A hopeful development happening right now is the Poor People’s Campaign, co-launched on May 14, 2018 by Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Rev. William J. Barber II, the architect of the North Carolina Moral Monday protest movement. Its goal is to push the plight of poor people to the top of the agenda in statehouses and the U.S. Congress.
Rallies are being held in more than 30 state capitols and in Washington, D. C. The multi-issue campaign addresses poverty, racism, the war economy and environmental devastation. The theme of the first week was Somebody’s Hurting Our People: Child Poverty, Women, and People with Disabilities. People marched, sang and chanted, and shared powerful testimonies that lifted the curtain on what life really looks like for the 140 million Americans living in poverty today. Actions at the rallies included an expansive wave of nonviolent civil disobedience. All around the country, from Raleigh, North Carolina to Jefferson City, Missouri, to Washington D.C., to Olympia, WA, advocates have been arrested while participating in nonviolent direct action.
A different theme is being highlighted for each of the campaign’s six weeks. The campaign will end on June 23 with a rally and 24-hour vigil in Washington, D.C. These 40 Days of Moral Action are just the beginning of a long-term campaign. “The first goal of the campaign is to break through the narratives that mislead people about poverty, racism, the war economy and ecological devastation,” says Rev. Barber. “We are working together to address these interlocking injustices.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. outlined a multi-faith, multicultural Poor People’s Campaign in 1967-1968. The movement was meant to draw attention to income inequality, working conditions and economic injustices that he thought the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 failed to address. Though King was assassinated in April 1968, the Southern Christian Leadership Council forged ahead with his plans, bringing a crowd to Washington, D.C. in May 1968. Still, Rev. Barber and others who organized this new Poor People’s Campaign have shown that many of the needs and demands outlined a half century ago remain unmet.
For more information:
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org
https://www.breachrepairers.org
–Written by Sue Woodling; edited by Lily Wu, Glen Gersmehl and Alice McCain