Transcripts For CSPAN Poor Peoples Campaign Holds A Nationwide Virtual Rally 20240712

[chanting] any nation that ignores half of its people is in a moral and economic crisis. We will do more there will be a movement. To bring people together save the heart and soul of this democracy and this world. [crowd chanting] almost 87 years ago, my father, reverend dr. Martin luther king, jr. , reminded america of the fierce urgency of now. But now is not the time to engage in the luxury of cooling off. It takes the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. But now is the time to make real the promises of this democracy. He was working with poor people of every race, from every corner of this nation, to build a Poor Peoples Campaign when he was assassinated in memphis, tennessee, five years later. Today, as his daughter, i am honored to add my voice to the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival, and stand with the 140 million poor people and low wealth people urging america to address with the fierce urgency of now the big issues of poverty and race. Please join us in this movement. There is a coming together of people all across this nation, a Fusion Movement shaping the narrative that lifts up the 140 million poor People Living in poverty in america. Welcome, america, to this coming together. Welcome to the digital poor Peoples Assembly and moral march on washington, a movement that is bringing together black, brown, white people, liberals and conservatives, the young and our elders, gay, straight, trans, queer, people of all backgrounds and all walks of life, to fight the injustice of poverty and the injustices that grow out of poverty. Tyam the reverend nancy pet in raleigh, North Carolina, where we come to you live this morning with the Poor Peoples Campaign. I am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign and past chair of the board of repairs. I am honored this day to stand with the reverend Allen Jackson and welcome the nation and the world to this historic day. Resemblese this day the message of the moral fusion message of the 19th century reconstruction and the message of the 1968 Poor Peoples Campaign. Economic justice for poor people. In the words of dr. King, we have come to this hallowed spot to remind america of the fierce urgency of now. Ouris the time to lift nation from the quicksands of Racial Injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood and sisterhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of gods children. So, welcome. Welcome to the mass poor Peoples Assembly and march on washington. Moral 909 now to text 75 or go to june2020. Org. Thank you, pastor petty. I am proud to stand with you today welcoming the nation and the world to this digital justice gathering. I am out in jackson, executive director of the mass poor Peoples Assembly and moral march on washington. Today, we will hear from the of our time. Ophets not just those who stand inside churches and mosques and synagogues and temples and on podiums but those who struggle to survive in food deserts and to scream and shout and march and protest on city streets. Among the 140 million poor and low wealth people in this country. He said prophets are human but they sound an octave too high for our ears. They have experiences that defy our understanding. Moralizingither ports nor singing saints. Their words often begin where our conscience ends. Today, we will hear from the prophets of our time. Hear them, listen, listen. Wordirst, we will have a from faith leaders followed by video. And after the song by miss allen, the cochairs of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a national , thefor moral revival reverends will speak to us. We come with many names for the holy. Guide. God. Allah. Although we come called by different teachers. We declare in the face of systemic racism that silence is betrayal. We affirm the voice of each human. Within each person is in doubt these rights and recognitions. Racism is the virus that tears in our humanity. Infects our system. And festers within the great democratic experiment. That is america. Somebody is hurting our people. And it has gone on far too long. We wont be silent anymore. A pandemic magnifies the figures fissures. Created by racist capitalism. Were essential workers are sacrificial. For the nearl 700 people who die every day. We pray would not be comforted. By the false worship of broken systems. But instead, we would find new ways. Economy ofmong us an interdependence. Somebody is hurting our people. And it has gone on far too long. And we wont be silent anymore. The spirit of river, soil, mountain, entries. There is enough for everyone to live free. But there is not enough for corporate greed. We pray with movements for farmers and growers. For Public Health workers. For sacred land. From others fighting for water foremothers fighting for leader. Someone is hurting our people. It has gone on far too long. We wont be silent anymore. We limit a nation addicted to war, economically dependent on violence foreign and domestic. We cannot fully address the suffering if we continue to spend half of our National Budgets on military. Lining the pockets of corporations and billionaires. And sacrificing the lives of our young people. Let us study war no more. Somebody is hurting our people. It has gone on far too long. We wont be silent anymore. Left the labor and witness of those who have gone before us to light the way forward. With thanksgiving, we remember the shoulders on which we stand. And those who laid the foundation for this movement. For those who dreamed us to this moment. And this movement. Sojourner truth. John brown. Malcolm x, Martin Luther king. Dorothy day. Cesar chavez. Us,or the elders still with for the children in this movement now. We pray. Thank you for the courage of our people in the streets today. Lifted up to organize in our communities today. And we, like the ones before, are now the ones we have been waiting for. And we will not be silent anymore. Anymore. We lament because we love. Stand fory and prophetic witness because we love. We advocate for justice because we love. We speak painful truths because we love. Because we love our fellow human children of god. Because we love this creation god has given us. And because we love, we must stand up for what is right. Because we love, we must stand up for what is good. Because we love, we stand up for what is just. Because we love, we stand up for what is not selfish but sacrificial. March. We love, we because we love, we call on our leaders to help us to make hillca a shining city on a and not a place of darkness and despair. Let love lead us. Let love guide us. Let love show us the way. Shall we pray . Great god, love is not only what you do, it is who you are. The scripture says, beloved, let us love one another for love is of god and everyone who loves is born of god and knows god. She loves not know is not god for god is love knows not god for god is love. You taught us that there is no fear in love and that love casts out fear. The greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. As my grandmother used to say a say word,is not love is a due word. Help us to live lives filled with love. Amen and praise god. At one time, poverty was a temporary condition. You were on a downslope from minute, but you could bounce back up. We cant bounce back up today. [indiscernible] we are not going back to the factories building cars and trucks like we did. A job working at mcdonalds or the Grocery Store does not pay enough for one person to live. Work a 40hour work week and still not enough to live from paycheck to paycheck. Rent is 600 a month. We have a water bill, electricity. I do this for my kids. And it hurts. Neighborhood was shut off all at one time. I saw all of my neighbors get shut off right in front of me. It was kind of terrifying. I haves 42 years old 42 years old and i am a cashier at mcdonalds. I lost my house. Peoplees a lot of living in their cars. You never notice until you are in that situation. I am paying all of these bills and they need School Clothes and stuff. Love the lord requires of thee the lord requires we are gathered today to call of a radical redistribution political and economic power, a , tolution of moral values demonstrate the power of poor and impacted people banding together demanding that this country change for the better. Together in this digital, mass poor Peoples Assembly and moral march on washington. And we thank you for gathering with us. I am the cochair of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. We are a moral Fusion Movement of the poor, and activists, and all of those who will not stand die every dayle from poverty and inequality in this, the richest country in the together, must come organize together, demand just together in the face of systemic racism and police violence. Theseieve if you see faces and hear these voices, you will join this movement. And you will understand why america has to face this issue impacting 43 of the people his country, 140 Million People. There is a second reason we are has just gone live and will go to every congressperson, every senator, both president ial candidates, governors, and legislatures, the poor peoples march we have put an agenda together. We have people working with the best economist and impacted people. They are putting a budget together and our platform, the five principles. Everybody in, nobody out. When you lift from the bottom, everybody rises. Prioritize the leadership of the poor and most impacted. Debt that cannot be paid must be relieved and we need a moral revolution of values to repair the breach in our land. What do asked one time, you want . Our response was, the corporations got 2. 5 to 3 trillion things. Do not limit poor people. Do not limit the low income. We watch what is required. Unto thoseays, woe who legislate people. And then the legislate evil. You need to know that the number of people in this country who have not voted because they do not hear poverty talk about on the political stages and debates. But the number of them that have not voted far outweigh the margins for any candidate victory. And low wealth people as dr. Martin luther king jr. Told us on the steps of the Alabama State house holds the key to transforming the political calculus in this country. We come that you might hear from the people. We come that we might present a platform that addresses how we address the issues of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the force false morrow false moral narrative. It is not only time to change the narrative, it is time to be a power among poor and low wealth people and we will not be silent anymore. People you to hear, as we will introduce, the first will be danny glover and others will come. I will leave that to reverend patty and reverend jackson. Stay with us and hear these voices. I declare your mind will be changed, your heart will be touched and you will want to join in and transform this nation. God bless you. Hello, i am danny glover and i am i part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. A National Call for moral revival. 140you know there are Million People in this country who are poor . One emergency away from being poor . ,ven before covid19 hit i know this is a challenging i know this is a challenging time. Many have lost their jobs in healthcare. We cannot be silent anymore about party. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign and this National Call for moral revival of europe moral revival. It is time to hear from these people and see the faces behind the numbers. My name is christine and i live in South Carolina since 1997. Poverty and homelessness have been a part of my life story since i was 10 years old. 160 of rent one month. We ask the landlord for an extension and the next thing we know, we got evicted. We moved downtown. Got another house to live in and prayed that the walls would not shake too bad when the wind blew. When you never had to be hungry, people in washington are sending people to other countries to war against others and set of singing homes sending homes and food for people here for people that are sleeping in their cars that go to bed hungry at night. My name is pamela and im from alabama. Home with myobile two kids. It is all right. I trapped four possums in my have rawts, and i sewage. I had to travel to birmingham to take my daughter. I dont have a car or anybody to take her. And then we have a high utility bill. I was paying 370 per month on the trailer. Mary jane and im a proud kansas farmers wife. My husband mark is a fourth generation farmer. 