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poor people's campaign
Bishop Barber Eulogizes Tens of Thousands of Americans Who Will Die Because of GOP Healthcare Cuts
"We will not let them die ignored," said the Repairers of the Breach president. "We will not let their deaths go unregistered on the conscience of this nation and this state, and among the people."
Nov 24, 2025
Surrounded by cardboard "tombstones" that displayed likely causes of death of thousands of people in the United States under Republican policies, Bishop William J. Barber II on Monday gave a eulogy in Raleigh, North Carolina, honoring those who are being directly targeted by the Trump administration's cuts to healthcare, public health funding, and other essential government programs.
The word "eulogy," he said, comes from the Greek word "eulogia," and means "good words."
"But the question is, what is the 'good word' when people shouldn't be dead?" asked the president of the grassroots group Repairers of the Breach and the co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, adding that the people he was speaking about are projected to die in the coming year solely due to "policy violence."
"We will not let them die ignored," said Barber. "We will not let their deaths go unregistered on the conscience of this nation and this state, and among the people."
Barber spoke at the flagship event of Repairers of the Breach's regular Moral Mondays prayer protest, while supporters in more than 15 states including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas also delivered eulogies for those who are expected to die as a result of the $186 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, and funding slashed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that was passed in July.
Roughly 51,000 people are expected to die annually as they lose access to SNAP and Medicaid, as well as those whose healthcare costs will skyrocket if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire at the end of the year. People with disabilities and low-income senior citizens are also expected to be impacted by OBBBA provisions that will make it harder for them to access Medicare Savings Programs.
"We are fighting for the life of those who yet remain," said Barber. "When they passed the Big Ugly Deadly Destructive Bill—don't ever call it the Beautiful Bill—when they passed it, it represented a death sentence."
Standing Against Deadly Policy Violence | National Moral Monday Flagship Broadcast 11-24-2025 https://t.co/uFk1mNdse3
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) November 24, 2025
Barber noted that Republicans were able to pass the law after lying about "waste and fraud and abuse" in the federal programs that rely on them for healthcare and food assistance.
"They had to tell a lie to keep their promise to the wealthiest people in America," said the bishop, referring to thousands of dollars in annual tax cuts for the richest households that are included in the OBBBA.
Sloan Meek, who has cerebral palsy and relies on Medicaid, also gave a statement.
"I feel a lot of fear and worry right now that every cut and rate reduction to Medicaid will change my whole life," said Meek. "Having disabilities does not mean I am sick, but it does mean I need consistent treatment and care to stay healthy. I do not want to become sick. I do not want to lose my community. I do not want to lose my voice. I do not want to be forced out of my home to live and receive care from a bunch of strangers. I do not want to die because of a political issue. These are the fears I share with every disabled person using Medicaid in North Carolina right now. I would like to ask every legislator to please see us as having valuable and important lives that are worth supporting."
The event also took aim at the Trump administration's actions weakening the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—with the federal government denying and delaying states' disaster assistance requests—and President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, which most recently unleashed federal agents on North Carolina communities from Charlotte to Raleigh.
The tombstones that flanked Barber read, "I lost Medicare," "I was disappeared," "I lost medical research," "FEMA did not respond."
“The big, bad, deadly budget bill proved that Washington lawmakers are more than willing to kill tens of thousands of people to line the pockets of the wealthy—but now even that level of destruction and death wasn’t enough,” said Barber in a statement ahead of the event. “Lawmakers are now allowing healthcare subsidies to expire, forcing millions of people to come up with more money for health plans—or die trying. And the Trump administration just unleashed its masked army of ICE agents to terrify and abduct immigrants in Charlotte and Raleigh."
“One of the grandest, cruelest ironies is that many of the leaders greenlighting these deadly policies profess to be Christian. I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading, but my Bible tells me to protect all people—including poor people and foreigners—without condition or judgment," Barber continued. “We cannot stay silent in this moment."
Barber said the event was being held two days before Repairers of the Breach was preparing to send an open letter to every member of the North Carolina General Assembly, calling for the body to hold an "emergency session and vote to tell Congress and the president to take hands off the people of North Carolina, to reverse policies that will hurt 307,000 North Carolinians that will lose Medicaid, that will cause 375,000 to lose food stamps."
On Monday evening, the organization was planning another event to call on Congress and the White House "to immediately cease and desist" their attacks on Latino and immigrant communities across the country, deploying "Liberty Vans": mobile rapid-response command centers staffed by volunteer lawyers and campaigners to provide support to communities targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
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Resisting Trump Isn’t Enough; We Need a Plan for a Better World
The promise and possibility of ending poverty, reclaiming democracy, and advancing peace and justice remain closer than any of us may think.
Jan 24, 2025
With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, advocates for peace, social justice, racial and economic equality, fair immigration policies, climate renewal, trans rights, and other movements for change are bracing for hard times. The new administration will be doggedly opposed to so many of the values we hold dear, as well as programs that have helped keep millions of Americans above the poverty line.
Only recently, newly reelected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) reaffirmed his commitment to an “America First” agenda, which distills the most harmful aspirations of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 into 10 priority areas, including slashing social welfare, healthcare programs, and public education; supporting increased military spending to promote “peace through strength”; unleashing a nightmarish version of immigration enforcement; and restricting voting rights.
Many of us are now asking ourselves, how did we end up here? Part of the answer is simple enough: The status quo, regardless of which party has been in power, simply hasn’t been working for all too many Americans. Research compiled by our colleague Shailly Gupta Barnes of the Kairos Center indicates that some 140 million of us live either in poverty or one financial emergency away from joining the ranks of the poor. One out of six children in this country now lives below the official poverty line, and the families of nearly half of all kids are in a state of economic precarity or food insecurity. Meanwhile, the average life span of white American males is actually declining, while more than 20 million people lost their access to healthcare in 2024 alone.
This is no time to blame those who are going to be hurt by Trump’s draconian policies, nor is it a moment to get in a defensive crouch to fight off only the worst policies in the making without also putting forth a vision of the world we’d actually like to see.
