Friday, July 19, 2019

Changing the Narrative Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis

Alfred,
In 2016, we had 26 debates in the election season and not one hour was dedicated to poverty or voter suppression. Ignoring these realities facing 140 million people — more than 40% of our population — is a moral failure of our political system.  
This is why we have been organizing the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival: to build power and change the national narrative to focus on the real issues facing nearly half of this country.
At our Poor People's Moral Action Congress last month, we showed the potential of the power we are building. From June 17–19, we brought together more than 1,000 delegates from over 40 states to Washington, D.C. Our coordinating committees organized delegations from dozens of states and our national partners and faith organizations showed up in the numbers.
During those three days, we released our Poor People's Moral Budget, held the largest Presidential Candidates' Forum before the official debates, organized dozens of workshops, and testified at an official hearing before the House Budget Committee. We again showed that when poor and impacted people, clergy, and other moral leaders gather to demand an end to the policy violence afflicting our communities, the political and media establishment must listen to us. At the bottom of this email, we have shared just a few examples of how our narrative broke through the national media.
We will continue to organize over the next year for a Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington in June 2020. Please share this news far and wide and bring people you know into this Campaign to revive the heart and soul of this nation.
This is just the beginning.
Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II and Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis,
President of Repairers of the Breach & Director of the Kairos Center
Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

2020 Democrats Address Poverty and Systemic Racism at Presidential Forum
“The word ‘poor’ has basically become a four-letter word for the past half a century,” Dr. Theoharis said in an interview. “If some politicians talk about it, it’s to punish and demonize people who are poor. And many, including many Democrats, refuse to even talk about the poor."
The Democrats’ Cautious Return to the War on Poverty
“We are here to challenge the greatest myth of our times,” [Rev. Barber] told activists at the conference. “And that is that extreme policies only hurt a small subset of people. We are here—we will stay here, because, like they used to say in the civil-rights movement, “How much freedom do we want? …
Biden spars with Warren and Sanders at first event facing rival Democrats
The Rev William Barber, the co-chair of the campaign, urged the audience to refrain from cheering or clapping any of the nine candidates but rather focus on listening. “If you don’t do that, the media will misinterpret it, and our issues won’t get out,” he said. “The movement is bigger than any one …
Finally, Presidential Candidates Are Talking About Poverty
An historic forum revealed consensus on the need for policies like raising the minimum wage and affordable childcare—and some big differences.
2020 candidates to face questions from low-income Americans at forum
"During the 2016 Presidential primaries and campaign, there were 26 televised debates, but not a single hour was devoted to how candidates would address America's poverty," Barber said in a statement announcing the forum.
How to raise $9 trillion for working-class people without really trying
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Elected officials are calling faith leaders and social workers to Capitol Hill to talk about how the U.S. might begin helping the poor.
A moral economy would save taxpayers billions every year
If we stop handing out tax cuts for the rich, welfare for big corporations, and lucrative weapons contracts and instead prioritize the needs of the poor and the planet, we will create more jobs, strengthen our infrastructure, and create short- and long-term benefits that will boost our economy and p…
Anti-poverty advocates urge Congress to pass a 'moral' budget
“We are here to say that our nation’s budget as it now stands reflects the values of the rich, large corporations, and military contractors at the expense of the poor,” Theoharis will say. “We are here to say we need a moral revolution of values that instead places the needs and demands of the poor …
The Right’s Cure for Poverty: Hard Work and Father Figures
After more than two hours of testimony and five rounds of questions from members on both sides of the aisle, Reverend Theoharis admonished both parties for not asking these three witnesses any questions ...“It feels very important to me to say that we need a real serious conversation in this country…
At House Hearing, Poor People's Campaign Demands End to 'Systemic Policy Violence Against the Poor'
"It is time for Americans to find out the truth about poverty for all Americans," said Barber. There are 140 million poor and low-wealth Americans, said Barber, adding that the extreme wealth gap in the country is a "direct result of policy decisions" that are "supported by well-funded myths."
Rev. Jesse Jackson: Mobilizing the Poor People’s Campaign
The Poor People’s Campaign picks up the unfinished work of Dr. Martin Luther King ... It understands that change will come not from the top down, not from our corrupted big money politics, but from the poor, the worker, people of conscience coming together to revive our democracy and to change our c…
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Last night, I was at dinner with Ilhan Omar, her daughter, and some other members of Congress when we heard the news that thousands of people at a Donald Trump rally were chanting "send her back."Bernie Sanders 7/18/2019 3:55 PM