129yearold farmhouse with barely adequate electricity and barely adequate plumbing. We live in a food desert. There was only one Grocery Store in our county. We live in a news desert. We have no hospital in our county. The nearest one is 30 minutes away at 70 miles an hour. Kansas farmers are in a breaking point with the Economic Trends and polluted groundwater. Causethe second leading in death in kansas. A lot of it is due to the fertilizer and runoff in the water. We did not get city water until 1984 on the farm. Before that it was stream water treated with chlorine. Almost everyone we know has a cancer story. Is 85 farmer suicide rate deaths per 100,000 which is higher than our veterans suicide rate. Since 2017 when the road markets were destabilized by terrorists, farmers lived in invisible aserty in silent desperation foreclosure looms and the blame for being the one valley farm hangs over them every single day. Employment is important to all of us. Many who are here come from this community including myself and so it is important that if we hear things like one out of every four students is homeless, that means something. It is more than a number. That means there is children and family members going without and that is not right. The homelessness you are seeing in the streets of l. A. And our community, you can see it in sacramento, you can see it in salinas, you can see it in chico. You can see all up and down the state, people in the street, living in cars and rvs. It is a growing phenomenon. One thing that is important, i dont think this is because people just do not know how to manage finances. This is economic devastation. We are all tied to that route. My name is olivia williams. I work at starbucks in the Orlando International airport. My coworkers and i begin organizing a union because we were frustrated about the disrespect from the management. I am 24 years old and i was hospitalized twice in two years from workplace incidents. The pandemic made things worse. We had no training on how to protect ourselves or the public. Ive speak up and i told them that management only started paying attention to us when we started fighting for the union. I am not afraid to fight. I have been fighting all my life. I was born with Cerebral Palsy and my parents were told i would never walk or talk. Instead, i graduated high school at the top of my class. They underestimate me and my coworkers. Working People Like Us are strong and powerful and we come together. This is why we demand ahistorical investment in resources to end the pandemic of poverty in the midst of plenty. Repealed the 2017 tax breaks for the wealthy, relief from poverty and wealth inequality. Im tired of watching my friends die in the street. Everyone has the right to Affordable Housing and living wages and that is why i work with the Poor Peoples Campaign, the National Call for moral revival. Hi, i am wanda. Did you know that women and children are on the front lines of poverty . That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. I am not poor, what i am a woman and i have children and i care. Did you know that women make up two thirds of the workforce consistently with the lowest paying jobs . Three quarters of the people in the United States of america are poor. They are women and children. It is time to hear from them. I comeame is amy and from west virginia. As i look back on my life, i am 46 years old and i have never spent a day without poverty on some level. I have medicaid and without any notice, they sent me a letter and told me in february. I got the letter in april. By the time i received it, i had a couple of days notice that i no longer had Health Insurance. Please tell me as a poor person what i am supposed to do. I have a bachelors degree. I am trying to heal a medical condition with essential oils. I work full time and take my kids to softball games. Im doing everything i can and organizing around other poor people, dominantly low income moms. I dont think that we should have to give this much of ourselves in order to have a good quality of life in america. The richest country in the world. My name is nicole and i want to tell a little bit about my worry about being a poor person in detroit. You are constantly raped by corporate greed. I lived without my water with it being cut off the first time in may 2014. It was off for two months. No matter how poor they are, they are always helping somebody else. That is why despite what is going on with donald trump, what is going on in this country, we are going to win. I am confident in that. I believe in that. [applause] good morning, everybody. And i amrend chambers from baltimore maryland. I am a welfare rights woman to woman. We feel fine. Dr. King came to welfare rights and asked us to help. To help the Poor Peoples Campaign so that we can get started. We said dr. King before this, dr. King, where were you when we were out there fighting for food stamps . We sent you a letter, but you did not respond. He said, but i am here now and i heard about you ladies and i want to be with you all. And that is when foodstamp came about. This is why we demand living wages. A fair income, a guaranteed income. With equal pay for equal work. Moment, imin this just grieving. Ning just grieving and mour and wailing. It is for these reasons and more that im a part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. Poverty is a form of trauma for our children and their families. If you have to go to school hungry without enough food, you cannot learn and you do not do as well. If you are concerned about where you are going to live from one day to the next, if you dont feel well, but you cannot go to the doctor, all of these things have a generational impact on our children. Struggling,ren are they are growing up in poverty. That is why im part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for oral revival. Did you know that nearly 30 mind billion children are poor while living in a low income family question mark did you know that 1. 5 million children are homeless and one in five children are hungry. It is time to hear from these young people. I am a first generation student of a food service worker. I was born and raised in kentucky. We did not have election or did not electric or did not get water. Even though she was working overtime every week. I used a gym membership to shower. I work shifts over the summer to pay for the apartment and bills. The mcdonalds parking lot. Im from boston. And i am 10 years old and im going into the sixth grade. Not one,les away from three methadone clinics. Some of us see people walking up and down the street. I see people walking like zombies from a move me from a movie. If you asked me what im fighting for, i am fighting for my life and my community. Thank you. A third child was born seven weeks early. The only thing my family knew was the beautiful addition to our family. Adriel is death, blind deaf, blind, and Development Lee disabled. He has medical hurdles to overcome and we flew into action. My husband and i are dedicated parents. We would provide and support our children so they can thrive. He would be no different. Day, we were launched into the shadows. In the shadows are hundreds and thousands of marginalized peoples and families. In 2016, it was reported that Unemployment Rates for those 64. 1 encing disability is in this country. Inas a young person living harlan county, i think a lot of times our voices are put down. A lot of people around here do not realize the issues that are going on. I think that it is time that we as a people educate the people that do not know what is going on in their community. It is time that we show our elected officials, our legislators what is going on and that those young people know what they are doing, that us young people are going to rise above and that we will not be silent anymore. Sophia and im a student in new york city public schools. This is why we demand free public quality education, housing for all, safe water for all. We demand healthcare. Hi, our lgbtq communities face highrisk poverty and violence. That is why i am here today as part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. Did you know that lgbtq plus 20 toyouth represent 40 of the Homeless Population . That transgender communities series shocking amounts of violence and discrimination. Did you know that lgbtq immigrants are 15 times more likely to experience Sexual Assault and confinement . This violence must end. Now that we hear from them. My name is sophia. Therved for 10 years in u. S. Navy and coast guard. When i was discharged from the coast guard for being transgender, i was plunged into a world with no training, no noparation, and consideration for what could happen to me with no job and no skills. Is it any wonder why so many of us live in poverty . Company can . So an continue to raise their their missiles destroy the lives of innocent people. Curtis and i am a christian from the tenderloin. I actually live in a single room occupancy room. I was sick and homeless, alone, and i was an addict. I was not homeless because i was an addict. I was an addict because i was homeless and alone. I had been denied for despite being hospitalized 12 times in two years and i was too sick to work. I was in San Francisco because i let the homophobia i encountered elsewhere and the stigma of aids that it may be that outcast. I had to win the Lottery Ticket housing. At age 55, i finally have Health Insurance for the very first time in my life. Can you imagine . I watched the police come and take all those peoples belongings and force them to move even though they had nowhere else to go. When i was homeless, i experienced that first hand. The war on the poor in this country these to blame poor people for their circumstances. It wanted me to believe that i was the problem, that my illness was my fault, a moral failing on my part. Person, iwas a better would not be in these circumstances. The sad part is they almost have me believe that. I was almost ready to give up. But i am lucky. I am still here despite the odds and i no longer buy into the narrative that poverty is my fault. Equity is why we demand and safety for all persons regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. , ademand housing for all just immigration system, an end to incarceration, deportation, and the tension. This is why i am in the campaign and we will not be silent anymore. Laurel and i am the organizing direction with the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. My name is reverend erica williams, codirector of the moral fusion student organizing fellowship program. As you have already seen, we are in a moral crisis. A crisis that began before this pandemic. Aroundnkfully, people this country are organizing. Speakers that you have heard are organizing a mark communities and right now organizing in their communities and there are tens of thousands organizing around the world. Build we need you to help the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for a moral revival. We are bringing people together from all across the world from different races, gender, and sexuality to build this powerful movement and we need you to take the next step. We are asking you to go to june 0975 to jointext 9 this movement as we build this powerful movement of a nonviolent army of justice, love, and peace. Coming up, you will hear from people impacted poverty wages from kentucky to missouri to dc. New you will hear from essential workers who are leaders in their local unions. You have been writing about this for years. We folks have been talking about it for years and working at it for years. We are in a moment between the coronavirus pandemic and fee great social upheaval that we have got the great social upheaval. It seems they are understanding how inequality manifests are hung the labs in the lives of poor people. Do you think we are in a good moment to take this opportunity and affect meaningful change . It makes absolutely no sense. Outpandemic has laid this so clearly. It is not an equal opportunity virus. We have made this decision. The things that we care about a lot, our children, the elderly, we say we do not want to spend any money on them. We dont want to pay the people who care for our elderly and are sick and our children. You dont want to pay them a decent wage. Completelynd that beyond reason. We dont want to go back to the economy that we had in january and february 2020. ,e want a new kind of economy one in which it is a knowledge economy, a more equal economy, and a greener economy. I am reverend williams. The bottom 80 of our country has not realized a rise in their income in the last 50 years. Although people are calling lowwage workers essential, they are treated as if they are expendable. Did you know that 60 Million People in our country earned less than a living wage . One, two, ororking three jobs and still cannot pay their bills. Most lowwage workers are women and women of color. That, 40 million working people have lost their jobs in just the past two months during this pandemic. This is a movement of famine. I have seen the power of this movement change the consciousness of america. It is time to hear from these workers. 1969, we as nurses aides, down, we didp cut everything on emergency cards. We were tired. Tired of being under work and overworked and underpaid. We got a little bit of money for the hard work that we did. Instead, we got put in jail. We got beat. I got kicked out of my house. I was in the projects. They kicked me out of my house. But we cannot stop here. We have to fight on for what is right. We are working for under wage back in six to nine. We are doing the same in 2019. What are we going to do about it . Are we going to let it happen all over again . We feel like we deserve more money for the hard work we have done. Lets not leave it where it is at. We started in 1959, we can finish in 2019. Lets go all the way. Thats fight with justice. My name is terrence and i might 37yearold secondgeneration fast food worker. I am a leader in the fight for the movement in kansas city. I am also a father of three girls. I currently work at mcdonalds and despite my many years of experience, i only make nine dollars an hour. My mom is a Home Healthcare worker and a walmart worker. Despite her 13 years as a Home Healthcare worker, she only makes 10 an hour taking care of some of the most vulnerable citizens in this nation. Benefits,e of us have off, it meanstime that i have not been to see a doctor or dentist in 18 years. Daughters, mymy three little girls have memory of getting ready for school in the back of our purple minivan in subfreezing temperatures right here in kansas city while we get ready for work in the front seat. When she got sick earlier this year, she was in and out of the hospital, our employer did not care if we became homeless again. They did not care because we do not have paid time off, sick pay, insurance. They did not care if we lived or died. And that is the truth. And is what poverty wages no i have been a union member since 1968. Worked 41ck lung, i years in the coal mines. We have an old saying, it is rough at the face. Where i live in south Eastern Kentucky it is rough at the face. That area has not gotten better. It is worse today than it has ever been. It took me seven years going to see doctor after doctor after doctor to get a settlement on my black lung. I live in durham and work at freddys where i work and train other employees. It is a multimillion Dollar Company and i earn 8. That is a poverty wage. The largest employers like mcdonalds and walmart are hour. 7. 