Hundreds of Poor People’s Campaign leaders from over 30 states came together on Capitol Hill June 19-21 to shift the nation’s attention to the reality of poverty in the country, highlight poverty as an American death sentence and demand action to end murder by public policy. The three-day Poor People’s Campaign Moral Poverty Action Congress sounded the alarm on the crisis of poverty and brought together poor and low-wealth people and faith leaders from across the country to strategize and demand that addressing poverty be on the nation’s agenda heading into the 2024 elections.
The Congress was held as hundreds of thousands of Americans are being kicked off Medicaid, child poverty is on the rise after the expanded child tax credit was allowed to expire, and as we near the 14th year since the impossibly low federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour was increased. And it follows a manufactured debt ceiling crisis that was resolved on the backs of poor people. “Today, poverty is the 4th leading cause of death nationwide. It is a death sentence for Americans. It is a moral travesty and a detriment to the soul of our nation that poverty kills more people than homicide yet the powers that be don’t want to address it,” said Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. “There’s not a scarcity of resources, but a scarcity of political will. Until our nation’s leaders invest the great riches of this nation in ensuring equal justice for all, beginning with the poor and low-wealth of this nation, we cannot be silent.”
The Congress opened with a launch event featuring Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, leading a discussion with Yale School of Public Health Assistant Professor Greg Gonsalves and UC-Riverside Professor David Brady, the author of a recent report citing poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in America.
The following day, local Poor People’s Campaign leaders, including impacted people, faith leaders, and advocates, visited members of the House and Senate – on both sides of the aisle from the 30+ states they represented – to demand they use their power to address poverty, which kills more people every year than homicide, but gets significantly less of the attention from politicians.
“Given the abundance that exists in this country and the fundamental dignity inherent to all humanity, every person in this nation has the right to demand dignified jobs and living wages, housing, education, health care and welfare,” said the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. But the truth is that millions of Americans are denied those fundamental rights, and thousands are dying as a result.”
Following the visits, impacted people and faith leaders held a funeral procession leading up to the Capitol, where participants spoke out about how poverty is an American death sentence, as it is the fourth leading cause of death in the country. Others discussed how the interlocking injustices have directly impacted their lives and their families. Read more. Watch the video recording here.
On June 21, Reps. Barbara Lee and Pramila Jayapal reintroduced a resolution calling for a Third Reconstruction, a large-scale federal effort to end poverty and dismantle racist policies and structures. The resolution, entitled the Third Reconstruction: Fully Addressing Poverty and Low Wages from the Bottom Up, outlines concrete ways to address poverty and the interlocking systemic injustices in our country.
“Poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in America, higher than homicides and gun violence, and it doesn’t have to be. It is policy decisions we must change in order to address this reality. Our movement has been saying we must simultaneously deal with the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of health care, militarism and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism that blames the poor, instead of the systems that cause poverty. This resolution asks who in congress is ready to join us,“ said Bishop William J. Barber II.
This resolution realizes that we, as a nation, must simultaneously address the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of health care, militarism and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism that blames the poor instead of the systems that cause poverty,” said Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.
United for Peace & Justice is proud to be a national mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign. Join your state’s Poor People’s Campaign and get involved.