All of this is, of course, a far cry from the conventional wisdom that America’s economy is doing well, based on statistics like the unemployment rate or the rate of economic growth as a whole, none of which capture the lived experience of so many of us. Indeed, the head of Moody’s Analytics recently told the Financial Times that, while “high-income households are doing fine, the bottom third of U.S. consumers are tapped out.”
Although the system isn’t working for millions of Americans, a business-as-usual, market-based approach remains what’s on offer in official Washington. This has been the governing modus operandi across party lines for the past 30 years and continues to enjoy bipartisan support, even as faith in government declines in the country as a whole. Without a viable plan that could change the basic living conditions of people in need, it’s easier for right-wing populists to offer false promises of change or, even worse, provide scapegoats like undocumented immigrants to “explain” declining living standards and the outright desperation so many people now feel.
Of course, this propaganda is fueled by countless millions of dollars contributed by rich donors, often enough billionaires, who, for starters, want more tax cuts, more deregulation of business, unfettered access to government contracts, and free rein for cryptocurrency. It’s reinforced by proponents of religious nationalism who organize around single issues like opposition to abortion, while falsely portraying moves towards racial and gender equality as “threats” to Christian values. Over the past several years, such interests have combined forces to usher Donald Trump back into the White House and dozens of “Christian nationalists” into the judicial and legislative branches of government, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Contrary to mainstream accounts that put the responsibility for Trump’s rise and then return to power on working-class voters (some of whom did indeed press the lever for him), the real victors in the November elections were the wealthy and powerful, many of whom used their public profiles and deep pockets to help propel the Trump-Vance ticket to victory. They and their corporations are now ready to receive ample government contracts and benefit from the erasure of corporate regulations. Meanwhile, religious extremists will welcome further encroachment on reproductive and LGBTQ rights.
Case in point: On the day that Donald Trump was pronounced victorious in the 2024 election, the eight richest men in the world were instantly worth another $64 billion. Nevertheless, much of the analysis surrounding the 2024 elections continues to emphasize the notion that Trump’s victory was primarily due to decisions made by the working class and the poorest Americans.
So, what is to be done? This is no time to blame those who are going to be hurt by Trump’s draconian policies, nor is it a moment to get in a defensive crouch to fight off only the worst policies in the making without also putting forth a vision of the world we’d actually like to see, a world where people’s needs are met with real programs, not diversionary rhetoric and false promises.
Promoting a Government That Works for All
While people like billionaire Elon Musk are busy hatching schemes to dismantle large parts of the federal government, we need to push for an agenda in which the government actually works for everyone. Shifting federal budget priorities toward improving lives and away from war spending and tax breaks for the rich would be a central element of such a program. Pouring resources—more than a trillion dollars a year—into the war machine and the national security state starves other priorities, ranging from public health to environmental protection. In fact, defunding such programs, an essential part of Trump’s second-term plans, risks another pandemic or the “quad-demic” that health officials have been warning about, as well as increased hunger, untreated medical conditions, and dirtier air and water. The problems to come won’t just involve an imbalance on a spreadsheet. There are all too many lives at stake, as surely as lives are at stake in a shooting war.
Imagine how starkly different this country would be if we were to invest in the lives of people rather than filling the coffers of the military-industrial complex. Take the expanded (and fully refundable) child tax credit, or CTC. Created in March 2021 through the American Rescue Plan, this federal policy granted modest monthly cash payments to families with children, including poor families, independent of their work or tax status. Families making less than $150,000 received regular cash infusions they could use to pay daily expenses or shore up slim to nonexistent savings.
Imagine a country where everyone could exist free of the fear of poverty, hunger, homelessness, or lack of access to quality healthcare.
The results were staggering. By December 2021, that program had reached more than 61 million children, nearly 4 million of whom had been lifted above the official poverty line. In its first and only year, official child poverty witnessed a dramatic decline, the single largest drop in American history, including a 25% decrease in poverty among Black children, narrowing the overall racial gap among poor kids. At the time, Moody’s estimated that the impact of the CTC on the economy was comparable to, if not greater than, the jobs created through military spending.
Despite its success, the expanded CTC was abandoned as 2021 ended. Two Democrats and 49 Republicans voted to end it, with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin claiming that poor families might be using the money to buy drugs. The CTC, of course, hadn’t failed. The failure was that of an impoverished democracy, increasingly captive to the interests of the rich and powerful and willing to leave nearly half the population living hand to mouth, despite proven policies that could help lift the load of poverty.
And consider that the real danger of the second Trump administration, which has already appointed a record 13 billionaires to government posts, is its debt to the enormously wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. You need look no further than Trump’s cozy relationship with future trillionaire Elon Musk. As head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with business interests in the very institutions he’ll have some authority over, Musk will also, it seems, have an undue influence on future federal budgets, priorities, and programs. Indeed, before the inauguration, Musk and former DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy had already set their sights on shutting down the Department of Education and cutting about one-third of the federal government’s annual budget, or $2 trillion.
We’re preparing for this and more in the coming weeks and months, but it doesn’t need to be this way.
What Is to Be Done?
In 1968, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was organizing against the triple evils of racism, militarism, and poverty in what would be the last crusade of his life, he said, “Power for poor people will really mean having the ability, the togetherness, the assertiveness, and the aggressiveness to make the power structure of this nation say yes when they may be desirous to say no.” His theory of change was to turn those most adversely impacted by poverty into a political force powerful enough not to be denied, even by the greatest economic and military power in the world.
Under the second Trump administration, there will be a torrent of emergencies to deal with, including threats of mass deportation, the shredding of the social safety net, and attacks on efforts to promote racial and economic justice and gender equality. Some of this will be new to us, including potentially massive immigration raids on schools and churches, while much of it has already been unfolding at a state level. For example, in 2024 alone, more than 650 bills were introduced nationwide to restrict the rights of trans people. Because such bills were massively unpopular, well over 600 of them failed. This may change, however, if they’re taken up at the federal level in 2025.
What’s needed is a coordinated series of campaigns that could change the conditions that produce poverty for good.
As people of conscience fight back against such assaults, we should connect that resistance to calls for a government that reflects our deepest values and commitments to justice. To fight for such a future means making demands that are far beyond what’s politically possible now. Simply resisting what Donald Trump’s government tries to do won’t be enough. We need to build public support for a robust, carefully crafted plan for public investment that will be a viable stepping-stone toward a more equitable, peaceful, and just world.
