Thousands of people gathered in front of the Capitol building for the Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March to the Polls on June 29. Ahead of a contentious election year, attendees from religious organizations, social justice groups, and unions traveled from over 30 states and D.C. to call on elected officials to address poverty, according to organizers.
Despite the sweltering heat, attendees were energized as speeches by faith leaders, labor organizers, and people with lived experience with poverty rang out over the crowd. Through a sea of yellow and black signs and purple union t-shirts, onlookers could feel the energy of the moment.
“Poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in our country.” Liz McNichol, one of the tri-chairs of the D.C. Poor People’s Campaign, told Street Sense in an interview ahead of the march. “This is basically a national emergency. It’s not being addressed by our politicians and by our elected officials with any of the level of urgency that something so dramatic should be.” McNichol was referring to a 2019 University of California Riverside study that found people living in poverty have higher rates of death than wealthy or middle-class people. Speakers reiterated throughout the day that 800 people die each day as a result of poverty, according to the study.
Organizers, speakers, and attendees argued poverty is a policy choice made when the power of poor and low-wage workers is discounted. A clear theme at the assembly was generating the political will to address poverty. Nationally, the Poor People’s Campaign aims to turn out 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters for the elections in November.
“In this time, poor people, low-wage workers, religious leaders, and moral advocates are bringing our voices together to tell America that we’re ready for protest and agitation in the street; litigation in the court and legislation in the suite; and we’re bringing our massive swing vote to the ballot box,” Bishop William J. Barber, II a national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign said in a speech.
Helene Freeman traveled to D.C. the morning of the rally with fellow members from the Newark, New Jersey chapter of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants.“We need to rally the masses, there’s a bit of apathy in Newark. People are run down, they’re tired, and other people are being harvested for their votes,” she told Street Sense.
Freeman was one of many attendees who traveled to D.C. because the Poor People’s Campaign’s emphasis on ending poverty and ensuring housing for all is personal to her. She spoke with Street Sense about the difficulties of finding affordable housing in Newark, and how she hoped mobilizing people to the polls could change that.
“Public housing was supposed to be a leg up for people when it was invented. That’s not the case anymore,” Freeman said. “It’s important to rally masses. There’s strength in numbers: you can’t put us all out.”
In addition to the nationwide lack of affordable housing, the issue of homelessness brought marchers from as far as the Midwest and California. Marty Jansing, who was holding a sign that read “Being Homeless Does Not Mean Being a Criminal,” told Street Sense about his experience with homelessness — and the laws that criminalize it — in Louisville, Kentucky. Recently, lawmakers in Kentucky passed a set of laws banning street camping.
“It’s a common problem, the police essentially in Louisville — the U.S. Justice Department just came down on them last year — they would go after homeless people, any excuse,” Jansing said, referencing findings that the Louisville Metro Police Department engaged in various civil rights violations, including unlawful stops and searches of pedestrians.
Homelessness and the need for quality and affordable housing also motivated Junail Anderson, the founder of Freedom from the Streets in Minneapolis, to travel from her home state of Minnesota for the rally. Anderson founded Freedom from the Streets after seeing how other organizations aimed at helping people criminalize homelessness.
Anderson reflected on the ruling in an interview with Street Sense. “Criminalizing homelessness — you should not criminalize homelessness because anybody could be homeless at any given time,” she said.
Metric Giles, the executive director of the Community Stabilization Project, which advocates for renters in Saint Paul, Minnesota, traveled with Anderson to D.C. Also an advocate for equitable housing, Giles highlighted the need to generate political will for quality affordable housing.
“As organizers, we need to teach people to retain power through the vote. People need to know they have power through the vote,” Giles said. Centering intersectional approaches in his work, Giles also spoke to Street Sense about the overlap between housing justice, racial justice, and environmental justice — something the Poor People’s Campaign highlights in their 17-Point Agenda.
The Poor People’s Campaign has its roots in the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington, led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Much of what King fought for, including housing for all, has yet to be accomplished, Giles said.
Even against the backdrop of an almost 60-year struggle, the rally centered on the community and the hope created by collective power. Organizers handed out cold water and snacks to anyone who needed them; at one moment, everyone danced to Go-go music while singing.
“Go-go to the polls.” Throughout the rally, chants of: “We will rise. We will vote. We have power” echoed off the walls of the Capitol building experiencing homelessness lacked input from people with lived experience. The day before the assembly, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Johnson v. Grants Pass that cities could outlaw sleeping outside — the decision allows jurisdictions to effectively