25 an of labor creates billions dollars in profits. North carolina has the lowest Union Memberships. They are tied to the legacy of slavery. Racism is used as a tool to divide workers and pass antiunion laws that are still in place today. [cheering] these policies have a real impact on our lives. Why am i focused on unions . Poverty and racism are systemic problems that need systemic solutions. E are that solution [applause] i have been fighting to raise wages in the restaurant sector for the last 20 years. These are the poorest workers in america suffering. That is why i am join with the Poor Peoples Campaign National Call for moral revival. Women, womens are of color, and single mothers. They have the highest Economic Security and highest Sexual Harassment prior to the pandemic. 10 million of these have lost their job and 60 said they cannot access unemployment because minimum wage is too low to meet thresholds. They are being penalized for being too poor. I am a bartender in downtown d. C. 4. 45 anminimum wage is hour. I have to rely on tips to make up the base minimum wage in the District Of Columbia which is 14 an hour. Nobody should have to live like that. We could and this injustice if we had one fair wage. When you have one fair wage you allow the people to end economic anxiety, they do not have to live in economic roulette, and they have the ability to save and weather the storms that is the crisis of covid19. I invite all of you to fight for one fair wage. Demand a National Living wage. We demand everyone have a living wage no matter where you live. Guaranteed income, full pay fornt, and equal equal work. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. That is why we are all nationalities and we will not be silent anymore. Im going to go to a certified nursing assistant. Thank you for this platform. And these protected patients are coughing and their are all types of symptoms. I amspeak to you right now smuggling ppe to my coworkers. This is mass murder we are the sacrificial lambs. Have seen the meatpacking industry. They were forcing people to go to work. How inhumane and violent is that . Sioux falls, south dakota Processing Plant had nearly 900 cases. More than half of the states 1700 cases. In alabama the people who are dying the most from this i am sure the vast majority are poor. Claims weekly jobless 6. 6 million versus 3. 7 million expected. A recessionearly in with major impacts on working men and women in this country. Kansas is where i am at. A lot of people have lost their jobs and that is connected to health care. It has expose what we already knew that some lives are deemed more important than others. Some lives are disposable. I am working with the Poor Peoples Campaign because it is a matter of life and death. Those who are rich and greedy do not want to talk about who is living in poverty, but that is because they do not want us to identify with each other. Dozens of Flight Attendants are in the less than 15 an hour. Like so many essential workers many Flight Attendants live at or below the poverty line. We are not getting any pandemic pay. We are keeping essential travel moving in the federal government has refused to issue guidelines. They put Flight Attendants and passengers in unnecessary danger. I would like to introduce one of our Union Members who will offer her firsthand experience. I am a regional Flight Attendant. Many people do not know regional Flight Attendant are paid 45 less than main line Flight Attendants. Enough, but webe have to find additional jobs to pay our bills and make ends meet. That is why we are joining the Poor Peoples Campaign. We demand fair treatment for all workers. Did you know that 90 of hospitality workers have been laid off . President eneral vice of the union unite which represents workers in hospitality and Service Industry for nearly a quarter of black americans. The Unemployment Rate for black people in the u. S. Is almost twice as high as for white people. Less than 50 of black adults have a job. Black workers need a union because otherwise we are the last to be hired, but the first to be fired. I believe building my union is a Racial Justice project. All working people, all black people, do better in unions. There is a system of interlocking systems of racism that runs so deep in america. Covid19 has deepened the injustices, but heightened world awareness more than ever. Just being aware is not enough. Saying you want to do something is not enough. It requires a collective effort to actually create a change. I would like to introduce a unite member, duane, who works in concessions in miami at a ballpark and tell us the story of how unite is fighting. In florida there has been about to. 1 Million People who have applied for unemployment. Less than 50 have received that. This is unacceptable. This is not something we as should accept. we did caravans demanding the government to an executive order that requires unemployment as fast as possible. It is over eight weeks for some people. It is close to 10 or 11 weeks for some. Almost sixseven weeks to getting a response. Theyre not answering the phones, the system is crashing, it was bad. Something needs to be done and the governor and the representatives from the state are just sitting and doing nothing while the people are suffering. 1199e president of representing 450,000 health care workers. 70 of the Nursing Homes fall below the recommended hours perof care of 4 resident, per day. It is hard to get the quality care residents deserve. When covid19 hit and families were unable to visit their relatives nursing home workers became the family for the residents. A to tell her story. Baltimorenurse in maryland. Presented longterm workers with challenges we were never prepared for. Community longterm care workers dropped the ball. We were left without proper ppe, equipment, or supplies. Acceptable for people who are responsible for the care of the elderly and most honorable. If we had been given the same access to ppe as the hospitals, i know our Nursing Homes would not have been so badly affected. It is very stressful to take care of my patients and my own family. I was afraid of bringing the virus home to them and did everything i could not to, but for many of our patients, nursing home workers are family. We were some of their only commit occasion. We cannot let that happen again. We must make sure all workers are protected. Our residents should never fear their safety because our government is not protecting health care workers. It is wonderful to be called a hero, but more important to have what we need. Did you know dr. Kings last fight for racial and economic with theas arm in arm Poor Peoples Campaign . He came to memphis to express solidarity with sanitation workers. 1300 africanamerican men who had gone on strike to demand dignity and respect. The slogan was proud, simple, and defiant. I am a man. Members thatthe strengthen and serve the community, especially in the devastating pandemic, we are inspired by dr. Kings courage and sacrifice. I want you to meet john henry one of our everyday heroes who works as a disease intervention specialist for the city of columbus, ohio. Thank you. In my role as a Public Health professional everyday i see huge disparities in access to Quality Health care. I see it in my regular job where populationsighrisk and i have seen it in the last few months of the pandemic when i have been reassigned to work as a contact tracer. Health9 has presented and financial challenges for families across the country. It is disheartening while at the same time i see hope. We could change these things, we could reinvest in Public Health, we could give it the funding and prioritize it in the way it should be. We should do more to break down the barriers of trust and fill in the gaps of funding that would level the Playing Field giving us a Fair Health Care system that serves everyone. Oh, somebody is hurting my brother and it has gone far too long. , i tell you, it has gone on. Brother,s hurting, my and it has gone on far too long. Silent anymore. It has gone on, it has gone on, i tell you it has gone on. It has gone on and we wont be silent anymore. Hurting myy is brother and it has gone on far too long. Yes, it has gone on far too long. I tell you it is gone on far too long. Brother is hurting my and it is gone on far too long. Anymore. Be silent we wont be silent anymore. Silent anymore. Anymore. Be silent [applause] america, the prophets of our time or speaking. We need nothing short of a revolution of values, radical revolution of values, to change this nation, to address the interlocking evils and injustices of our time. Systemic racism, systemic devastation,ogical the warbased economy, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism. Morning wewhy this lost the poor peoples moral Justice Policy platform as an update to our moral agenda. We need your help to get this platform to our elected officials. We are asking you to go to june 020. Org or text tomorrow to 90975 and make sure we get this policy platform to our elected officials. Please help us today. This is not a time to tinker around the edges with small reforms. We need bold demands and a complete restructuring of society to address these interlocking injustices. June2020. Org or text 75 to send these demands to congress. I am from louisiana and those numbers are staggering. When i saw this beginning to happen, this narrative of how we were just going to reopen the country, there was a clear racial tinge. There was a sense that as news outlets like yours begin to cover these Racial Disparities that conservative politicians around the country made a big shift in the way they were talking about this and said, ok, we can reopen the country. Underneath that is this idea that these lives do not have value. When i use the term net policy policy refers to the politics of death. How governments, state power entities, use policy to se lives areo valuable and those that are expendable. We do not like to think about our government acting in that way, but we are facing a pandemic in which we have lost almost 65,000 people in a matter of eight weeks. We are absolutely talking about the politics of death and we need the terminology that helps think about how is the government determining how it is enacting policy . Yeah. You go all the way back, right . The life of an enslaved person was only as valuable as how many they could reproduce of those thought to be owned by the person that called themselves owner. To go through the history of American Work and the immigrant workers in the 1920s and gilded age, it is not like people thought their lives had any value as long as they could crank the wheel. Giving them a day off people had to strike and have violent strikes to get that. Work,ea about American People at the lowest end of the are do you value this human or are they a means to an end . I almost feel like we are reliving the Calvin Coolidge era. Your thoughts, seth . I think that is right. It is a continuation of a long way of evaluating black and brown people. Force theould africanamerican and latino workers, along with some white, poultryf, pork, production plans. Those are some of the most dangerous workplaces in our country. What we are seeing is an exposure of the inequalities that have existed in our society for a long time and if we can start with the health inequalities, there is an unequal distribution based on race of health care and Health Insurance in our country. This administration, in a crisis, could have easily responded with extending Health Insurance, reopening the obamacare exchange, making Health Insurance more widely available, picking up the call to pay for covid treatments for any worker especially a Frontline Worker and none of those have been done. You cannot say you care about workers if everything you do, every policy, taking osha off, not giving ppe, not providing Health Insurance, results in workers having a much increased likelihood of death. Spends more for health care than any other advanced nation and yet 87 Million People here have an adequate or no Health Insurance. Did you know 72 Million People cannot afford medical bills and had to take out loans or other financial hardships simply because they got sick . The Prescription Drug industry is the most profitable industry in the united dates. United states. They should not make more profits off the pandemic. Let us hear the stories from the people who are on the front lines of this crisis. Natalia and four weeks ago i was ok. I am young and healthy and so is my partner. We do not have a lot, but we have enough. Or so we thought until this pandemic hit. The Chocolate Factory i worked for closed and i am out of work. Now more than ever i feel the fragility of just being ok. My partner and i are part of the millions that are just one emergency away from losing it all. Useshile, our government this crisis to line the pockets of those who cannot suffer any more bills. I am a volunteer organizer with the Poor Peoples Campaign in wisconsin because i know there is enough food, clean water, and definitely enough money for every human being, not just in this country, but out our planet to live with dignity. Join me in fighting to create a society we all deserve to live in. I am from dallas, texas. I continue to wear a mask to this day and it is frightening that we have 236 more cases in dallas overnight. Work and report to once i report to work i have to return home to my family. I have to return home and when i do i call to let my daughter no i am outside. Everybody else can go into their room and i can go into the kitchen and wash my hands and thes. And take off my clo this is what my life is been like since returning to work. It is not fair to them or me or any employee. Mothers day was this past