During the first Trump administration, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival produced an ambitious social and economic agenda, “The Poor People’s Moral Budget: Everybody’s Got a Right to Live.” It called for the right to living-wage jobs, affordable housing, debt cancellation, strong anti-poverty programs, guaranteed adequate income, and much more. It made clear that, through far fairer taxation and the shifting of funds from bloated military budgets to programs of social uplift, it would be possible to “lift from the bottom” in America.
Imagine a country where everyone could exist free of the fear of poverty, hunger, homelessness, or lack of access to quality healthcare. Of course, trying to shift this country’s priorities in such a way would pose a major political challenge, but social and political organizations and movements have succeeded in the past, even in the darkest of times. The organizing of the Citizen’s Army during the Mine Wars in West Virginia early in the last century and the birth of the labor union movement successfully pressured both corporations and the government for better wages and working conditions that workers still benefit from today. In the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s, military veterans in the Bonus Army Encampment in Washington, D.C., demanded that the government pay those promised “bonuses” and won. The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Programs fed more children in the late 1960s than any other institutional entity. It paved the way for free breakfast and lunch programs in public schools across the country, while calling out the failures of the government to provide life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people. During those same years, welfare rights leaders formed the largest poor people’s organization of the time and secured essential benefits for tens of thousands of people, while more than doubling the amount of federal support flowing to the poorest Americans.
Because they did it then, we can do it now.
This is not to suggest that shifting funds from the Pentagon to domestic programs is a magic solution to America’s economic problems. Even cutting the Pentagon budget in half would not be enough to meet all this country’s unmet needs. That would require a comprehensive package, involving a major shift in budget priorities; an increase in federal revenues; and a crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse in the expenditure of government loans and grants. It would, in fact, require the kind of attention and focus now reserved for war planning.
Imagine a real war on poverty, not the “skirmish” (as Dr. King called it) of the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson’s effort that would be cut short by the war in Vietnam. What’s needed is a coordinated series of campaigns that could change the conditions that produce poverty for good.
Now, let’s be real: 2025 is going to be a truly hard year for the poor and vulnerable in our society. But the promise and possibility of ending poverty, reclaiming democracy, and advancing peace and justice remain closer than any of us may think. What’s needed is to begin to build something better, with, as Dr. King suggested, “the ability, the togetherness, the assertiveness, and the aggressiveness” to make it so.
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William Barber Joins 1,000+ Faith Leaders in Endorsing Harris
"My choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism," Barber said.
Oct 27, 2024
Bishop and Poor People's Campaign co-chair Rev. William Barber II joined more than 1,000 religious leaders on Sunday in endorsing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for president over former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Other prominent faith leaders who have signed on to the endorsement include Rev. Kevin R. Johnson of New York City's Abyssinian Baptist Church; Rev. Teresa L. Smallwood, vice president and dean of academic affairs at North Carolina's United Lutheran Seminary; and the Rev. Andrea C. White, who teaches theology and culture at New York City's Union Theological Seminary. Barber and the other leaders offered their endorsement in their personal capacities and not on behalf of any congregation or institution they are affiliated with.
"In a moment like this, I am compelled to be clear that every voter must make a choice, and my choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism," Barber wrote in a statement explaining his endorsement on social media.
"I'm endorsing Harris and Walz because we are in the midst of a crisis of civilization and democracy."
Barber gave several reasons for his opposition to Trump, including the former president's frequent lies, embrace of guns, inflammatory anti-immigrant statements, and economic agenda that favors the wealthy over the poor and marginalized. In particular, he blamed Trump for undermining the strong economy he inherited from former President Barack Obama by giving massive tax cuts to the wealthy while refusing to raise the minimum wage
"I must oppose Donald Trump and his policies of catering to the greedy, attacking healthcare, and working against living wages," Barber wrote.
He also alluded to Trump's violent rhetoric, such as his recent threat to deploy the National Guard against his political enemies if elected.
"I must prophetically oppose Trump's candidacy because he is threatening to use the office of the president for retaliation and destruction and refers to himself as the only answer to the troubles of America, which is a form of idolatry," Barber said.
In contrast, Barber said he was endorsing Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz because they "are seeking to speak truthfully about the issues of our nation, and, at the same time, to lead us toward a way of working together on issues that matter."
In particular, Barber praised their economic agenda, such as their commitment to increasing wages and expanding healthcare access. He also said they would offer equal protection to all U.S. residents and tackle the climate crisis.
"I'm endorsing Harris and Walz because we are in the midst of a crisis of civilization and democracy," Barber said. "We don't need more despotism. We must work together for a Third Reconstruction."
Barber, a North-Carolina based preacher and organizer, has criticized both parties for failing to address the needs of poor and low-income voters and mobilized those voters to make the parties heed their concerns. In early October, he blasted the presidential and vice presidential debate organizers and the candidates for not addressing the causes of poverty or offering in-depth solutions. He also joined a vigil outside the White House calling for a cease-fire in Gaza last fall.
"I am not endorsing Harris and Walz because I believe they are perfect," Barber wrote in his statement. "No person of faith should ever do that. I don't endorse them because I agree with them on every issue. I am endorsing them because I, like every American, must make a choice about who will lead this nation and set our public agenda for the next four years."
Barber further explained his decision to CNN.
"There's no middle ground when it comes to fascism," Barber said. "I've got to be clear as an individual and hope that other moral and religious leaders will do the same."
Speaking on the issue of Gaza policy specifically, Barber told CNN that he thought a Harris administration would be easier to negotiate with than a future Trump one.
In his statement, he said he believed Harris and Walz's "commitment to diplomacy offers the best chance of a lasting cease-fire in Gaza and averting wars that will consume untold resources and precious lives."
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We Should Listen to Rev Barber on White Poverty and Multracial Organizing
The latest book by the Poor People's Campaign co-chair shows how racial division keeps both Black and white communities poor—and lays out a real vision to defeat it.
Sep 03, 2024
For progressives to win, we need a powerful multiracial coalition. That includes the people of color who disproportionately suffer poverty and structural violence, but it also includes the white people who make up the largest share of poor people in this country.
