On Monday November 23, automobiles plastered with makeshift memorials to COVID victims who died in poverty caravanned through state capitals in: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. Organized by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, the caravans kicked-off a “Week of Mourning” to mourn the politics of death that have plagued our nation and to demand a politics of life.
As a national partner, United for Peace & Justice is joining the Poor People’s Campaign in mourning the quarter-million Americans who have died from COVID-19, demanding a smooth and open transition of power and lifting up the moral policies we need immediately and in the first days of the new administration.
This Thanksgiving, a day already marked by many Indigenous peoples as a Day of Mourning, families across the country will remember and mourn the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19 and poverty. Millions of poor and low-income households also face mounting bills, evictions and hunger, after months of unemployment, cuts in wages, and the government’s failure to pass a comprehensive COVID-relief package.
Ending the suffering of our families and communities is a moral mandate to all who are tasked with governance now and in the new year. Calls for cooperation cannot compromise with injustice.
For an inspiring response to the November 4 elections, watch the Poor People’s Campaign post-election Message to Nation, featuring National Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (recorded on November 5).