wrote, and my daughter i am so afraid when you leave for work. It breaks my heart because i do not know what is going to happen you come back. I live in flint, michigan. I am 44 years old with two children. My life before covid19 has been very stressful. It has been over six years and we are still fighting for clean water in flint, michigan. It impacted my family tremendously. Twins fromsets of drinking the water and my daughter also miscarried. Not only are we fighting for clean water, i am fighting for my sons education. He is struggling in school. Exposure he is a special Education Student and the schools are needing the money, but not providing the special education care these children need. Due to covid19 theres been a lot of deaths i know of. People i know have died from the virus and all i can do is pray and keep moving on for my family. I have no personal transportation so i rely on friends to take me to the store for groceries and massive amounts of bottled water needed for me. In flint, we need bottled water for everything. Washing our vegetables, everything, because we cannot drink the tap water. Now that i am going out to the stores the shelves are often empty of the supplies we desperately need. Demand fullhy we medicaid expansion, medicare protection, and universal health care for all. We demand free treatment for covid19. The Healthcare Industry is expected to make huge profits. That march for profit, that changeis not going to unless we actually demand that change collectively and together. We are all going to need this care and i think that is the thing that unites us. It has been hurtful to know that when i go to the doctor and im not sure im going to get proper service. They do treatment different if they know my insurance is not as high quality. This is why we are organizing to change the narrative. We will not be silent anymore. I am al gore, chairman of the climate reality project and i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. Call for revival could not be more timely or more important. Americaay overdue in for a reckoning that brings everybody closer to understanding the intersection of the Critical Issues we are facing in our times. I am very proud to be working alongside reverend william bar ber and the Poor Peoples Campaign. Alongside all of those were fighting to expose and address the evils and intolerable injustices. We know that poverty and systemic racism are completely linked with the Climate Crisis. The Climate Crisis is already causing massive human suffering around the world and in our country. Impact cause even more unless we act with urgency. When our planet heats up it disproportionately effects the most vulnerable and that is particularly true for low income color,s, communities of the elderly, infants, children, those who pray existing conditions, the homeless. The Climate Crisis, if not addressed, threatens to push another 100 Million People worldwide into poverty by 2030. That is on top of the present poverty crisis in this country where today nearly hundred 40 million americans are below income level. These up and brought into focus as evidence shows exposure to more air pollution significantly increases infection rate and mortality rates from covid19. For these reasons and so many critical tos so raise National Attention and focus on those affected by ecological devastation, to lift up the voices and enable leaders from those communities to lead the way toward real solutions. At this critical moment in our history we can and we must move Forward Together and not move one step back. I am jane fonda. Climate crisis caused massive human suffering. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. Did you know that one third of the people in this country cannot afford water . The accidents and toxins from the fossil fuel industry particularly harmed communities of color. Investments in clean water and energy could create jobs and save trillions of dollars from ecological devastation. To really strengthen and protect the health. Of all the people it is time to hear from the frontline on this crisis. Is sarah anne y oungbear brown. My native name means woman standing on the edge of a river, fish clan. Today we are the only remaining tribe living in iowa state. Beautiful and the land holds the spirits and memories of our people, villages, ceremonies and prayers. Our people were caretakers and land wouldat this take care of us and in turn we would take care of the land. Thought lets come together and help each other. Im here today to talk about environmental racism. I live in dallas, texas and we have superfund sites. That means when a area has been declared by the government as toxic. We are being killed by air. We are being killed by the water. A company has been up for 90 years and in those 90 years they have put out mercury, lead, sulfur in our water and ground. Our children are dying. Our children are developing skin cancer. Our women are developing breast cancer. We are being attacked by the corporate ku klux klan. [sharing] cheering] White Supremacy used to be in a sheet, but now it is in a corporate suit. I am the son of a coalminers daughter. [laughter] of not havings access to the Good Union Jobs and as the coal jobs have disappeared nothing has come in its place. It has created chronic poverty. Poverty is a generational thing. If you grew up poor, upper mobility is astounding. Around natural gas, the water that ran into our house we bathed in we could not drink. We could not drink the water we bathed in. A seems like every year or so friend of mine was dying from cancer because of the ecological devastation. I cannot get off work to go to the funerals. If we, want to get out of poverty we had to go into the military, which many are not fit to do, and when we try and fight our ability is taken from us because of antiunion legislation. My grandfatherse was a union coalminer. He was there when the company decided to cut the Health Care Benefits for retired miners. The poor people are divided by race and were intentionally segregated. It hurts poor whites as well as poor black and brown folks. As long as we are divided, they can conquer. Everybody is aware that school where her grandchild is poisoned atbeing what epa hases determined is a safe level of poison being emitted throughout the parish. In any close that School Emergency plan, that sets smack dab in the middle of a black community. Not only is the school being exposed, the entire community, one of which i live in and my children were raised in, my wife and daughter in my immediate family are suffering in my youngest daughter has a horrible disease we have never heard of. Said the chances of her getting that was one in 5 million. Wow. There were three other young ladies in the same community with the same disease. Demand 100 hy we clean energy and a transition to a green economy. Fully funded water and sanitation infrastructure. A ban on mining and drilling dirty energy. Would demand the protection of native land from polluting. We are coming together to change the narrative. Somebody is hurting our brothers and sisters and we will not be silent anymore. My name is reverend mark thompson. Im going to spend a few brief moments with a renowned economist, since we are talking about poverty, with dr. Julianne malvo. Dr. Barber has a couple of questions he wants me to ask you. Before covid19 hit President Trump said there was great economy [laughter] what is your analysis . What is the state of the economy . Cannot recover . Great for who . Who . America great again, media thingsse talk about the american crisis. When . Black america has always been a crisis in connection to this pandemic. Poor america, not just black america, but poor america has always been a crisis. The way capitalism works is you have to exploit somebody so somebody else can make money. When we look at a black folks at but there are others being exploited. Poor white people, appalachian people, latino people, people who work in the buildings that are exposed doing the maintenance work. This is a function of a capitalist society that says, i will take from you. The question is what do we do about this . 140 Million People were being exploited need to rise up. Yeah. These folks need to rise up and when we look at the series of questions that we are raising, raising questions about the way our economy works dr. King once said there are 40 million poor people in our society and you have to ask, what society creates 40 billion poor people . Then you have to ask, who owns the oil . Water,oil is two thirds why are we paying a water bill . Is whatom line on that dr. King was raising questions about is the economic structure of predatory capitalism that exploited people. We have accepted that and we cannot. , forwardlianne malvo together, not one step back. People have experienced generations of violence the first chapter of the nations history. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. Know u. S. History begins with the genocide of native American People . 60 of native American Communities are considered poor . That the native Health Institutions have gone unsupported for decades . Schools, failing poverty and police brutality, sacred lands are being destroyed by extraction. It is time to hear from these communities. The Indigenous People are already being infected. We talk about health care, we talk about worrying about the environment, yet when they are allowing open pit mines and letting it leak into the land and water, the high rate of cancer and high bills of health are going to continue to rise because of corporations in great of the politicians that do not want to listen. My name is lois. I am a lakota nativeborn woman raised in the Cheyenne Tribe of south dakota. I am a mother and grandmother. I have experienced the profiling ways poverty has affected all people in this community and country. I have experienced has systemic racism often makes the struggles worse for people of color and native people like me. Family werey supporters in this wealthy country. The low income rate among native american is likely higher than 65 . Me and my family are part of that. I left the reservation as a teenager, but i see how generational poverty and systemic racism affects people in kansas city as well. Currently my income is only 470 a month. My partner works for the sim company as me and has for 15 years. 10. 50 an hour and our rent is 600 a month with utilities paid. That means close to 50 of income goes toward housing. The majority of my neighbors in kansas citys northeast neighborhood are people of color, poor immigrants, and poor whites. Almost 60 are tenants and we struggled to pay our rent as it is. In many ways, the struggle of native people is mirrored in the struggle of all oppressed people against the continuing injustices of inequality, systemic racism, and poverty. I am honored to be a part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. This country was hurt by the attempted genocide against us and we are at a point in this reckoningere this over racism might happen. Our fate and destiny is intertwined with our black relatives and other people of color, our lgbtq community. People who are newly arrived future will beur something we create together. We demand our rights as Indigenous People be protected and respected including our lands and resources, and the freedom to exercise our culture and religion. Would demand sovereignty for all first nations, a constitutional guarantee, human rights, and treaty protections. The first chapter of this country must be told so that we can build a True Foundation that will support us all. This is why we are changing the narrative. We will not be silent anymore. Know there are 45 Million Immigrants in the United States . 11 million of them are undocumented. Undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than the wealthiest 1 and they are blocked from services . Many immigrants are considered but they workers, cannot support their families. It is time to hear from them. Pain, their, their hopes. [speaking foreign language] temporary protected status was presented. President the initiated the zerotolerance policy in order to separate children from their parents at the border life is continue to only become more difficult for immigrant families. Separation of families does not just occur at the border, it of occurs in our own state. Discrimination, racial profiling, and abuse by ice and being dehumanized. [speaking foreign language] we are not criminals. We are not animals. We are human beings who come to work. Progress study and we want our kids to grow up in a society, of good society. We are all human beings. We need rights, respect, and they should never take away our dignity. This is why we demand an immigration system that protects immigrants rights. Detention,o deportation, and a step to building the wall on the border. I lived in the u. S. Most of my life as a undocumented immigrant. I have seen countless immigrant communities forced to live in poverty because the immigration system is working as intended to create fear over our people. Immigrants and all workingclass people must unite to create a system that values humanity over profits. This is the reason why we are joining the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. To ensure our communities can thrive, grow, and have the future that every Single Person in this country deserves. Communities all across this country the Poor Peoples Campaign is mobilizing, organizing, registering, and educating people for a movement that votes. There have been so many people who have died and given their lives and paid for the right to vote. Today we are standing strong against extreme forces of racism, Voter Suppression, that keeps us from the polls. The Poor Peoples Campaign is triply nonpartisan, but we are deeply political. Not about left versus right, but right versus wrong. This means we do not endorse candidates and we will never bite our tongue if an elected official or any political party, runs