Bernie Sanders<info@berniesanders.com>
To  alfred johnson  

Alfred -
Last night, I was at dinner with Ilhan Omar, her daughter, and some other members of Congress when we heard the news that thousands of people at a Donald Trump rally were chanting "send her back."
To my surprise, Ilhan was pretty unfazed. Sadly, as she told me, she has been dealing with this kind of hatred and racism for a long time.
And she knows, as we do, that Trump is a demagogue doing what he does best: dividing and conquering through hate.
No. Trump won't talk about trying to throw 32 million Americans off their health care. He won't talk about his massive tax breaks for billionaires. He won't talk about his budget which called for huge cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. And he certainly won't talk about how climate change is destroying the planet.
But he will try to divide the country up based on the color of our skin, our religion, where we were born or our sexual orientation.
Brothers and sisters: Now is the time, more than at any other moment in our lifetimes, to say NO to racism, NO to divisiveness, NO to the hatred that Trump is trying to foment.
Ilhan Omar is a leader with strength and courage. She won’t back down to Trump’s racism and hate, and neither will we. So today, I want to ask you to do something important that will help ensure her voice is with us in Congress for a long time to come:
Can you split a contribution between Ilhan Omar’s re-election campaign and our campaign for president? Send a message that we will fight back against Trump’s racism.
Bernie at dinner with Ilhan Omar
(Ilhan and me at dinner last night shortly after the news came through about the Trump rally)
Ilhan and I have worked together on a number of important issues since she was elected – most recently our effort to cancel all student debt in this country.
She is a critical voice in our fight for justice in America, and I am excited to work with her and other progressives when we are in the White House.
Split a contribution between her campaign and ours today:
Thank you for reading, and for supporting our campaigns.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders






Re-elect an Independent Socialist! Fundraiser for Kshama Sawant Boston Socialist Alternative

Boston Socialist Alternative<boston@socialistalternative.org>
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What: Fundraiser for Kshama Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative and Seattle city councilor
When: 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 27
Where: Doyle's Cafe, 3484 Washington St, Jamaica Plain
Who: Speakers will include State Rep. Mike Connolly, Cambridge city council candidate Ben Simon, union activists and members of Socialist Alternative. 

Kshama Sawant is a Seattle city councilor who led the fight for a $15 minimum wage in her city, which sparked a movement that swept the country. She has fought tooth and nail in the interests of working people by building grassroots movements to win millions of dollars for affordable housing, funding for LGBTQ+ services and a moratorium on coal and oil trains passing through Seattle. She lead the charge on a head tax for big businesses including Amazon to fund affordable housing and homeless services. Kshama is a member of Socialist Alternative who ran as a political independent and accepts no corporate money. She takes the average wage of a worker in her district and donates the rest of her income to social movements.

Amazon, Comcast and other major corporations are pouring money into the Seattle City Council race to knock out Kshama because they know she and the grassroots movement of workers and students she helps build are huge threats to their massive profits. A win for Kshama in Seattle will be a win for working people across the country and an example of how we can build a similar movement in Boston!

Join us on Saturday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Doyle's Cafe in Jamaica Plain to raise money for Kshama’s campaign, and to hear from State Rep. Mike Connolly, Cambridge City Council candidate Ben Simon, and other Boston area activists on why it is important for us in Boston to help re-elect Kshama!

RSVP on Facebook here and invite your friends!

For more information about Kshama's program and accomplishments or to donate, check out her campaign page at kshamasawant.org
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Will you call voters from home? BernieSanders.com

BernieSanders.com<info@berniesanders.com>
To  Al Johnsa  

Al -
Here’s how we’re going to make Bernie our next president: by having conversations with millions of Americans, one person at a time.
And now we’re making it VERY easy for you to have those conversations with voters on your own, right from your home. It’s called the Bernie Dialer. And we’re opening it up for the first time tonight.
First up: voters in California — a state that votes early and that is BIG for us to win.
So what do you say? Can you take this important step to help Bernie win?
You must have access to a tablet or desktop computer as well as a phone. If you have all that, start making calls right now!
If you want to call later, or don't have a tablet or desktop computer right now, sign up for a shift to call when you can.
The Bernie Dialer is one of THE most important tools we have in this election. No one else has the kind of grassroots movement working day and night like we have for Bernie.
And the more voters we can talk to, the more we’ll be ready to win elections next year — so we can win this nomination, defeat Donald Trump, and transform our country.
Are you free right now and have access to a desktop computer or tablet? Call California voters right now.
Busy or not near a tablet or desktop computer? Not a problem. Sign up for a shift to call voters later.
Thanks for all you do for our movement.
In solidarity,
Claire Sandberg
National Organizing Director