[act-ma] 5/21 Poor Peoples' Campaign - Mobilize Monday @ 2 PM
Charlie Welch
cwelch at tecschange.org
Sun May 20 10:04:23 PDT 2018
*Poor People's Campaign to Challenge Systemic Racism*
*as Protests at Massachusetts State House Intensify*
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*Nonviolent Direct Action Planned in Boston,*
* Part of Wave of Protests that has Hit 35 States, Washington, D.C.*
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*Poor People, Clergy, Advocates to Demand Immediate Restoration of the
Voting Rights Act, End to Racist Gerrymandering, Reversal of State Laws
that Prevent Municipalities from Raising Wages, Immigration Justice*
Linking Systemic Racism and Poverty: Voting Rights, Immigration,
Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and the Mistreatment of Indigenous Communities
The Poor Peoples Campaign seeks to shift the moral narrative toward
engagement with and commitment to the struggles of the poor and
dispossessed.
Today we are living in a nation where systemic racism is used to deny
the humanity of people to exclude them economically, politically, and
socially. This effort relies on inflicting super-exploitation, violence,
and mass incarceration on the effected communities. Since 2010, 23
states have passed racist voter suppression laws, including racist
gerrymandering and redistricting, laws that make it harder to register,
reduced early voting days and hours, purging voter rolls, and more
restrictive voter ID laws. In 2013 the US Supreme decided to gut the
1965 Voting Rights Act.
These attacks follow a broader pattern of restricting and curtailing
democratic processes by drawing on legacies of racism to undermine local
efforts to organize for better conditions. As of July 2017, 25 states
have passed laws that preempt cities from adopting their own local
minimum wage laws. Most of these have been passed in response to city
councils passing or wanting to pass minimum wage increases.
These continued attacks on democracy are connected to a growing
scapegoating and assaults on undocumented migrants, xenophobia, and
Islamophobia. In the years following the attacks of 9/11 and amid fears
of economic insecurity, we have been led to believe that immigrants make
our society and communities less safe, threaten our culture and
democracy, and compete for our jobs and resources.
However, undocumented migrants contributed $5 trillion to the U.S.
economy over the last 10 years. They have paid many billions into Social
Security and federal taxes. They also pay eight percent of their income
in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest one percent pay just 5.4
percent. Undocumented migrants and legal residents are barred from
receiving assistance under major public welfare programs, causing
hardship for many poor immigrant families. These millions of decent
hardworking Americans who strengthen our economy and communities must be
treated with the dignity and respect due to all human beings. They
should not be used as cover for the overall assault on our lives,
rights, and living conditions.
Enough is enough! Join us for a rally on Monday at 2:00 PM.
*WHO: *Participants in Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign: A National
Call for Moral Revival
*WHAT: *Protest at Massachusetts State House demanding immediate action
to address
systemic racism and poverty
*WHERE: *William Gould Shaw / 54th Regiment Monument, Boston Common:
bottom of steps immediately across Beacon
St. from the State House
*WHEN: *Monday, May 21 at 2PM
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