from the issues of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism, or militarism and the war economy. We need to vote this year like our lives depend on it because they do. Say, wear queen mother are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We must be at the polls. We are asking right now to go to june2020. Org to make sure you are registered to vote and your status is uptodate. Andust stand, we must vote, we must make our voices heard. Coming up next, you will hear voices from activists and artists standing with us like Erika Alexander. They will be standing sidebyside as folks voting for housing rights across the country. I cannot forget my brothers and sisters with the divine eye. Stay tuned. My name is Erika Alexander and im very happy to support the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. You know me from the roles i have played, but i was born in the mountains of arizona. Both of my parents were orphans. My father was a preacher and my mother was a teacher. The first 10 years of my life was spent in a hotel off of route 66. Im here to tell you Voter Suppression and Racial Injustice destroyed the dream of ordinary americans who are extraordinary in their possibilities. There are 52 million low income and poor voters in this country. Over the past decade we have seen 27 states pass Voter Suppression measures. These target blacks, brown, and native communities. The laws that are passed when people brought into office Effect People of all races. They would not be fighting this hard if they did not know the power of our vote. In this pandemic we are witnessing an even greater attack on our democracy. It is now let is no hear from the people of the front lines. I am a senior at north t state university. I see no difference between gerrymandering and the 3 5 compromise. [applause] i do not see the difference between racist photo id laws and a poll tax. [applause] ever since black people and women have earned the right to vote in this country we have seen the suppression of democracy sweep across this unfortunately, penetrate the state of North Carolina. Voter registration in the United States originated as a method of disenfranchisement, as a way to subjugate poor people and immigrants and young people and those of color and women. Fastforward to 2018 were North Carolina serves as the National Poster child for racial gerrymandering. My own campus has become a prominent victim of voter disenfranchisement. The largest public union is enrolling over 12,000 students and was divided into two districts right here in greensboro. They did this to us intentionally because they know the power of our vote. [cheering] [applause] kansas from dodge city, noticed the cowboy capital as well as the wicked is city in the west. That still holds true. The latina Majority Community run by a group of people as diverse as a 1950s tv ad which is not at all. Access to the polls should not be an issue that becomes partisan, but unfortunately in dodge city and across the country it has. It is a city with nearly 30,000 people and 14,000 registered voters. Those voters have one polling place located in a white area of town. That is not right. This is what happens when democracy is not valued and left to those who simply do not care if it does not affect them. My name is maria and i am a native of trinidad. I have been living in massachusetts for over 50 years. Cna,e medical field as a pca, and companion. Our systems in place to make sure i do not succeed. You cannot achieve your goals or dreams when youre working for a wage that does not even allow you to meet your basic needs. I thought my issue is just that, mine. I found out i was not alone. Millions of people have the same problem that i was experiencing. Povertyll hostages of primarily because we lack the knowledge of truth. We are the solution to every problem we face in your mobilize, to unify, come together because then we are stronger than the forces against us. Disgusted ind, and one voice. [cheering] [applause] voice when i joined a cause bigger than myself. That causes you. This is why we demand a restoration and expansion of the Voting Rights act. An end to races gerrymandering, sameday registration, early voting, and an election day holiday. We also demand that people who are formally incarcerated have the right to vote. They have paid their debt to society and their human beings. We demand they have the right to vote. It is time for us to come toether and build a movement ensure that democracy will survive. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. I am david. Heard, to be be heard is to bring about change. Power, moment use your use your vote, bring about that change. That is why i am part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. The counsel representing nonafricanamerican sororities fraternities are part of this digital justice gathering in march on washington. We raise our letters high as we join with the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival, to build a movement to force this nation to address the interlocking crisis of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, and the warbased economy as distortedis nationalism. I joined these great leaders of the counsel. Hello. I am the 34th National President of the National Penn Atlantic Council inc. And a proud member of sigma gamma. Together we rise. Im the International Second Vice President of a sorority and chairman of the National Penn Atlantic Council inc. Together we rise. Ward. M everett im chair of the council of president s of the National Penn Atlantic Council. Together we rise. Am glinda glover. Together we rise. My name is ruben sheldon. Together we rise. Marion, omegaid scifi fraternity. Together we rise. Im National President and. Eo of sigma data delta together we rise. I am valerie and i am the International Centennial bi beta. T of theta i am deborah. 24th annual ambassador. Together we rise. Manson. Is andre together we rise. Crystal,l interNational President. We are proud to support the Poor Peoples Campaign virtual march on june 20 because together we rise. Know 8 million11 Million People are on the street right now . 5 million of them are schoolage children, but we have more Housing Units than people who need them. We throw away more food than our families can eat and we have the best Health Care Technology in the world, but the worst provision. This is a system that must change. It is time to hear from the front lines of this crisis. Playwright,rtist, and actress as well as educator. Work,ted out doing this doing housing work, as an ally or so i thought. Residents whoing were protesting the forced relocation of their homes, but when i lost my housing, health care and income at the same time i was terrified, panicked, and i went to the people i thought i was an ally to because they were guiding me. Indiane daughter of hindu immigrants to this country and this movement is for my father who struggled with steady work, who blamed himself for not having enough for his family. He was in and out of the psychiatric ward of a hospital and killed himself when i was 10. This movement is for my mother who raised me and my brother without anybody around, without anybody. Me and fornt is for you, each of us, all of our family members, because nobody gets left behind. For a careorker provider. I am a single mom. I have been homeless, not necessarily on the street, but my child has had to live a somebody because i could not afford the rent in my own apartment. Better. Is getting a lot [indiscernible] i am here because i do know what my mom to have died in vain. I had to go to g street when i wanted her to be a grandmother to my kids. Places are scary sometimes because they are hiding in the dark because they are not allowed to be there. They are going to get in trouble. They are hiding from the police, and hiding from being harassed. On a 38yearold mother of five. Arkansas is the only state in the u. S. Where landlords are not required to make home repair. So they often refuse. I am looking up in the morning to use the bathroom and when i flush the toilet, feces came out of the faucet into the tub. When this happened, i had to hurry and clean it because this is the same tub that my children need to get ready for school in. You think this could only happen once, but this was my experience in not one, not two, three different homes, owned by three different landlords. Practices ares part of a system that has been set up by the privileged and of wey to the detriment and the working class, or people. What they did not count on was us. Us galvanizing our collective. Us drawing strength from those who came before us. Us unified, Standing Shoulder to shoulder. Trouble. Ng into good we will not stop until we have safe housing for all people and for future generations to come. Member of the homeless union. We believe for people name their own priorities because they know their own needs and no what needs to happen. If poor people are not allowed to speak these priorities for themselves, no one else will. I understand some things about properties because im a poor person, having four children living off of disability due to chronic medical conditions. I have been forced out after speaking out about substandard Living Conditions in greensboro and had been in and out of foster care. This is not just about my story. This is about how there are too many people in situations like mine. When there are this many people getting evicted and separated from their families and getting criminalized and becoming homeless, we know it is not just about one of us. Get evicted every day in greensboro. More than half of these people wind up homeless because of it. The vast majority of these folks are people who have already been beaten up by the system, black folks, brown folks, disabled folks, elderly folks, and children. Maintain this who system dont want to talk about it. They want to blame us and blame this mess on us like it is our individual choices that got us into this. We have to correct that. Thatve to remind people mass homelessness is not an individual moral issue. A societal,sness is collective moral failure. Demand housingwe for all. We demand an expansion of public and Affordable Housing. Relief and more rent payments during this crisis. We demand expanding snap and other programs to meet needs. This is why we are taking the narrative. We want to silent anymore. We wont be silent anymore. Public education is under attack. Did you know that half of kindergarten through 12th grade students are in segregated schools . Millionsow that 1. 5 one point 5 Million Students were homeless in 2018 . Were you aware that student debt is now over 1. 5 trillion, affecting 44 million households . Now, you will hear from people that have been impacted by this crisis. President of the American Federation of teachers. On behalf of our 1. 7 million members, we are blessed to be here, partnering with the Poor Peoples Campaign Mass Assembly and all of you as we raise our voices and take action together for a better future. Students arewn denied almost half 1 trillion in the last several decades and are being told by republicans in the senate, they should return to the school for less funding. The undermining of Public Education and Public Higher Education must end. Let me introduce myself. Y name is carla i am deaf. I am the first in my family to go to college. I have struggled, i had been struggling financially. My fathers income increased recently, but that resulted in them cutting my financial aid. His increase in income is not enough to support my schooling. College is so expensive, im overwhelmed. Students that have had to leave school due to financial issues. They cant afford food, their , their transportation. That is 10 of our student undergraduate student volley that student body. We are trying to student body. We are trying to follow our dreams but it seems impossible without support. I think a lot of times, our voices are put down. A lot of people around here dont realize the issues that are going on. We, as at is time that people, educate the people that dont know what is going on in their communities. Show electedat we officials, state legislators what is going on in that us young people know what they are doing. Us young people are going to will note and that we tolerate it no more. I bring you greetings as a native of mississippi, but also the Consolidated School district. There are very limited resources as i grew up. There are limited jobs, limited resources such as Mental Health facilities and even sometimes there are limited resources when it came to schools. When the state gets right to cut funds, the first budget they go to his education because a lot of their children are not in the schools. [applause] most of them are in those private schools and we must we see private schools that are opening in mississippi and we need to note that a lot out state funds is coming from the government, coming from the education budget is going to the starter schools. Equity is why we demand in education and an end to the resegregation of schools. The leaf from student debt. Equitable funding for hbcus and native institutions. This is when we are changing the narrative. Last year, i received a call from a doctor to come and join this movement. The year before he was going to down on a memphis balcony, i met dr. King marching on the streets of indianola, mississippi. We are living in similar times, the new movement is being born. But we need you to help us grow and build that movement. , junete you to join us 2020. Org, or text moral 290975. 