Four of us (2 UUSMers, Deirdre and Roberta) drove from church to Los Angeles City Hall on Monday, May 16 to join nearly 1,000 people for the western region’s mobilization tour stop of the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC). Regional rallies across the country are mobilizing for one huge convergence on Washington, D.C. on June 18, 2022. The aim is to get poor and low-income folks and their allies to vote in November and to demonstrate to policymakers the people’s need for progressive change.
Buses brought impacted people, faith leaders and moral advocates from northern California, Arizona, Oregon, Utah and Washington to demonstrate against systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality of religious nationalism. National PPC co-chairs Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis were present, leading an uplifting rally after a spirited march wound around several blocks. One of the directly impacted people who spoke was a Navajo woman from Arizona who spoke about the ravages of uranium mining and radiation poisoning on her land and people.
Our small contingent of four left the rally feeling glad we had gone. In the midst of war, racist attacks and pandemic, we agreed that being together with other enthusiastic fighters for justice was exactly what we needed to inspire us to carry on. As the PPC slogan goes, “Forward together! Not one step back!”
Roberta Frye
