April 4, 2021
News conference with Poor People’s Campaign scheduled in Washington, DC (note new location)
WHAT: Declaring there are times for a clear moral outcry, a time when religious leaders must sound the alarm, the Poor People’s Campaign is holding Moral Monday: Make Holy Trouble in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 5. Some 100 people of faith and moral conscience will join the campaign co-chairs, Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, for a rally and news conference where they will discuss why they are standing for voting rights and living wages to address how the filibuster, an arcane and racist tactic, obstructs the passing of moral and just policies.
WHO: Bishop William J. Barber II, who founded Moral Mondays and preached the inaugural prayer sermon, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, a leading theological voice on addressing poverty, and who are co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Joining them will be about 100 faith leaders. In addition to the co-chairs, speakers include Rev. Terri Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis; Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, director of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., and Senior Bishop Lawrence Reddick, chief operating officer, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Memphis. Other supporters include the Unitarian Universalist Association, a Hindu faith leader, an Indigenous faith leader and a Jewish faith leader.
WHEN: 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Monday, April 5
WHERE: National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle, NW, Washington, D.C., and online at https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/livestream/
WHY: Our senators cannot be allowed to hide behind the filibuster — a word that literally means “to talk to death” — and prevent the passing of laws that expand voting access to all and allow a living wage. Historically, the filibuster has been used to block civil rights bills and other legislation that lift from the bottom. Fifty-five percent of poor and low-income people voted for the Biden/Harris ticket in 2020, and they won’t be silent as the powerful minority robs the majority of justice.
BACKGROUND: Nationally, more than 140 million poor and low-income people live in the United States, or 43% of the country’s population, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic, and 250,000 die each year from poverty. Among those 140 million people are: 52.2% or 39 million children (below 18); 41.9% or 21 million elders (above 65); 42.6% or 65.8 million men; 45% or 74.2 million women; 60.4% or 26 million Black people; 64.1% or 38 million Latinx people; 40.8% or 8 million Asian people; 58.9% or 2.14 million Native/Indigenous people; 33.5% or 66 million white people. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, with organizing committees in 45 states, is building a moral fusion movement to address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism and a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. Our demands are reflected in our Jubilee Platform.
For additional information: poorpeoplescampaign.org https://youtu.be/PmOjcUoDhEsTwitter: @unitethepoor / Instagram: @poorpeoplescampaign / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ANewPPC
CONTACT:
Martha Waggoner | [email protected] | 919-295-0802