90975. We know when movements start to push this nation forward, there is always a backlash from those who do we dont want to see everyone enjoying the rights and liberties promised to us by our constitution and our holiest of scriptures. Organize,mobilize, register, and educate like never before, we will be there to meet the backlash with a movement that is too strong and too broad to be broken. The Poor Peoples Campaign needs your support. We need you to show up with your bodies and your voice. We need you to get the poor peoples moral justice platform into the hands of congress. Needed you to vote and we your financial support. To donate, we are asking you to 90975 or go moral to to june 2020. Org. We need your support in all these ways and we need you to donate. Im dante shaw. I was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1994. Did almost one to six years i noticed a lot of things, mass incarceration and the people that make up the mass incarceration are poor people. If you are poor, youre going to jail. If you have no money, you are going to jail, you dont have. He funds to hire lawyers vote,age people to encourage young kids to get out of the street, do what you can do, what is available to you were right in front of you. My name is caitlin. Poor communities are being locked up and walked out. Did you know we spend one of its 179billion dollars billion annually on incarceration . The United States has 4 of the worlds population and 25 of the world incarcerated population. For power overt the corporations that hurt us, power over the Justice System that exploits us, in power over some of the other systems that put us in harms way. Is Anthony Swain and my husband is Anthony Swain senior. We have been on a roller coaster , anthony has been incarcerated, which started in february of 2016. Anthony is a paraplegic, 40yearold black man who was shot in the back at age 20. He is now 43. He has spent the last four years with his health in a declining state and we have been attempting, especially since the covid, to give him relief. He has been taken to the hospital and diagnosed as positive for covid19. We came up at 3 00 in the morning to take them to court. He does not come back from court until 8 00 or 9 00 at night. Being gone all day, he is placed in a cell with his hands and legs shackled together. He already cant move from the waist down. Yet, he cant even shift his weight nor take care of his own personal hygiene because of the way they treat him in jail. We are very concerned about him, otheranyone that has any type of disability, about those young men and women who have families that they can go home to take care of or be taken care , and forir families whatever reason, our system is not listening. My incarceration at the age of 17 was not due to a lack of guidance or morals from my family or loved ones. People in low income communities are not criminals. But a crime has been perpetrated against them. I have as called i never committed a crime because i have dependency to commit crime. I did it because i needed something or i was hungry. What i was nine years old, my for foods locked up stamp fraud and that left me and my other five siblings alone in the house to fend for ourselves. The state that she was a single mother the state duma that she was a single mother. They found that the state that she was a single mother. They found that locking her up was justice. The crime against our family was worse than what she did. [speaking foreign language] i want to tell you what all immigrants go through in Detention Centers. [speaking foreign language] the Detention Center where i was with other immigrants, they did not treat us well. [speaking foreign language] us a frozen burrito for weeks and they did not allow us to take a shower. [speaking foreign language] we are not animals to be treated like that. This is why we demand an end to mass incarceration. We demand a quality and safety for all. Housing,and education, and living wage jobs. I need your help. It has to stop. It has to stop now. This is why we are changing the narrative. We wont be silent anymore. The military budget is over 738 billion and the majority of it is going to military contractors. Just one of those military contracts could pay to expand medicaid in 14 states. Did you know that only . 15 forw each dollar goes to antipoverty . It is time to change that. Lets hear from the frontlines lines of those crises. Im with veterans for peace. I was a mechanic and the air force National Guard and it is no secret that there is always enough money for a bigger military and more jails but never enough for education and the poor. When i joined the military, i had no idea the United States military has over 1000 bases worldwide. Why do we keep such a strong presence throughout the world . The short answer is to provide lesser capital with continuous access to foreign resources and markets. Most of the military budget is used not to fight wars but you exercise soft power in support of american capital. Instead of a deployed military ensuring the wealth transfer continues, we have a deployed police force that protects the wealthy from the poor. When i joined the military, i had no idea the best way to end american tourism is to end it in our community. Itarism is toan mil end it in our community. End the war on immigrant spiky funding ice in the border patrol. We will not rid of our away, i by bombing them shipping them away by shipping them away, by throwing them behind bars. According to the department of defense, for the fiscal year billion onent 606 the department of defense. Spent 685 billion. 718 they are proposing billion. To put this in perspective, 42020, the department of education is only getting my. 9 of that amount 9. 9 of that amount. Im representing veterans against the war. You get promises with the militaryindustrial complex that we have to spend on defense for our own security but after 16 war, millions of civilian deaths and refugees, is anybody more secure . Most of the National Budget is for war and most of that money is given to private corporations , not to a publicly owned and accountable military and not to the poor people who make up the majority of the 3 million veterans who served in these wars. [applause] wars serve no moral purpose and no economic benefit. Toitary members are forced carry out the spiritual debt of this nation. Will not die because veterans and poor people are a resurrected people. Is moreentagon budget than what the government spends on agriculture, education, and ,iremen, diplomacy, housing science, and veterans combined. Demand that wewe stop the prioritization of military spending and military spending increases. We demand the reallocation of resources to social security. We demand the demilitarization of the border and local communities. Thats why im part of the Poor Peoples Campaign. We wont be silent anymore. Police brutality is something that lived in our country for such a long time. The only thing different now is we cant ignore the call. When folks asked black people in america, are we upset, the answer is yes. There is no way that all apes can matter in a country where black lives have never mattered. [chanting] living living in america is a constant state of mourning. Until we address the original sins of this country, there will be mourning every day. [chanting] being out in the streets, it feels revolutionary. The amplified Police Presence is terrifying. Sprayed andepper many were shot with rubber bullets. In the midst of all that, protesters Still Standing with her hands up saying, dont shoot. Exactly the type of situation that these systems are meant for. Meant to break us up before we become unified. It has to be an intersectional front because it is a war affecting all of us. We have to recognize that we are so much stronger together than we are divided. These uprisings are going to continue to happen until we fight for a government and country that seeks people with human dignity, provides housing, health care, education, jobs, and an ability for people to live lives worthy of dignity in this country. Thats why im part of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for brawl revival, because this is the way we will do organization, the only way to build the world that we deserve, the world we have earned, the world our descendents and children can be proud of. Did you know, because of the department of defense program, excess military background and like tanks, grenade launchers, and other weapons of war are being sent to lawenforcement agencies . Peopleyou know 36,000 died from gun violence every single year, including 2800 children . Did you know border Immigration Enforcement spending has 900 over the past 40 years, with 11 times as many deportations during that timeframe . My name is claudia, im an organizer and mother. As someone who was born and raised in the porth Congressional District in the United States, the south bronx, and has witnessed firsthand the brutality and terror that is inflicted by the state through , there is department no other option then walking and working on this side of justice. I can speak to as a mom of a black boy who was growing up in this country when Georgey Floyd was killed, there was a call that he made and he called for his mom. I think most mothers who saw that clip of those eight mitts and 46 seconds, when the life was being taken out of this man and heard him call for his mom, heard our own children call for us. When we are talking about decisive moments, this is a moment no police should be Walking Around with military equipment. No Police Department should have. Eargas or rubber bullets it is crazy. Only in a Crazy Society would be accepted that as the norm. This country has invested in death and has refused to invest in lifegiving projects. Enough is enough. I think the people of this country are clear and taking to the streets and will continue to take the streets for as long as and divisionre met is achieved. In 2003 after serving four years in state and federal institutions. After serving 40 years in state and federal institutions. , here,was 15 years old in a city of brotherly love, philadelphias finest decided that i cannot be out after , so Police Officers , i was about three blocks from my home, im a young streets, and the when they approach me, i did not know who they were, lights were in my eyes, i tried to defend myself. They beat me to a bloody pulp right on the street. They almost killed me in the street. We demand a ban on assault rifles and easy access to firearms. We demand the demilitarization of our border in our communities. This is why we are changing the narrative. We want to silent anymore. We bow to be silent anymore. We wont be silent anymore. Im the director of the private sector for religious right and social justice at Union Theological seminary and cochair of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. Im a minister, biblical scholar , and activist for justice in jubilee and someone who has had firsthand experience with poverty. For too long, the poor, immigrants, victims of racist police violence, young people have been blamed for all of societys problems. For too long, we have been divided by race and immigration status, religion, sexuality, and gender. For too long, we have been fed the lie of scarcity. We live in a world of abundance where the only scarcity we have is the political will to establish justice, promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty and justice for absolutely all. For far too long, the false narrative of religious nationalism has blessed what is wrong and condemned what is right in the eyes of god. It is wrong for black people to be murdered by the police. For people to be ripped from their families and deported. It is wrong for people to work for starvation wages. It is wrong to go to war, it is wrong to poison children with lead, it is wrong for the powerful to deny responsibility for these injustices. People,right is to feed give People Health care, secure the right to vote, respect all work with dignity, to forgive debts to offer a home for everyone. Nation, as a movement, must breakthrough the lie that only small changes on one issue at a time are possible. We must breakthrough the lie that poverty and death are the will of god or that poverty has to be with us always. Livest breakthrough the the lie that some lives are more precious than other, that it is impossible to organize for change or that the rich and powerful are coming to save us. Out, when we organize from the grassroots, when we take bold action together, it can be done. Puede. We join profits that declare that ignoring the poor and protecting the rich is evil. That the people demand justice and we are going to build the power to achieve it with god on our side. Asks, what micah does the lord demand of you but to do justice, to love kindness, to walk calmly with your god . The book of leviticus demands that we welcome the immigrant stranger. Deuteronomy, that nations forgive debts, outlaw slavery, a whathat theyd serve they deserve. Isaiah demands that we stop passing laws that deprive the poor of their rights. Stopiah said the wealthy if acting people, stop dropping from pandemic, making misery for the poor. Demands thatist the military and ruling authorities and police stop killing the people, stop exhorting money, stop spreading lies about each other. Matthew demands that religious leaders stop covering up for those who divide. Instead, take the side of the bruised, site of the rejected, and battered. Jesus turns over tables, engages in holy disruption, commits himself even unto death to all. D justice for us these Freedom Fighters remind us that movements dont just curse the darkness. We dont just awake the nation to what is wrong, but we come together in power with demand. We reject the false narrative that poverty is inevitable, that if god wanted to end poverty, he would have already done so, or that the only time we will all have what we need to thrive in the society is after we die. Together. D, buys rise together. We demand justice and will do so until we claim all of our rights. We in the Poor Peoples Campaign have a moral agenda and today, we released a moral justice jubilee policy platform that demand health care, jobs that pay a living wage, a guaranteed, adequate income, immigrant rights, womens rights, lgbtq end to in and and police violence. If we cut our military and make this world safer, if we have a fair taxation system where those who can afford it pay a little bit more, if we forgive debts and invest in health care and education and housing and living wage jobs, we can indeed abolish poverty, confront systemic planet, and the turn this war economy into a peace economy. Towant to ask you all today join with the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for moral revival. 