August 15, 2020
WHAT: Over the past two weeks, over 500,000 people have taken part in the Moral Monday actions, with thousands calling in and shutting down McConnell’s phone lines in offices in Washington, D.C., and across Kentucky. The activists of the Kentucky Poor People’s Campaign are leading the charge to challenge McConnell and all the hurt his policies have caused in their state and across the nation.
This is our third Moral Monday Digital Action on McConnell to demand that the Senate majority leader stop the misery, meanness and mayhem created by his refusal to act in the greatest public health crisis of our times. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will not stop our actions until we have a full and just COVID-19 stimulus bill and voting rights are secured for all, including those who must vote by mail.
WHO: The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, co-chaired by Rev. Dr. William Barber of Repairers of the Breach and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis of the Kairos Center. Also, Elizabeth Powell, secretary-general of the American Postal Workers Union; actress and activist Jane Fonda and people from Kentucky and elsewhere who depend on the USPS to vote this election. They will speak about the senator’s disregard for the poor and the USPS, which is a lifeline for many communities, especially rural ones.
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Eastern Monday, Aug. 17.
WHERE: Join online at www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/livestream
WHY: McConnell and his enablers must stop playing politics with the lives of poor people and low-wage workers, many of whom must vote by mail. It’s clear that the Kentucky senator is willing to let Postmaster General Louis Dejoy destroy the USPS as part of his effort to continue an extremist agenda. In tandem with the White House, McConnell is blocking a full and just relief package and defanging the USPS to prevent a fair election. The orchestrated slow-down on mail is already causing increased late fees on bills that people can’t afford and is expediting evictions because payment doesn’t come in time. It is also a dangerous form of voter suppression.
**The event will be open captioned & ASL interpreted.
BACKGROUND: The Poor People’s Campaign has released a groundbreaking report titled “Unleashing the Power of Poor and Low-Income Americans: Changing the Political Landscape.” The report shows that poor and low-income people can change the political calculus of this nation in the presidential race in 15 states and 16 U.S. Senate races with just a small uptick in voting. 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. 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/PmOjcUoDhEs
Twitter: @unitethepoor / Instagram: @poorpeoplescampaign / Facebook:@ANewPPC
CONTACT:
Martha Waggoner: [email protected]