‘Poverty Is Violence!’ Thousands of Demonstrators in DC Demand Economic Justice

Led by the Poor People’s Campaign, advocacy groups and low-income individuals gathered in Washington, D.C. on Saturday to demand that policymakers “fight poverty, not the poor.”

“We are the 140 million poor and low-wealth people, standing together to declare we won’t be silent anymore,” said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the campaign. “Poverty is a policy choice and we will hold our leaders accountable.”

Fellow campaign co-chair Bishop William Barber echoed that message in a speech at the Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, which drew thousands to the nation’s capital.

Barber declared that as long as essential workers are treated like they are “expendable” during a public health crisis, as long as federal lawmakers block pandemic relief for families, “as long as we have the stealing of native lands and unjust immigration,” and as long as millions of people nationwide face hunger and homelessness, “we won’t be silent anymore.”

“Now is the time for a Third Reconstruction. We are the rejected—who’ve been rejected by the politics of trickle-down economics and rejected by neoliberalism,” he continued, sharing the history of the first two reconstructions.

“This is a movement—until children are protected; until sick folk are healed; until low-wage workers are paid; until immigrants are treated fairly; until affordable housing is provided; until the atmosphere, the land, and the water are protected; until saving the world, and diplomacy, and living in peace is more important than blowing up the world,” he added, “we won’t be silent anymore.”

The event featured testimonies from people like Vivian Henry of the Minnesota Poor People’s Campaign, who spoke of her fears about losing her Medicaid due to politicians who don’t care whether she lives or dies.

“I’m here to say that if Congress can repeatedly afford to give corporate welfare to the rich, then Congress can afford universal healthcare for all so that people don’t go bankrupt or are forced to use a GoFundMe to cover medical expenses,” Henry said. “Scarcity is a massive lie!”

Ahead of the assembly, Barber said that people were coming to D.C. “to say not only do we need a moral reset… we represent 32% of the electorate now, poor people do, and 45% of the electorate in battleground states. And it’s time for that power to be organized, mobilized, and felt in every election throughout this country.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Jessica Corbett.