Forward Together With the Poor People's Campaign

[Rhiannon12866]

People living in poverty across the United States — from California to Kentucky to Michigan to West Virginia — told us their stories

by Elizabeth Warren

On June 12th, 2018, Reverend William J. Barber II hosted a discussion on poverty for members of Congress. People living in poverty across the United States — from California to Kentucky to Michigan to West Virginia — told us their stories. We heard from a victim of a predatory loan who lives in a trailer home infested with mold. We heard from an undocumented immigrant who struggles to afford rent in Los Angeles. We heard from a retired coal miner who is still fighting for fair benefits from greedy corporations.

As Americans struggle to pay their bills, the Trump Administration continues to spit in the face of poor people. Donald Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court — a judge who poses a real threat to historically disadvantaged communities, including people of color, LGBTQ Americans, workers and the poor. The president has also crammed his administration with officials who care more about making money for themselves than protecting our environment, keeping our workers safe, and advocating for the rights of unions and consumers. Poor people are under attack from those in power, and the Poor People’s Campaign is on the forefront of this fight.

“This is not a liberal or a conservative movement. It is a deeply moral movement. The people who are hurting the most have linked up to say, ‘We won’t be silent anymore.’” Reverend Barber launched the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival to pick up where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. left off 50 years ago.

“I think it’s really easy for us as human beings to punish people or dismiss people because we don’t love them. And we can’t love them, we say, if we don’t know them.” Amy Jo Hutchinson told us about people living in poverty in West Virginia — and the governor’s immoral proposal to add work requirements to SNAP benefits.


More: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/07/24/forward-together-poor-peoples-campaign


On Poverty in America: Reverend Barber on the Poor Peoples Campaign

[Raine]

1. I wish that TV media had covered this

like MSNBC & CNN, the only one that regularly covered it was PBS..

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Yes, me too. We used to see stories like this all the time

And important world events, like the devastating flooding in Japan and the unprecedented volcano activity in Hawaii. But now all we see and hear about are the daily Trump outbursts and scandals. They dominate the news cycle and there's no airtime for anything else...

[2naSalit]

3. K&R

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Thanks! This story was new to me so I wanted to share it

We no longer get "regular" news these days unless we look for it - and this is newsworthy.

[SunSeeker]

5. Reverend Barber does a lot of good work.

He's a Christrian who actually follows the teaching of Christ.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. He really does and he takes on the toughest issues

We used to hear more about his important work before the "news" became 24/7 Trump Tweets and outrageous behavior.