the Higher Ground Moral Declaration coincided with the launch of a 2016 National Moral Revival Tour to Redefine Morality in American Politics. The revival, led by The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and the Rev. Dr. James Forbes Jr., National Minister of the Drum Major Institute, President of Healing of the Nations Ministries, and Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church, was a catalyst for renewed moral activism among faith and community leaders.
The Higher Ground Moral Declaration provides a moral agenda for our nation on issues including democracy and voting rights; poverty and economic justice; workers’ rights; education; healthcare; environmental justice; immigrant rights and challenging xenophobia; criminal justice; LGBTQ rights; and war-mongering and the military. For each issue area, an individual moral and constitutional foundation is established. The positions are neither left nor right, nor conservative or liberal. Rather, they are morally defensible, constitutionally consistent, and economically sound. Most importantly, they represent, as Dr. King urged, a revolution in values.