As the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II points out in his new book, White Poverty, there are more poor white people than any other racial group, and more effort should be put into pulling them into this coalition.
I'm a white man from a wealthy family—and a lawyer who took on tough civil rights cases and fought them as if my life depended on it. My goal from the beginning was to join those who are trying to make America a better place—a country where racism and sexism would slowly fade away and where the possibility of equal opportunity would shine through.
I see that road forward in Rev. Barber's new book, co-written with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
White Poverty's great value is to teach and motivate both Black and white leaders to create a multiracial movement which demands legislation that benefits all poor people.
Talking to white people in all walks of life—from taxi drivers to restaurant workers as well as bankers and stockbrokers—has been very revealing. When I say I'm a civil rights lawyer, their voices often take on a certain unsympathetic tone—and many times they inject the "Black crime rate" into the conversation. Sometimes the person will shift the conversation to discuss Black children being raised by single women who use food stamps to put food on the table or who benefit from other welfare programs.
As Barber points out, there are "more than twice as many poor white people as there are poor Black people in this nation." But if I mention that, the person sometimes appears not to hear me, or lets me know in no uncertain terms that it's Black people themselves who are at fault for their poverty—and they should look to their own lives rather than blame whites. The government taxes "us," I'm often told, to give "them" a free ride.
When I hear this, I know there's something major missing.
De-racializing Poverty
I've been encouraged by the many articles, books, and memoirs that have been written about racial justice since the protests over George Floyd's murder, but few suggest an effective way forward.
For example, a new book by Kellie Carter Jackson, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance (Seal Press, 2024), highlights how Black women fought back against racism, some with weapons, some without, but none took the path that Reverend Barber takes in White Poverty. Reverend Barber, by contrast, argues that Blacks and whites must join together to address their common needs.
Another prominent civil rights advocate, Heather McGhee, traveled across America to write The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (One World, 2021), which documents how some progressives were beginning to engage in cross-racial solidarity through collective action to achieve higher wages and benefits for working people.
As Barber points out, the political establishment invariably markets itself to the needs of "the middle class" and ignores the poor, and whites especially look the other way.
In effect, Barber's White Poverty builds upon McGhee's book. It's the work of a man of action to not only test cross-racial solidarity, but to put that theory into action. Barber lays it on the line in his very first sentence: "This is a book by a Black man about white poverty in America." That initial signal points to where he is headed.
As a lifelong civil rights lawyer, I find that his signal resonates. As Barber persuasively argues, the public and the country's legislatures—federal, state, and local—accept the myth that poverty is only a Black issue, as do the people I talk to daily. They view poverty through this lens to the detriment of Black and white people alike, as well as people of all other colors and races.
As Barber points out, the political establishment invariably markets itself to the needs of "the middle class" and ignores the poor, and whites especially look the other way. The same is true even in our country's religious establishments. Barber notes that "a Pew Research Center study of nearly 50,000 sermons found that neither the words 'poverty' nor 'poor' register as commonly used in American pulpits."
A Multiracial Fusion Movement
Much of White Poverty concerns the history of how American racism came into being and how the myths evolved around it. Barber explains how the manipulation of these myths has preserved the power of white elites, who use their political and economic power to downgrade the needs of poor white people as well as Black people, while benefiting the wealthy.
To this reader then, White Poverty's great value is to teach and motivate both Black and white leaders to create a multiracial movement which demands legislation that benefits all poor people. As an additional benefit, White Poverty gives examples of Black and white movements fusing themselves together.
Not least, Barber has spent a huge amount of energy over the past seven years in building a multiracial Poor People's Campaign. Co-chaired by Rev. Barber along with Rev. Liz Theoharis of the Kairos Center, the Poor People's Campaign has thousands in the field to help poor white and poor Black communities understand each others' community needs and the advantages of working together to fight against "policy violence" and to turn out the vote.
This beautifully written book offers a road map to the powerful multiracial organizing that can turn this country around, lift up poor people, and deepen our democracy.
In the last election for governor in Kentucky, the campaign and its allies worked with both white and Black rural communities to get out the vote. The result was an upset in electing the state's present governor, Democrat Andy Beshear. In rural counties, an enlarged electorate turned out to vote and that tipped the election.
The Poor People's Campaign has built durable alliances with other organizations to advance its multiracial vision. It's currently collaborating with the AFL-CIO on voter engagement. It pursues legal challenges with Forward Justice. It coordinates actions with national Christian and Jewish organizations. With the Institute for Policy Studies, on whose board I serve, it has produced the data and the analysis to back up its bold agenda.
Barber is a man of the cloth who takes his religion seriously. As a result, the book is sprinkled with words from other religious figures who offer moral reasons for organizing poor people to struggle for their needs nonviolently but willing to cross police lines and stand up to authority.
In short, this beautifully written book offers a road map to the powerful multiracial organizing that can turn this country around, lift up poor people, and deepen our democracy.
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'We Are a Resurrection': Poor People's Campaign Rallies for Low-Wage Voters in DC
"There will be no democracy worth saving if it doesn't lift the lives of poor and low-wage people all over this world," one speaker said.
Jun 30, 2024
Thousands of poor and low-wage workers and their supporters from religious, labor, and social justice organizations rallied in Washington, D.C. on Saturday and pledged to "break the silence about poverty" and mobilize 15 million poor and low-income voters ahead of the November 2024 election.
The Mass Poor People's and Low Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls was hosted by the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, which hopes to pressure politicians to embrace a 17-point agenda that prioritizes the well-being of the poor and working class over funding for war and militarism.
"We came here today to represent America's largest potential swing vote: poor and low-wage people who make this country work," Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, wrote on social media after the event.
Speaking at the rally, which took place at Third and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest and began at 10:00 am ET, Barber emphasized the potential power of the poor as a voting block. He said that poor people represent 30% of the electorate and 40% in swing states.
"Every state where the margin of victory was within 3%, poor and low-wage voters make up over 43% of the electorate," Barber said.
He added that in crucial battleground states Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, the result of the 2020 election was determined by 178,000 votes, yet more than six million poor people in those states did not vote at all.
