Dr. King planned a Poor People’s March on Washington for the spring of 1968, in an effort to unite the poor, and gain political power for them. He was assassinated a month before the march. His grieving widow — Coretta Scott King, a graduate of Antioch College — helped lead the march, but in many ways, the PPC movement died with him.
>> READ MORE: Coretta Scott King attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs
Fifty years later, the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, has been revived by another southern minister, Rev. Dr. William Barber II. Like Dr. King before him, Rev. Barber believes that systemic poverty, racism and militarism are interlocking injustices keeping the poor oppressed. With the renewal of the PPC, Barber added ecological destruction and religious nationalism to the list of intertwined injustices.
Credit: Paul Becker
Credit: Paul Becker
Rev. Barber said despite the fact that economic disparity is growing, with 140 million Americans living in poverty, the word “poverty” is rarely used in our political discourse. The “middle class” tends to get all the attention, he says. To change the narrative during this year’s presidential election, Rev. Barber launched the "We Must Do MORE" national tour to run through the presidential primary season, leading to a Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on the nation’s capital on June 20th. Dayton was selected as the only Ohio stop on the 25-state tour.
>> READ MORE: Pink jackets and a yellow coat taught me about poverty
While Dayton is certainly accessible with interstates 70 and 75, that’s not the only reason the city was selected. Between the KKK rally, tornadoes, mass shooting and a history of racial and economic segregation, Dayton has experienced first-hand the very interlocking injustices the movement seeks to shine a light upon.
Credit: Paul Becker
Credit: Paul Becker
Rev. Barber, along with his co-chair Liz Theoharis, planned to lead the Dayton “Moral March & Mass Meeting” on Thursday April 23, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church on South Broadway Street. Community organizers here in Dayton, and across the state, worked tirelessly to plan the event.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the entire PPC tour had to be canceled, including the Dayton and Washington, D.C., marches. In fact, the entire concept of the movement has had to be re-imagined. Leaders have pivoted, and taken the movement online, with a virtual event scheduled for June 20th.
“We are transforming,” Mary Aguilera, the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign co-chair, explained. “Hopefully the June 20th event will be the largest digital mass meeting ever. We are trying to lift up all these issues, especially now with the health crisis, when a large percentage of the country now is living the life that people in poverty live every day.”
>> READ MORE: Local accountant Estelle Gibson’s financial independence message goes national
Credit: Paul Becker
Credit: Paul Becker
“It's been pretty stunning to see those miles and miles of Americans waiting for food from food pantries, and a lot of them have never been to a food pantry ever before,” Aguilera said. “I think people are understanding we need to have social safety nets.”
Whether people are experiencing poverty for the first time, or have been poor throughout their lives, PPC leaders are encouraging all to unite online on June 20, 2020 to make their voices heard. "So many Americans seem to be voiceless because they're not wealthy. They don't have lobbyists," Aguilera said. "They're not the people who have spare time between taking buses to their three jobs to be writing Congress."
Collectively, the campaign wants legislators to enact living-wage laws, a single-payer health-care system, equity in education, an end to mass incarceration, and the protection of the right to vote.
How to participate
The Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington is a 2.5 hour program that will be broadcast on Saturday, June 20th at 10 a.m and 6 p.m. EST, and again on Sunday, June 21, at 6 p.m. EST, at June2020.org.
To learn more about the PPC, visit poorpeoplescampaign.org
>> READ MORE: Poor People's Campaign eyes 'virtual march' in poverty fight
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