A
National
Call for Moral Revival kicks off
The Rhode Island Poor People’s Campaign: A
National Call for Moral Revival kicked off a six-week season of
nonviolent direct action in Providence. The 60 plus people in attendance included clergy, advocates and members of the poor and disenfranchised communities from Rhode Island.
They gathered outside the Rhode Island State House to demand “new programs to lift up the 140 million Americans living in poverty, immediate attention to ecological devastation and measures to curb militarism and the war economy.”
Inspired by Dr Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s
Campaign, organizers will engage in 40 days of nonviolent
direct action and voter mobilization. The movement aims to transform the
nation’s political, economic and moral structures in this country. The action
in Providence is one of 30 taking place across the United States.
For more photos and videos of speeches, CLICK HERE.
The May 14 protest focused on child poverty, women in poverty and people with disabilities.
Organizers said that subsequent weeks will focus on systemic racism, veterans and the war economy, ecological devastation, inequality, and our nation’s distorted moral narrative.
The May 14 protest focused on child poverty, women in poverty and people with disabilities.
Organizers said that subsequent weeks will focus on systemic racism, veterans and the war economy, ecological devastation, inequality, and our nation’s distorted moral narrative.
Rhode Island Poor
People’s Chair Reverend Ebony
Grisom stated “On Mother’s
Day, the country pauses to honor mothers with cards and flowers. On Monday, we honor them with protest. We protest the
double-standard that celebrates mothers one day, yet watched them (and their
children) languish in poverty the next.”
“We are gathering on
Monday, May 14th, to share our struggles, then to proceed to the statehouse, on
the same day as many other cities across the country. We are waging the Rhode
Island Poor People’s Campaign to address the injustices of widespread poverty,
systemic racism and rampant inequality in Rhode Island,” said Camilo Viveiros, Chair of the
Rhode Island Poor People’s Campaign.
At the conclusion of the
40 days, on June 23, poor people, clergy and advocates from Rhode
Island and coast to coast will join together for a mass mobilization at the
United States Capitol in Washington DC. They’ll then return to their states to
continue building the campaign, which is expected to be a multi-year effort.