"Those most impacted by injustice, organizing together, mobilizing together, and voting together can force the changes that we know we need that will be good for everybody."
"The No. 1 reason they did not vote is they said nobody talked to them," Barber said. "Well, there comes a time when people don't talk to you, you've got to make them talk to you."
That is exactly what the Poor People's Campaign is trying to do. In addition to reaching out to 15 million low-income infrequent voters, Barber said the campaign planned to deliver a statement to the major news networks on Saturday.
"We don't care what kind of debate you have if you don't have a debate that asks candidates where they stand on living wages and labor and healthcare, that's the failure," Barber said.
Barber added that the movement would also deliver a statement to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions saying, "If you want these votes, then you have to talk to us, not about what you've done, but what you're going to do in the days to come, because our votes must rise."
Barber and other speakers argued for putting the concerns of the poor and low-income at the center of national politics.
"There will be no democracy worth saving if it doesn't lift the lives of poor and low-wage people all over this world," Barber said. "This is not a moment, this is a movement that must rise until we lift this nation from the bottom so that everybody rises."
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, said: "Those most impacted by injustice, organizing together, mobilizing together, and voting together can force the changes that we know we need that will be good for everybody."
She argued that putting the poor at the center of the struggle for democracy "is what can save this nation."
"We say poverty no more. We demand justice for the poor," she concluded. "Because everybody has got a right to live."
On social media, Barber encouraged others to sign on to the movement's pledge.
"It's time to make our voices heard," Barber wrote. "We call on people of moral conscience to join us by pledging to be a part of this mobilization effort. Together, we can wake the sleeping giant of poor and low-wage voters. We are a resurrection, not an insurrection!"
The movement's 17-point agenda includes calls for abolishing poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.; ensuring economic justice policies such as a living wage, labor rights, affordable housing, and universal healthcare; enshrining women's and immigrants' rights; protecting the environment and climate; ending gun violence and domestic extremism; and negotiating a cease-fire in Gaza and limiting the war economy.
In addition, Barber and other speakers responded to political developments over the past week, including concerns about U.S. President Joe Biden's performance in a debate against former President Donald Trump Thursday night.
Barber criticized the media for focusing on issues like Biden's stutter or Trump's sexual indiscretions rather than the bread-and-butter issues that matter to voters.
"In my tradition, Moses stuttered, but he brought down Pharaoh," Barber said at the rally. "Jeremiah had depression, but he stood up for justice. Jesus was acquainted with sorrow. Harriet Tubman had epilepsy. Folks are getting caught up on how a candidate walks—well, let me tell you, I have trouble walking, but I know how to walk toward justice."
Barber continued: "We say to the media, this election is not about foolish things. It is about whether we will have democracy. And it is not about one candidate; it is about the people mobilizing and organizing, and you will not drive us to despair."
Participants also spoke out against the Supreme Court's decision on Friday in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson that cities can enforce bans on sleeping outside in public even if they are not able to provide shelter space for unhoused individuals.
"A Supreme Court that says you can send somebody to jail for not having a home, you can send them to jail for sleeping, but then they turn around and say those with money can have unprecedented power in our election, that is too low down for a nation," Barber said.
Theoharis agreed.
"It is wrong for the highest court in the land to criminalize homelessness, to rule that you cannot breathe in public on a bench, in your car, or in a park if you do not have a home," Theoharis said.
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Why Extinction Rebellion and The Poor People's Campaign Ought to Get Married
Nothing organization is perfect, but it seems the two need one another. And from this union, we all would benefit.
Jun 13, 2024
The other day I went on Extinction Rebellion's (XR) website and signed myself up. I had been thinking about this for a while. The UK-based organization, known as XR for short, operates with a loosely affiliated, decentralized, global model, and I knew that there is a group in nearby Franklin County, Massachusetts. I am simply attempting to bring my personal commitment in line with my rhetoric. I admire XR, but not without reservations. People familiar with my writing know that I view the issue of climate as an ongoing confrontation between corporate intentions and organized activism. I have repeatedly raised a few points:
1) Without massive resistance and civil disobedience we are politically and environmentally doomed.
2) Resistance is, critically, a matter of building coalitions and attaching the climate movement to other issues: workers' rights and union building, human rights, housing, universal health care, voting rights, and military spending—just to name a few.
3) The climate movement often reflects class imbalance—many have pointed out that XR in particular, and the climate movement in general is too white, too middle class and too immersed in academic rhetoric—thereby cutting off poor and working class participation and passion.
4) Climate activism should be inherently political, anti-capitalist and based on the understanding that the political structures that have pushed us collectively to the brink of apocalypse cannot be redeployed to get us out of danger.
5) The poorest people are a wellspring of potential power that has been reduced—via the brainwashing of media and the immediacy of personal threats to survival—to the status of passive bystanders. Those that inhabit housing waitlists, or live in subsidized housing projects, or occupy Section 8 housing, are both the most vulnerable to climate related events, and an untapped progressive voting block and source for activism. Very poor people are almost never sympathetic to Trumpist fascism. As a long time (now retired) mental health outreach worker, I never heard a good word about Trump from anyone living in subsidized housing, and many of my clients were white.
6) Poor people are disproportionately subjected to climate suffering, whether through catastrophic heat waves, rising food prices, or floods. Where I worked, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, all three housing projects and many poor neighborhoods have been built adjacent to the Green River, which has flooded many times in recent years, and has the potential to cause terrible damage. It must be a goal of the climate movement to pursue rapprochement with those most threatened by climate instability. Poor people should not be patronized or marginalized within the climate community, but be seen as a cornerstone of a coalition.
I mentioned that I had joined XR, but that is not the whole story. The group has been criticized for lack of class and racial diversity, and for hedging on ties to larger political issues. XR has avoided the natural inclination to identify itself with any of the fundamental left wing ideological touchstones—including socialism, degrowth, redistribution of wealth, etc.—and yet leftist ideology permeates XR as an often unacknowledged undercurrent.
The organization has promoted itself as an apolitical organization, founded solely on the common cause of climate, but this self definition fails to address the political issues that have caused the climate apocalypse in the first place: that is, the political power and lobbying influence of corporate rulers, who keep fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and industrial agriculture locked into the eternal status of unregulated juggernauts of societal fate.