90975. Text moral to you are needed in this holy uprising. A nonviolent and intergenerational my multiracial army of the poor and all of those who care for justice is challenging this false moral narrative. We are building power amongst the 140 million poor people, low income people, people on the edge of despair, and we are rising up for truth and justice and love. My name is linda, i was one of the national cochairs of the womens march on washington. Mustith teaches me that i stand with the most Vulnerable People in my society. This act we are doing today is an active force because my god is a possible god. Im here today to tell you that you can count on us. Our community, muslim committees, women across the country would have joined the Poor Peoples Campaign at state capitals. We will not be silent. We will be unapologetic and we are willing to put our lives on the line for the most marginalized people in our society. Today presenting millions of jewish people around the country, some in this place, many in state capitals across the country. The oldest and boldest formula for Economic Justice comes straight out of the hebrew bibles. In the 50th year, the jubilee year, two things happened. Andof the slaves are freed all property reverts back to its original owners. This is a holy reset button being pressed. It is a sweeping and revolutionary act of economic reset that is rooted in the assumption that in a just society, there can be no permanent class of poor, that the destitute, exploited, downtrodden deserve a fair shot and they deserve their fair share. Astonishingly, overturning those economic systems benefits not only the enslaved and poor, it actually saves the society from breaking proclaimed liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. 50 years after the assassination of dr. King, we declare a jubilee. We lift our voices for justice, we put our bodies on the line for mercy and together, we will proclaim liberty throughout the land. I want to salute the great legacy Martin Luther king jr. , ella baker, all of those who came together to ensure that poor people would be at the center of our analysis of power, at the center of our harsh minds and souls, salute for what they spirit,g and there in let the embodiment of the legacy of bringing all of us together, the rich legacies of dorothy day joshua,hua abraham our asian sisters, Indigenous Peoples, and others, religious they be they hindu, be jewish, be they catholic, be they protestant, be they buddhist, like bell hooks, all of us together, focusing on the precious humanity of poor and workingclass brothers and sisters made in the image and likeness of a god that we serve and will be faithful unto death. Let us come together, let us be together, let us struggle together, let us continue to fight together. This Poor Peoples Campaign is a light in a moment of darkness. Love in a moment of hate. Im there with you in spirit. Right on. Recall to you from all corners of this nation. A National Call for moral revival. We are here because somebody is hurting our people. Somebody is killing our people. It has gone on too long. He wont be silent anymore. Today and every day. We are called to be a movement. Reunite. We are the poor. We are the 140 million. We are people of crisis and of faith. We know how to find love and joy in desperate times. [indiscernible] require a Poor Peoples Campaign and National Call for moral revival. The interlocking of systemic racism. Poverty. Militarism. Eight war economy. The distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. Weve got no choice but to push. America never was america to be, yet i swear this oath. America will be. America must be. America has got to be. America will be made new with a movement from the bottom up. If you stepped up. Right here in this room. Your heart and minds invoices and bodies. Your time and talents. Your stories and courage. A new nation is possible. Across the nation, people are losing their fear. There is no going back now. We dont want to go back to normal. Normally . Normal in america got george floyd. Rhianna taylor. Ahmaud arbery murdered. Normal in america. Taught us gerrymandering. Normal in america. People in the richest nation in history. Normal in america. 700 people dying a day from poverty before the pandemic. For ourselves, our families. Our children. We fight today and every day. Forwarded together, not one step back. Join us. We are the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for oral revival. We called to be a movement and we want to be silenced anymore. What happens in wall street often does not say a thing about what is happening on the real streets of america. [applause] everybody. Has a right to bear has a right to live. A National Call for moral revival has come up with a series of demands. We are here for the same reason we all are here. The pain and the discontent is real. The demands of our movement are moral. We know what we want to focus on, our agenda is clear. We demand an immediate implementation of federal and state the wage laws. We demand the right for all workers to form and join unions. Pay for equall work. Guaranteed annual income. We demand fully funded antipoverty programs. That protects the welfare of us all. Demand the expansion of medicaid in every state. Care,t universal health not for some, but for everybody. [applause] two and the racism of the Voting Rights act. We demand an end to test we want registration to vote at 18. If we can be drafted, we ought to be able to vote at 18. Early voting in every state, sameday registration, the enactment of election day as a holiday. We demand a reversal of state laws that prevent disabilities from raising the mom wage. We demand an end to mass incarceration. Vote demand the right to for the formerly incarcerated. A clear and just immigration system. This includes providing a timely citizenship process that guarantees the right to vote. , nativet nation american, and alaskan native people retain their tribal recognition as a nation. Housing. And relief from debt. We demand equity in education. We demand an end to the resegregation of schools. Tuition at public colleges and universities and an end to profiteering on student debt. Equitable funding for historically black colleges and universities. Repeal of thehe 2017 law. Wealthyemand that the and corporations pay their fair share. End to military aggression and warmongering. We demand a stop to privatization of military budgets and any increases in military spending. We demand a ban on assault accessand a ban on easy to firearms. We demand an end to federal programs that spend militant send military equipment to local and state communities. To build that the call a wall at that u. S. Mexico border be ceased. Fracking,nd a ban on coal mining, and all offshore drilling. Pipelinesa ban on new , refineries, and coal, oil, and gas export terminals. We are demanding that we stop the war on our poor. Somebody is hurting my brother. Somebody is hurting our sister. It has gone on too long and we wont be silent anymore. We believe that we can win. We believe that we can win. Everybody,that everybody has a right, has a live, to live,to to live, to live. A little while longer just a little while longer st a little while longer so we give honor to god today. You have heard from the prophets and the people on the front lines, we promise that this stage would be built so america would have to hear herself and see herself, see her face and changer voice, we must it is narrative and change this reality. Andnt to take a moment honor in the absence, because they could not be here due to covid and all of this happening, the mayor of the original Poor Peoples Campaign reverend Jesse Jackson and the policy director who works for the childrens defense fund, mary wright element, the founder. For transformation, reconstruction, and revival in america. Two years ago, we were together on the National Mall in washington, d. C. , over 25,000 of us from every corner of this nation walked in a solemn procession to the steps of the u. S. Capitol to declare that we were relaunching the Poor Peoples Campaign, a National Call for a moral revival with our ion the Reconstruction Movement of the 19th century and Poor Peoples Campaign, a halfcentury earlier in the 20th century. We did not pledge to sit in or cap out on the National Mall, but to go home to alabama and alaska, california, mississippi, maine, we went back to build a movement, permanently organized communities of people from every race, creed, culture, and sexuality, who are ready to rise up together and shift the moral narrative in this nation. We did not know then all that would transpire in this nation and in this world, but we sang a pledge to one another. Jackson, and dr. Somebody has been hurting our people and it has gone on too long. We wont be silent anymore. We committed to do more, mobilizing together, organizing together, registering together, educating together, people form a movement to vote. And to educate this nation together on the bottom train of abuses on the long train of abuses that persuaded us that now was the time for transformative change. Frederick douglass said, concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and never will. That is true, but bradley coopers recent book brittany coopers recent books as power concedes nothing without organized demand. Today, we have seen the faces of poverty and heard the cries of americas poor. We did not know that this meth gathering this map this mass gathering would happen amid cries in our streets. We planned to be on pennsylvania avenue in front of the white house before the pandemic hit. But we know, there are plans that are higher than our plans and there is a timing that supersedes our time. In the long arc of human history, there are moments when the universe itself groans and declares, it is time. In the scriptures, there is a text where jesus takes up the prophet isaiah and declares the spirit of the lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, released to the oppressed, healing to the brokenhearted, and proclaimed it to proclaim the year of the lloyds favor when jesus read those words at the synagogue in the ghetto of nazareth, it was not the first time the prophets message had been proclaimed to the people, but jesus came along at just the right time and said, it is time. We have gathered today to say it is time, america. It is past time and we were born at the right time and we are rising together at the right time, each person with us today, each person hearing the voices of the poor and pushed aside today, each of you must know that this may be the reason why you were born. Now might be the moment they called you into being. Fearsome and illegitimate power in a malignant river of money are attempting to phase down what remains of american democracy. What we have is people power. That is the force that will prevail. Each of you are irreplaceable part of gathering and exercising our rights. You have waited long for this moment, the ancestors have waited long for this moment, and in this faithful hour, your time has finally come. When we look back to the text of this nations founding documents, we find these words, we hold these truths to be selfevident, the declaration of independence begins trumpeting equality at its promises of life and liberty and pursuit of happiness for all people and even though these words were written by a slaveholder and not match the social contradictions he and others accepted, the spirit of the universe wrote in a rep your class because to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their power by the consent of the governed and whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government. It is right there in the text. When a long train of abuses demonstrates that a government has become destructive, it is our right and duty to throw off such government. When we think about all we have hurt heard today in a nation that makes lofty promises but has accepted such abysmal realities, we must say, after such a long train of abuses, it is time for a moral revival, time for medical transformation, and reconstruction, it is time to remake the systems of our common life and to make sure they serve everyone. America, at this for peoples dozensy, you have heard of witnesses testify to a long train of abuses. It began as genocidal violence against Indigenous People and chattel slavery imposed upon black bodies has continued for 400 years in policies and practices that have served the rich and powerful while they have kept nearly half of us from having what we need to survive in the richest nation in the history of the world. Americans are poor and low income, 43 of the nation, and it will be 50 before this pandemic is over. 700 people die every day from poverty and low wealth, a quarter million a year and rising. We know it does not have to be this way. It can be altered. A new and better government can be instituted. We know what policies and public commitments are needed to address poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation, denied health care, and the war economy. We know we have the resources to do it now. Now is the time, this is the place, and we are the people. This is not about conservative versus liberal. This is not about to left versus right, that is too puny. It is about life versus death. On camera, we have witnessed terrible, murderous instances of police violence, but today, through these voices you have seen our sociopolitical violence has also gripped millions to the interlocking injustices of american