Poor People's Campaign Comes to Sacramento

California Poor People’s Campaign 

Some 300 activists from a wide variety of organizations rallied at the California  Capitol today claiming Somebody’s Hurting Our People : and We are Not Going to Take It Anymore !

Some 55% of the people in California are poor or low income- a total of 21.4 million residents. This incudes 65% of children and 57 % of women.  From 1979 to 2012 the income of the top 1 % grew by 190 percent, while the income of the bottom 99% decreased by 6 %. Meanwhile the richest 1 % of California residents are expected to receive 14% of the new federal tax law. Their average tax cut in 2027 is expected to be $14,170, while the poorest 20% are expected to pay $270 per year more.

Danny Glover

"Though we have a reputation as being ’liberal’ in California, the four pillars of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the war economy are rampant in our state and are ‘hidden in plain sight.’ With the 1% prospering in their unregulated wealth, California has the highest poverty rate when housing is factored in. We must shine a bright light on the oppression and interlocking injustices which poor, impacted communities must face everyday regarding local to statewide issues, including but not limited to: immigration and ICE, racist police violence, homelessness, evictions, inequity in education, the school-to-prison pipeline, gentrification, rising cost of living, low wages, and the continuous commodification of Mother Earth causing ecocide in poor communities, all of which could be eliminated in California if our state's leaders and legislators would create policies that had human rights and non-partisan morality at their core." - Kait Ziegler, Co-Chair of California Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

Advocates for the poor marched around the Capitol and briefly occupied a street intersection to demand attention to the issues of poverty. 

Protests and other activities during this first week will focus on child poverty, women in poverty and people with disabilities. Subsequent weeks will focus on systemic racism, veterans and the war economy, ecological devastation, inequality, and our nation’s distorted moral narrative.

Across the nation :

The plan is to have simultaneous "waves" of action across the country calling attention to the "enmeshed evils," including systemic racism and America's war economy that organizers say are contributing to so many living in poverty, the majority of whom are white.

According to the U.S. Census, there are nearly 41 million people living in poverty, though Barber believes that number is off.

He points to research by the Institute for Policy Studies, which estimates 140 million Americans are living in poverty when items beyond income are considered, including out of pocket costs for food, clothing, and utilities.

"It's just constant juggling, figuring out what bill to pay and what not," says Terrence Wise, a fast food worker for 20 years.

He lives in Kansas City but is making the trip to Missouri's capital, Jefferson City, to protest.

As a shift manager at McDonald's, he makes $10.25 an hour. His fiancé is a home healthcare worker who makes $12 an hour. Wise says it is difficult to make ends meet while raising their three teenage daughters.

"And it's really dangerous when we are skipping meals or having to buy less food. Now you are not only struggling financially, you're possibly affecting the health of your family and your children."

Wise is a leading voice in the push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

He hopes that the new Poor People's campaign helps make Americans more mindful of the struggles low-income people go through.

"I'm hoping it shakes America's conscience — that it makes many more aware," Wise says. "The goal is to bring more and more Americans into the movement and help make things better on all levels for everyone."

At the conclusion of the 40 days, on June 23, poor people, clergy and advocates from California and coast to coast will join together for a mass mobilization at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. They’ll then return to their states to continue building the campaign, which is a multi-year effort.

Stand With Immigrants

Demands for Immigration Reform Produce Nonviolent Direct Action at Capitols

 Demands for Immigration Reform Produce Nonviolent Direct Action at the Capitol
Update.

At least eight Democratic lawmakers were arrested Tuesday at an immigration rally on the National Mall in Washington.

The staff of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., confirmed to Al Jazeera that Ellison, who sat in the middle of Independence Avenue together with other House Democrats, had planned his act of civil disobedience to push for a law that, among other things, would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Ellison is expected to release a formal statement on his protest after his release.

Representatives of the social policy organization Center for Community Change and The Associated Press witnessed the arrests of House members John Lewis of Georgia; Luis Gutiérrez and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois; Raúl Grijalva of Arizona; Ellison; John Crowley and Charles Rangel of New York; and Al Green of Texas.

Source: Al Jazeera. 

October 8, thousands of people from across the country  gathered  in the nation’s capital to demand the House Republican leadership pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. After the rally at the National Mall and march to the U.S. Capitol, two hundred of the attendees – national and local community and labor leaders, impacted immigrants, civil rights and faith leaders, and Members of Congress,  follow the event at the steps of the U.S. Capitol with nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at underscoring the urgent need to vote and pass fair immigration reform this year. Speakers at the rally include Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA), Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), civil rights leader Julian Bond, AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten. Other Members of Congress, national and local community, faith, and labor leaders will be standing on stage during key moments before the march begins.

Some of the national and local leaders participating in civil disobedience  include Tefere Gebre, Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO, Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, Bruce Goldstein, Executive Director of Farmworker Justice Fund, Gustavo Torres, President of CASA in Action, Bernard Lunzer, Vice-President of the Communication Workers of America, Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, Abel Nuñez, Executive Director of the CARECEN DC office, D. Taylor, President of UNITE HERE, Maryland Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, John Stocks, Executive Director of the National Education Association, Maria Elena Durazo, President of the LA County Federation of Labor,  New Haven Alderman Delphine Clyburn, Joslyn Williams, President of the DC Central Labor Council, Jaime Contreras, Vice-President of SEIU 32BJ, Giev Aaron Kashkooli, Vice-President of the United Farmworkers, Terry Cavanagh, Executive Director of SEIU MD/DC State Council, Javier Valdes, Co-Director of Make the Road New York, Lawrence Benito, Executive Director of Illinois Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and Javier Morillo, President of SEIU Local 26. For more on the Washington events go to www.AmericasVoice.com

These arrests follow the arrests of Women Activists for immigration on Sept.13, and union activists on Aug. 10.

by Duane Campbell

In Sacramento the California Republican Party headquarters across the street from the State Capitol was the site of a demonstration by Unite/Here and  SEIU members as well as community activists.  The Republican party was confronted with a message of,  “ We will remember your candidates in  November.

California Legislators encourage Chicano/Latino students to stay in school

Legislators and state officials extolled the power of education to a group of 120 students participating in the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project at the state Capitol on Wednesday.

High school juniors and seniors from across the state gathered in Sacramento for a weeklong leadership program that included meetings with lawmakers and mock policy debates.

Prominent Latino officials, like Anna Caballero Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing agency and Diana Fuentes-Michel executive director of the California Student Aid Commission, encouraged the students to seek higher education.

Caballero told the students her success would not be possible without education.

"Education is what opened the door to opportunities in my life," Caballero said. "To become a lawyer, to have my own business, to become the mayor of Salinas, to be elected to the state Assembly, and now to be appointed as a cabinet secretary to Gov. Jerry Brown."

More than 90 percent of the 3,800 students who have participated in the 31 years of the program have gone on to attend college. Alicia Vidales-Vera, a 17-year-old student from Wasco., hoped to become one of them.