For me, XR can therefore only be an incomplete platform for activism. The Poor People's Campaign (which has scheduled "The Mass Poor People's and Low Wage Worker's Assembly and Moral March on Washington D.C. and to the Polls!" for June, 29th) ticks all the boxes. The Poor People's Campaign has issued a 17-point agenda that ties climate issues to the full social justice context that I believe XR ought to add to their well known three demands.
These points are:
- Abolishing poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
- A living minimum wage of at least $15 +/hour (indexed for inflation)
- Full and expanded voting rights
- No more voter suppression
- Guaranteed workers’ rights & labor rights
- Healthcare for all
- Affordable, adequate housing
- Strong social welfare and safety net programs
- An end to gun violence, profit and proliferation
- Fully protected women’s rights
- Environmental justice that secures clean air & water
- Justice for all Indigenous nations
- Fully-funded public education
- Just immigration laws
- Addressing militarism and the war economy
- Standing for peace not war; an immediate cease fire in Gaza that allows humanitarian relief, the release of all hostages, and peace with justice to be pursued; and an end to genocide, around the world
- An end to hate, division, and the extremist political agenda
The 11th point above—"environmental justice that secures clean air and water" —does not fully delineate and represent the issue of climate. The climate point in the Poor People's Agenda is incomplete in much the same way that XR is incomplete because it does not place the climate crisis within the larger context of social injustice and class inequity.
Perhaps XR and the Poor People's Campaign ought to get married. It may not be a perfect marriage—few are—but, rather, a marriage of convenience. I'd rent a tux and be there enthusiastically in time for the vows.
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Poor People's Campaign Plans June 29 Mass Assembly, March in DC
"This is a crisis moment for our democracy," said one campaigner. "We need for our political leaders to become moral leaders and take seriously the needs and priorities of the millions of people struggling simply to survive."
Apr 29, 2024
Leaders of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on Monday announced plans for the Mass Poor People & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly & Moral March in Washington, D.C. on June 29, just over four months before the U.S. elections.
The aim of the assembly and march is to "mobilize the one-third of the U.S. electorate who are poor and low-wage infrequent voters" as well as to pressure political leaders to embrace a 17-point agenda during the 2024 election cycle and beyond.
"It does not stand to reason—morally, economically, or politically—that in the richest nation in the history of the world, 800 people die every day from poverty and low wealth," declared Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach. "Politicians then made the conscious choice to increase poverty to where it was before—an unconscionable reminder that mass poverty is a political choice, not an inevitable law of nature."
"We are here to say we must restore the moral conscience of this nation, and elect leaders across the country who will make different choices—not to raise poverty, but to lower it; not to give out tax breaks to wealthy corporations, but to those who are struggling to make ends meet," he continued. "These are the priorities of one-third of the U.S. electorate, and any candidate interested in activating these voters must speak to our issues and our values."
The agenda, revealed during the campaign's Monday press conference, is:
- Abolishing poverty as the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S.
- A living minimum wage of at least $15+/hour (indexed for inflation)
- Full and expanded voting rights
- No more voter suppression
- Guaranteed workers' rights and labor rights
- Healthcare for all
- Affordable, adequate housing
- Strong social welfare and safety net programs
- An end to gun violence, profit, and proliferation
- Fully protected women's rights
- Environmental justice that secures clean air and water
- Justice for all Indigenous nations
- Fully funded public education
- Just immigration laws
- Addressing militarism and the war economy
- Standing for peace not war; an immediate cease-fire in Gaza that allows humanitarian relief, the release of all hostages, and peace with justice to be pursued; and an end to genocide around the world
- An end to hate, division, and the extremist political agenda
"We are a resurrection of the unheard voices in this democracy, not an insurrection," said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. "After years of historic union drives and grassroots organizing, we are demonstrating our power at the polls in 2024. We will elect leaders with the courage to abolish poverty, raise wages, safeguard voting rights, and meet the basic needs of struggling families."
In addition to Theoharis and Barber's groups, supporters of the assembly and march include the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Christian Church Disciples of Christ, Common Cause, Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Good Trouble, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Make It Plain, National Council of Churches, National Council of Jewish Women, Service Employees International Union, and Union of Southern Service Workers.
"Workers' rights, civil rights, and human rights are on the ballot this election. American voters will decide: Do we want to stay the course and keep on this path toward a more compassionate government or revert back to this morally bankrupt nation?" said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. "The American labor movement is committed to registering and mobilizing union members and union families around the mass mobilization on June 29. We're going to elect lawmakers who will advocate for workers and poor people to elect leaders who will put people over profits, protect our democracy, and advance worker and civil and human rights."
In addition to choosing between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump, U.S. voters in November will decide which party controls each house of Congress. There will also be various consequential local and state elections, including ballot measures to protect key rights such as access to abortion care.
"This is a crisis moment for our democracy," stressed Rosalyn Pelles, a senior advisor to the Poor People's Campaign. "In order for our nation not to continue down the path of autocracy, we need for our political leaders to become moral leaders and take seriously the needs and priorities of the millions of people struggling simply to survive."
"Congress must lead, by bringing forward comprehensive legislation to restore the child tax credit and raise the minimum wage," Pelles argued. "The media must do more, by covering the experiences of people struggling to get by, not just the words and whims of the wealthy and powerful. And the White House must treat poverty like the crisis it is, if this administration is serious about saving our democracy. We all must act, and that is what June 29th is all about."
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What Argentina’s Workers Can Teach the World About Resisting the Far Right
Organized labor can serve as an infrastructure for mobilization and a counterbalance to democratic backsliding.
Mar 31, 2024
This March, Argentina’s school year began with empty classrooms. The price of learning materials rose by 502% over the past year, leaving many children unprepared for the year to come. And the teachers? On strike after President Javier Milei announced deep cuts to their salaries.
There’s something much larger happening here: Workers rights are under attack in an already vastly unequal society. Labor income inequality has been on the decline in many Latin American countries like Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. In Argentina, it’s been on the rise.
Since the 1960s, Argentina has been in an unprecedented period of macroeconomic instability. Stagnating in the lead-up to, and during, the dictatorship years (1976-1983), the country’s economy has reeled from crisis upon crisis—punctuated with the occasional period of recovery and growth. As the decades wore on, public distrust and discontent produced a deep social divide. Argentines call this phenomenon la grieta (“the rift”).
During his successful presidential bid last year, Milei seized upon these conditions. TV personality and self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist, the eccentric economist promised to correct Argentina’s path and make what he called the “political caste” pay for their mismanagement of the country. Wielding a chainsaw while he campaigned, Milei vowed to eliminate state ministries, abolish the central bank, roll back abortion rights, and dollarize the economy.
As one Argentine told a journalist, “The caste doesn’t take the train nor any form of public transit. We workers and students do.”
Now that he’s had a chance to implement his platform, working families—not an elite “political caste”—are footing the bill for his far-right economic project.
In the two months before Milei took office in December, inflation was running between 143 and 161%. In February, inflation soared to more than 254% and the poverty rate reached 57%—the highest in decades.
Argentina’s labor movement has quickly mobilized widespread and effective opposition to his policies. While strikes and protests continue, we can already begin to draw lessons on resisting the far-right’s rise worldwide.
Milei takes a chainsaw to workers rights
After taking office on December 10, 2023, Milei acted swiftly. Declaring, “There is no alternative to shock,” the president immediately devalued the peso by 50%, lifted price controls, and dissolved half of the country’s ministries.
Milei’s government then launched an offensive on workers’ rights. On December 14, the newly appointed minister of security announced a new protest protocol. Consolidating control of Argentina’s security forces and creating a registry for organizations suspected of “instigating,” the protocol allowed federal forces to use increased surveillance and violence.
Days later, Milei signed the “Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/2023.” Dubbed the megadecreto (“mega-decree”) for its sweeping scope—cutting severance pay, weakening collective bargaining rights, deregulating the rental market, and otherwise undermining existing protections—the 366-article document is an unconstitutional abuse of executive powers.
Making matters worse, Milei cut public subsidies on utilities and transportation. Hypocrisy shone through his already vague definition of the “political caste.” As one Argentine told a journalist, “The caste doesn’t take the train nor any form of public transit. We workers and students do.”
Milei’s aggressive measures roused a prompt response from Argentine labor. In late December, the country’s largest unions announced plans for a January 24 general strike—the quickest to be organized under any president since Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983.
Millions Join the General Strike
Forty-five days after Milei took office, 1.5 million Argentines took to the streets. Workers from all sectors joined the strike: transit, aviation, government, banking, and sanitation, just to name a few.
“Not one step back,” one associated union declared on the day of the strike, “for the unity of the workers movement is essential in protecting the rights we’ve achieved.”
The protesters’ outrage centered on Milei’s Omnibus Bill. The proposed legislation contained sweeping changes to Argentina’s economic and political structure, including the privatization of state-owned companies and an unprecedented expansion of executive powers.
The bill would also codify Milei’s unpopular “mega-decree.”
At their best, unions provide checks on abuses of executive power and ensure that working people always have political representation—no matter who occupies the presidential palace.
“[Milei’s ‘mega-decree’] destroys individual rights of workers, collective rights, and seeks to eliminate the possibility of union action at a time in which we have great inequality in society” said Héctor Daer, the secretary general of the General Confederation of Labor. One of the world’s largest unions, the CGT represents roughly two-thirds of Argentina’s unionized workforce.
Shortly after the strike ended, the National Congress of Argentina rejected Milei’s Omnibus Bill. Initially approved by the Chamber of Deputies in a 144 to 109 vote, majority support faltered when it came time for an article-by-article review.
The first Omnibus Bill consisted of 664 articles. Now, two months later, they are struggling to push an amended 269-article version—with hefty concessions for the left.
Milei’s uncompromising approach played no small role in killing his first Omnibus Bill. But the general strike served a critical blow to his already weak coalition.
Aftermath in Argentina, implications abroad
Beyond their victories in the streets, Argentine labor has also made notable gains in the courts. Successfully challenging the legality of Milei’s “mega-decree,” the General Confederation of Labor blocked the roll-out of several critical anti-worker measures.
Following January’s general strike, February and March witnessed a patchwork of smaller strikes, placing continued pressure on the government. The most recent have come in the aviation, healthcare, and education sectors. The Argentine Workers’ Central Union (a federation with 1.2 million members) held a “national day of struggle” on March 12—and united with other groups to block 500 roads throughout the country on March 18. More strikes were planned for March 28.
On March 14, the Senate voted down the Decree of Necessity and Urgency. Though the “mega-decree” remains in force unless the lower house also opts to reject, the upper house vote represents another massive blow to Milei’s government.
This year will be a defining moment for democracy. Whether that’s for the better or for the worse, it’s up to us.
Instrumental in defeating Milei’s first Omnibus Bill—and otherwise slowing the pace of his anti-worker disaster project—Argentine labor’s recent victories offer an important reminder: Working-class people are a potent political force.
These victories also offer lessons in resisting the far-right’s rise worldwide: Organized labor can serve as an infrastructure for mobilization and a counterbalance to democratic backsliding. At their best, unions provide checks on abuses of executive power and ensure that working people always have political representation—no matter who occupies the presidential palace.
With nearly 30% of the workforce unionized, the labor movement is strong in Argentina. The United States hasn’t seen that degree of union density since the 1950s, though now the tide might be turning.
With 64 countries holding national elections in 2024, this year will be a watershed moment in world history. And with the far right on the rise, there’s never been a more critical time to mobilize in defense of dignity and democracy.
Here in the United States, there are over 85 million poor or low-income eligible voters. As Inequality.org’s co-editor Sarah Anderson writes, “If this bloc voted at the same rate as higher-income voters, they could sway elections in every state.”
The Poor People’s Campaign is working to mobilize this often ignored voting bloc. With 42 weeks of action, the campaign aims to propel working-class concerns to the center stage of U.S. politics and draw more infrequent voters into democratic engagement.
This year will be a defining moment for democracy. Whether that’s for the better or for the worse, it’s up to us. History will judge.