inequality. We never see this reality on camera, but it has snuffed the life out of untold thousands whom we hold in our hearts and in our minds and in our spirits. Half a century ago we dont talk about this side of dr. King dr. King said, is murder to deprive a person of a job or income. Millions of people are being strangled that way. Millions of people have been crying, i cant breathe, far too long. This nation has refused to hear them. Now the covid crisis has exposed the wounds. We are here today to say together, it is time to choose life, america. It is time for us to do it together. Revolution of a values. We cannot pretend the crisis we face is about a single individual in office. We are clear about what is being exacerbated but even the current occupant of the white house benefited from a culture that had been cultivated ever since the death of dr. King and even before. We know it is not just what the president is doing but what a regressive senate does. Far too long, our public leadership has been too comfortable with other folks death. Atublicans racialized deaths racialized poverty and too Many Democrats run from poverty. Hasy piece of Public Policy a depth measurement on the down low. We do not talk about that often but every piece of Public Policy, regressive piece of Public Policy has a death measurement on the down low. It has been kept on the down low but it is time to expose it now. Denying living wages and basic income has a death measurement. Denying health care has a death measurement. That 3000 people die from particular air pollution that comes from politicians protecting corporate polluters. It is past time to reject the culture of death. Even racist Voter Suppression has a death measurement because when it is used to help people get elected, once they get elected, they block health care. They block living wages. They protect corporations. Voter suppression is used that produces a death measurement. Like the prophet ezekiel said, it is not only the politicians acting as raven us wolves. Ravenous wolves. It is also those who cover up for them. Reject the policies of greed, racism that destroy lives. We need an analysis. It is time to embrace and agenda rooted in the deepest values of our traditions. Our highest and best political and intellectual visions. Truth. Ustice, mercy, and it is time to demand that we the people live up to our stated commitment to establish justice, promote the general welfare, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and guarantee every american equal protection under the law. Its time. It is past time. Its time for a major transformation and reconstruction. In recent weeks, we have heard the media ask, when will the protests stop . Since we have lost launched this campaign, people have asked what one demand is your top priority . Decided to do covid response, you gave 2. 5 trillion to the banks and corporations. If they can have three children three children three trillion things. For the sake of the people who would choose policy of life, liberation, and love. In this campaign, we know things do not have to be kept the way they are. We know that. We know that if we institute Fair Elections and restricted the influence of big money in our politics, we can transition to automatic online Voter Registration and give life to our democracy by ensuring eligible voters can vote could we do not have to choose death. We can choose life. Many of the things we are saying dont have to be seeing dont have to be. People in line trying to get food. People without health care. Basic without sickly and sick leave and basic employment come from bad choices. Money going to corporations during the pandemic, bad choices. If we change if we want to have a heroes bill, yes, make sure there is money in there for city and municipal workers. Also guarantee health care. Also guarantee living wages. Leave. Ee sick guarantee red forgiveness. Rent forgiveness. If we instituted a 15 minimum wage immediately, we would raise pay for 49 million workers by 328 billion per year. 49 Million People would come up out of poverty. If we in poland to a housing wage if we implemented a housing wage, this would give life to our households and economy. Reduce the 179ld billion that currently goes to policing and prisons and this would give life to our communities and raise resources to secure housing for all. If we stop pouring money and resources into a border wall, we could move that 24 billion into childrens k12 education and give life to their dreams. If we canceled one military contract, we would have 25 billion dollars to expand medicaid and the 14 states that have not already done so. This would mean life for millions of people. If we canceled another military contract, we would have more than enough resources to put towards expanding our infrastructure and creating 945,000 jobs instead of putting those resources in war. We would support life. If we cut 350 million from the military budget and close some of the bases, we would still have more money than china and north korea and iran and iraq combined. We can make the world a safer place and put those resources toward health care and lifting our people. Trillion that 6. 4 we poured into endless wars since 9 11, if we had put that money into green energy, we would have built a Renewable Energy grid by now with nearly 2 trillion to spare. If we restore the Corporate Tax rate to what it was before the trump tax cuts, we would raise 130 billion per year. This would be more than enough earlyces to fund childcare and education for every child in this country. Instituted a tiny tax on if we implemented a wealth tax on the riches households in the country, we would raise 270 billion a year to put toward fixing our infrastructure. We could use that to close the racial wealth gap. Repented of the injustices against Indigenous People and implemented fair policies for undocumented americans and homeless americans, we could change our present and future and have a true feeling troop healing true healing from our past. I got it from the bible. Jesus said that every nation is going to be judged by how it treats the poor and the least of these and how it treats the sick and the hungry. Isaiah 10 said woe into those who legislate evil. The worst mistake we could make now with all of this marching and protesting would be to low. D to low too we can change the political conversation in this country. And it is time. They never hear politicians talking about their issues. Those three states alone, 2 million poor and low income people who did not vote in 2016 are eligible to register and vote in 2020. South, done in the 8. 9 million poor and low wealth people who could have voted did not vote. Why dont many of them vote . They say they never hear their issues of poverty. If we want to change the electorate and we want to change the political capital, we have to Start Talking to poor and low wealth people. Peopler an low wealth did not vote for the current administration. Many of them did not vote because nobody comes and visits them in talks to them and listens to them and heres their stories and says in their policies how they will address issue of their story issue of poverty. Streets, inr in the the voting booths, the pulpit. We have nonviolent power and it is time to use it. It is past time. It is our time. When we come together and vote together and work together, we can remake the systems of government to serve all people. It is time to move together and refuse to be divided. Our mantra is somebody has been hurting our people and it has gone on far too long. We will not be silent anymore. It is a cry against the nations long train of abusive. When we say Forward Together, not one step back, it is a call to the kind of unity needed to answer the time we live in. It is the only thing that has ever revived the hope of democracy. Every moment of potential reconstruction that has been a moral fusion when poor white farmers and formally enslaved voters it was time to form a fusion party across the south to face down domestic Terrorists Organization and White Supremacy campaigns. They were able to move together. When multicultural coalitions decided it was time to come together in a movement after world war i, the corporate powers attacked them as socialists and used racist fear because they were scared of people coming together. In the 1920s, a Philip Randolph and their friends organized a strike and it became the back bone of the civil rights in america. Thelint, michigan, 1937, United Auto Workers took over factory and became a force to reckon with, a mighty Labor Movement was born. If you like the eight hour day and the weekend, you owe it to the labor force. When poor white folks decided it was time to join black folks, the Poor Peoples Campaign was founded. As we face a pandemic, we know america has a long history of dividing people. Blame the chinese, mexicans, spanish, indians for disease in the past. Scapegoating people by nationality. We know the tricks but we also know when we decide it is time to unite, there is power. There is power when we come together. The truth is when you hold on to the truth, justice has never lost. During slavery, it look like justice had lost. When Harriet Tubman decided it was time to get together, they formed this Fusion Movement that brought about abolition. Women did not have the right to vote. Sojourner truth decided it was time. They won the right to vote. Got whiteood marshall lawyers and black lawyers and jewish lawyers and said it is time, they did it and they won. It looked like jim crow had been down beaten down justice but when they decided it was together, they got they tore jim crow down. We come together today between juneteenth and june 21 to say it is time. It is time to be real free. Not just free. Real free. It is time to show some light in dark places. Each of us needs to take some inventory of our own time on this earth. But in mean to be morbid this pandemic, we must be honest about the fact that anyone of us could be 48 hours from our last breath. Knew you today if you were going to take your last breath in 48 hours, what would you use your last breath to fight for . What kind of world would you want to breathe life into for the next generation . What would you use your last breaths for if you knew they were a day or so away . Its time to live like our last breath could come any moment. Its time to use every breath left in our bodies to fight for love and truth and justice. Its time to believe again. Lie time to challenge the about not having resources. Its time to believe and work as though we are sure that love is still greater than hate. Truth is still greater than lies. Its time to believe and work as though we are sure the hungry can be fed, the sick can be insured and cured, immigrants can be welcomed, war machinery can be cut. Its time to believe that blackandwhite and poor and latino people can be organized into a new powerful coalition for change. Its time to come together and vote like never before. Whether you are black or brown or first nation or asian or latino, whoever you are, gay or straight or trans, young or old , its time to believe that this heart and soul of this democracy can live. We can breathe into it the spirit of a genuine wine democracy genuine democracy. Its time with every breath we have while we still have time, its time to rise up. Its time to reconstruct. Its time to call for moral revival that works for us all. Its time to help somebody. Its time to show this world that it is traveling wrong, this nation that it is traveling wrong. Its time to show some beauty. This is why we are living. Its time to register. Its time to mobilize. Its time to educate. Time for thisin time. Its time, its time, its time. Join the Poor Peoples Campaign. Lets do something in time to change time because the time is right now. We are in one of those moments that demand a Poor Peoples Campaign. Our brothers and sisters are sleeping on the streets. For a country this rich to have so many people who are poor, it is immoral and it is wrong. That is not right. Something is wrong. As a moral emergency and that is why we need the Poor Peoples Campaign. We have to talk about it. We have to mobilize. To change these things our politicians will not always change. It is crucial. Work. The people when you hold down the poor, you hold down america. Our backs are against the walls. We are building a multiracial intergenerational nonviolent army of the poor that will break every chain. Every chain. We have to come to a point that every attack on the poor will embolden our agitation. Attack on immigrants will embolden our agitation. We can do more. We can do better. We are building the power. Time to shake this nation. Up ise revolution. What does the lord require what does the lord require walk humbly with your god what do you think we can do about that . Protests,lice reform, and the coronavirus continuing to affect the country, watch our coverage of the governments response briefings from the white house, congress, governors, and mayors from across the country updating the situation. And from the campaign 2020 trail. Join the conversation every day on our life Program Washington journal. If you missed any of our live coverage, watch any time on demand at cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app app. This november, we are going to take back the house. We are going to hold the senate. We are going to keep the white house. President trump returns to the campaign trail tonight for a rally in tulsa. Watch our live coverage starting at 8 00 eastern on cspan, ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app app. On wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee continued to debate and vote on amendments to a Sweeping Police Reform bill. Members considered amendments offered by republican lawmakers focused on the Antifa Movement and punishments for lynching. [gavel pounds] the committee will reconvene. Are there any other amendments to the amendment . Mr. Chairman