Impacted people, faith leaders from AZ, FL, KY, MD, ME, MT, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC & WV will join Poor People’s Campaign
Events will be livestreamed here
Just hours before President Biden signs the infrastructure bill for bridges and roads, poor and low-income people will rally and hold a nonviolent moral action on Monday to demand that Congress pass the infrastructure bill that builds the economy from the bottom up.
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will hold a rally to support Build Back Better, the infrastructure for the people. The rally will begin at noon on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. Speakers include poor and low-income people, along with the co-chairs of the PPC:NCMR, Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, and other faith leaders. The nonviolent moral action will be held nearby after the rally.
West Virginia and Arizona, the home states of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kysten Sinema, who have thrown up obstacle after obstacle to passing Build Back Better, will be represented at the rally.
Stewart Acuff of the West Virginia PPC said he was joining the rally and action “for poor and hungry children and for low-wage workers that Joe Manchin has abandoned to take money from the most corrupt corporations in the world.”
John Wessel-McCoy of the Arizona PPC said he is adding his voice “to my sisters and brothers who make up the 140 million poor and low-wealth people living in this country. We see through the smoke screen of parliamentary procedure and bad faith economic arguments.”
While the Build Back Better plan represents the most money invested in the people in generations, that’s a sign of how little poor and low-income people have gotten in exchange for holding the country together, especially during the pandemic.
“America has the resources for Build Back Better and much more,” Bishop Barber said. “This bill is being delayed because Republicans and Democratic senators like Manchin and Sinema would rather line the pockets of greedy billionaires than address the pain that poor and low-wealth Americans face everyday — severe burdens that threaten their lives.”
Rev. Theoharis said: “Investing in healthcare, early childhood education, the child tax credit, paid sick leave, climate resilient jobs and a more fair tax system as well as other programs of the Build Back Better agenda rebounds to the benefit of all. It is past time to pass this first step and keep building from the bottom up. We can no longer wait.”
Partner organizations include SEIU, Black Voters Matter and Common Defense, MoveOn, Presbyterian Church USA, United for Respect, United for Peace and Justice, the National Education Association, the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, CODEPINK, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Hindus for Human Rights, Pax Christi USA, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice and Sunrise Movement.