Poor People’s Campaign

June 13, 2019 Update
Kamala Harris. Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren. Joe Biden.
These four leading candidates (and more) will all be at the #PPCMoralCongress on Monday to hear directly from members like you about the issues facing 140 million poor people.
By holding the nation’s biggest candidate forum right before the first televised debate, the Poor People’s Campaign has a chance to shape the political narrative and our nation’s policy priorities heading into 2020 and beyond.
At the #PPCMoralCongress, we will also release a Moral Budget with research by world-renowned economists, and after a day-long Freedom School and organizing workshops, members will testify at a congressional hearing in front of the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill.
Fielding questions directly from poor and impacted people shouldn’t be radical. We’re changing the game so that it won’t be.
This is what a moral fusion movement can achieve when we organize.
Forward together, not one step back,
Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II and Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis
President of Repairers of the Breach & Director of the Kairos Center
Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
SC Poor People's Campaign Demand Letter Delivery & Press Conference: Wed, Feb 27, 2019
(updated 6/18/18)
The SC Poor People’s Campaign a National Call for Moral Revival is committed to lifting up and deepening the leadership of those most affected by SYSTEMIC RACISM, POVERTY, THE WAR ECONOMY & ECOLOGICAL DEVASTATION. We will be protesting at over 30 statehouses and the US Capitol We need you to join our efforts.
The UUCC plans to be a part of the moral revival planned by Rev. William Barber and the Poor People's Campaign. We encourage you to read up on this movement and prepare to participate. We need people to help us spread the word. Please follow them on facebook, and spread the word through social media. We need people to talk to faith leaders, politicians, and friends and family. We need people to tell their stories. If you can be involved in any way, please contact Laura Hartwig at SocialAction@uucolumbia.org.
We stand together to show the power of people united across issues and geography. We stand together because there are over 40 million people living in poverty in this country including 13 million children, and because although the U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other country, 32 million people remain uninsured. And with fewer voting rights in place today for people of color than 50 years ago when the Civil Rights Act was passed, we stand together to say that we cannot go down this road any longer.
Find: UUA Involvement | Weekly Themes | Volunteer | Press | Live Stream of DC Events
June 11:
Free Times | US News | SC Now | WSAV3 NBC | Medium | WACH FOX57
June 4:
Herald | ABC | USNews | Medium | Aiken Standard
May 29:
The Island Packet | Daily Journal | Charleston City Paper | The Charlotte Observer | PBS News Hour | Huffington Post | NPR
May 21:
The State | WISTV | USNews | ABC | The Charlotte Observer | Medium | Charleston Chronicle | ABC Columbia
May 14:
WISTV 10 | ABC | The State | WLTX 19 | MSNBC | US News| The News & Observer
UUA Involvement
The UUA is supporting the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, the brainchild of two community activists — the Rev. Liz Theoharis of New York and the Rev. William J. Barber II of North Carolina. UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray will be participating in the direct action in Washington, DC on May 14th. Read her article about getting arrested. UU Rev. Robin Tanner laid out that the 40 Days of Action beginning on Mother’s Day May 13th and every week through to the mass mobilization in Washington, DC on June 23rd will consist of these components:
- Sunday evenings: Mass Meetings for spiritual, moral and tactical/logistical preparation for the next days’ events
- Mondays: Gather at 10 am, 1 hour Training at 11 am, followed by press conference & rally, and then afternoon direct actions at 38 state capitals and in Washington, DC
- Tuesdays: Teach-Ins
- Thursdays: Theomusicology and Arts Events
- Friday-Sunday – Worship (the campaign is providing multi-faith materials)
All the national events will be livestreamed. This schedule will be followed in Washington DC and in the states so that we are all acting simultaneously.
To participate in direct action people must attend the trainings in their states. A further one hour training will be provided in Washington, DC for the national action and in the states. (We are also looking into an on-line training.)
Weekly Themes
Week One (May 13-19) - SOMEBODY'S HURTING OUR PEOPLE: Children, Women, and People with Disabilities in Poverty
Week Two (May 20-26) - LINKING SYSTEMIC RACISM AND POVERTY: Voting Rights, Immigration, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and the Mistreatment of Indigenous Communities
Week Three (May 27-June 2) - THE WAR ECONOMY: Militarism and the Proliferation of Gun Violence
Week Four (June 3-9) - THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND A HEALTHY PLANET: Ecological Devastation and Health Care
Week Five (June 10-16) - EVERYBODY'S GOT THE RIGHT TO LIVE: Education, Living Wage Jobs, Income, Housing
Week Six (June 17-22) - A NEW AND UNSETTLING FORCE: Confronting the Distorted Moral Narrative
June 23: Join us in Washington, DC, for a mass rally and sending forth to continue building the moral movement!
Here are some of the other positions that are needed to help each Monday:
- Safety team (Marshalls, Peace Keepers, Medics, etc) Find info about peace keeping here.
- Program Coordinator (stage coordinator, timekeeper, speaker coordinator)
- Documentarian (photo/videos)
- Rally set up/clean up crew
- Legal support and legal observers
- Post-action support (community support at jail, collecting information, giving rides)
- Interpreters and equipment
- Visual arts (creating signs, banners, other visuals)
- Music
- Communications (media spokespeople, media wrangler, social media)
- Transportation coordinator (organize carpools and buses from various areas of the state)
- Organizing a PPC event in my community (the coordinating committee will provide ideas and resources!)
Helpful Info
Here are links to:
- The recording of the call that we held today: 4.19 Video Call (Note that the recording did not start in time to capture the welcome in that I did which included introducing Dr. Janice Marie Johnson, UUA Multicultural Ministries Director – she is who is speaking at the beginning.)
- The slide with the weekly themes (I’ll also paste text below) and the video we showed at the end of the call.
- A folder of materials and information that the Campaign has created – it includes list of the participating states and e-mail addresses, schedule of non-violent direct action trainings (it will be regularly updated), Fundamental Principles, Organizational Sign on Letter, National Steering Committee Members, List of Official Partners, Audit Fact Sheet, additional materials for the NVMFDA training and Days of Action, for political education, for Theomusicology and the Movement Arts.
- The audit - "Souls of Poor Folks: Auditing America 50 Years After the Poor People's Campaign Challenged Systemic Racism, The War Economy/Militarism, Ecological Devastation, and our National Morality" and the campaign demands, "A Moral Agenda Based on Fundamental Rights".
- A list of lodging options in Washington, DC that our generous friends at UUSJ (UUs for Social Justice, Your Voice in the National Capital) have put together. They can also provide some limited home hospitality. Contact them at advocacy@uusj.org or call 202-600-9132.
- Here's a link from the ACLU that tells how you can help as a legal observer.
To get connected with the UUA's involvement with this campaign, please sign up directly on this link here (the campaign has set it up to track UU participation for us). Each state campaign has a Facebook page. We also recommend that you contact your UU state action network. You can follow the facebook group for the UU's & PPC here. A UUA webpage will soon be available here: https://www.uua.org/racial-justice/poor-peoples-campaign-national-call-moral-revival
Live Stream
All events will be livestreamed from the PPC: NCMR Facebook Page. Sunday Mass Meetings - 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT