From UUC’s Acting for Racial Justice Team

Many of us at UUC are pretty comfortable—with our circumstances, our histories, our futures. Why should we care about the Poor People’s Campaign? As a nation we are at a critical juncture—we need a movement that will shift the moral narrative, impact policies and elections at every level of government, and build lasting power for poor and impacted people.

In 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America. They sought to build a broad, fusion movement that could unite poor and impacted communities across the country. Their name was a direct cry from the underside of history: The Poor People’s Campaign (PPC).

Today, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up this unfinished work. From Alaska to Arkansas, the Bronx to the border, people are coming together to confront the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.

You don’t need to identify as a poor person to get involved, but to identify with people living in poverty. 

The truth is, poverty kills. It kills by polluting the poorest communities; it kills by denying access to effective and appropriate healthcare; it kills by undermining the ability of folks to stay decently and affordably housed; it kills by limiting the availability of fresh, healthy, culturally-appropriate foods; it kills by sending our young people with limited vocational choices off to war or leaving them stranded to fight desperation with drugs and guns at home. It kills through a thousand tiny cuts and terrible gashes. It kills about 800 people every day in our country, one third of them white. People of color are disproportionately suffering and dying of poverty—EVERY DAY.

Each of us can make a difference, as an activist or ally. 

●      Give your time by joining us in Olympia on March 2. 

●      Give your resources by making a financial contribution. 

●      Give your social capital by sharing the work of the Poor People’s Campaign in your circles of friends and family. 

●      Learn more about the PPC here in Washington. 

Get educated, get motivated, and get together to help end poverty in our communities.

~Catherine Ruha, member of UUC’s Acting for Racial Justice Team