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'The Bible Exposes Grifters': Trump Rebuked as Christian Nationalist 'Con Man'
"All those legal fees are apparently really making Donald Trump's pockets hurt because his latest commercial venture, after selling sneakers and cologne, is as a Bible salesman," said one critic.
Mar 28, 2024
Critics of former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday derided the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee for hawking $60 patriotic-themed Bibles, with one prominent progressive cleric warning that the so-called Good Book "exposes grifters who try to exploit it."
The
God Bless the USA Bible—which is actually a rebranded 9/11 commemorative Bible first offered for sale in 2021 by country musician Lee Greenwood of "God Bless the USA" fame—has been slammed by devout Christians for having an American flag emblazoned on its cover and for containing nationalist documents including the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Pledge of Allegiance.
"You all should get a copy of God Bless the USA Bible," Trump said in a 3-minute video promoting the book—which is not connected with his campaign. "You have to have it for your heart, for your soul."
"Replacing the real Bible with Trump Bibles is a too-perfect symbol of what has happened to evangelical Christianity."
Critics from across the political spectrum slammed what Slate senior writer Amanda Marcotte called Trump's "newest grift to squeeze money out of his cult followers."
"The not-at-all subtle message of the video is that Trump doesn't believe any of this faith-in-God crap, but he definitely believes in using Christian identity as a weapon to make money and dominate his foe," Marcotte wrote.
Bishop William Barber, the founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School and a co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign,
said on social media that "the prophet Ezekiel named it in his day: Greedy politicians make an unholy alliance with false religion that says God is on their side when God has said no such thing!"
Conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes on Wednesday
blasted Trump for "commodifying the Bible during Holy Week," while former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming said that "instead of selling Bibles, you should probably buy one. And read it, including Exodus 20:14."
The volume's release comes during Christian Holy Week, and as Trump struggles to pay a $175 million bond after a New York judge found that he and his company committed massive fraud.
"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country," Trump said in the promotional video. "It's one of the biggest problems we have, and it's why our country is going haywire. We've lost religion in our country."
"All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It's my favorite book," he added. "We must make America pray again."
Some observers noted how Trump used Christianity and the Bible as a prop during his White House tenure, including the time in 2020 when he ordered the violent dispersal of racial justice protesters in the wake of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police so he could pose for a photo-op outside a Washington, D.C. church.
Despite facing 91 federal and state criminal charges, Trump is all but certain to secure the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Christian nationalists have been busily preparing for a second Trump term, in part by drafting Project 2025, which one watchdog described as a "far-right playbook for American authoritarianism."
While his words and deeds may be antithetical to Christian doctrine, Trump is wildly popular among Evangelical Christians.
"Replacing the real Bible with Trump Bibles is a too-perfect symbol of what has happened to evangelical Christianity," Marcotte wrote. "The mistake is in believing Trump's followers are confused or ashamed about their devotion to a godless creep who laughs at true believers. In Trump's hands, the Bible is not a text for prayer and reflection, it's just a weapon. It's much easier to beat people down with a book if it's closed."
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We Need to Work Together for a Stronger Safety Net
What we really need is to renew, expand, and cut red tape for those programs that are proven to keep people above water.
Mar 12, 2024
Things don’t always work out the way you expect. I’ve gotten to mix with celebrities and travel to the other side of the world. But I’m also a single mother who’s experienced health crises, homelessness, and food insecurity.
What I’ve learned is we need public policies that look out for people no matter where they live, what they look like, or how much money they have.
I’m from Georgia, where Tyler Perry headquarters his media empire. I went to college to study theater and film and started getting roles as an extra on Perry’s productions. I was eventually hired as a casting assistant.
When it comes to people who struggle financially, some say it’s our fault—that we’re lazy, weak, that we deserve to be poor. It’s not true.
I felt that I was going somewhere. But then I began to get seizures, and my kidneys malfunctioned. The doctors thought it was likely lupus and fibromyalgia. I couldn’t continue to work—and on top of that, I was pregnant with my first child.
After my child was born, I began taking medication, felt better for a while, and worked toward becoming a teacher. I even got a job teaching English in China. But when my child’s father threatened to sue for custody if I brought our daughter to be with me, I had to give that up and return to Georgia.
When it comes to people who struggle financially, some say it’s our fault—that we’re lazy, weak, that we deserve to be poor. It’s not true—I’m a strong, hard-working, well-educated survivor. But when you’re a single mother with serious health issues, you quickly run out of options for jobs that pay well.
I’m hardly alone. According to the Poor People’s Campaign, there are 140 million poor and low-income people in this country—including about 4.5 million here in Georgia. In fact, we’re about 43% of the population both in the state and nationally.
To meet our basic needs, a household with two adults and two children needs to earn over $23 an hour. But Georgia’s minimum wage is just $7.25. At this wage, I’d have to work 116 hours a week just to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. (There are only 168 hours in an entire week.)
That’s why the safety net is so important.
Thankfully, I was able to access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as “food stamps”) and Medicaid, which were lifelines. During the pandemic, the expanded Child Tax Credit also allowed me to meet my family’s needs—and even save a little.
But as pandemic programs wound down, I lost those expanded Child Tax Credit payments, our extra SNAP benefits, and nearly our health coverage too thanks to onerous read tape, even though we qualify for Medicaid.
Last year, after being on the waiting list for two years for a Section 8 housing voucher, I was finally able to start the process of getting a place to live. But even now there are layers of approval that can take months to complete. I’m still waiting.
In times like these, neighbors look out for each other. But there’s only so much people can do on their own. With the need so high here in Georgia, the food banks have less to share—and what they do have is primarily dried beans and old bread.
What we really need is to renew, expand, and cut red tape for those safety net programs that are proven to keep people above water. And we need to work together to get it.
I received a flyer about a meeting of the Georgia Chapter of the Poor People’s Campaign and I attended. I felt so empowered that I’m now one of the Tri-Chairs for the Georgia Chapter.
I’m helping to see that the nearly 2.5 million poor and low-income voters here make it to the polls to back candidates who support a living wage, a healthy safety net, and other policies to help us meet our families’ basic needs.
I hope you’ll join where you live. Together we’ll make a difference.
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