4. VISITS TO HUNDREDS OF HOUSE & SENATE OFFICES, WHITE HOUSE
The Rev. Theoharis opened the second day by framing the action that would take place later in the day on Capitol Hill. Then Attorney Shailly Barnes and the Rev. Kazimir Brown, co-policy directors of the Campaign, taught the entire Congress and all watching online the contents and research rationale for new state-by-state and national facts sheets produced in conjunction with the Institute for Policy Studies.
Hundreds of poor and low-wealth state leaders, advocates and faith leaders from over 30 states then visited hundreds of Senate and House offices on both sides of the aisle to demand lawmakers use their power to address poverty, which kills more people every year than homicide, but gets significantly less of the attention from politicians.
And on Wednesday, some of our state leaders joined the Repairers of the Breach Moral Movement delegation of poor and low-wealth people, advocates and faith leaders on a visit to the White House, where they met with senior administration officials to demand the Biden administration address the death by poverty that is devastating our nation.
5. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF POVERTY IN YOUR AREA
In 2023, once again, the Poor People’s Campaign, Kairos Center, Repairers of the Breach, and the Institute for Policy Studies are taking stock with the release of new, updated fact sheets that examine the state of poverty and inequality at the national level in the United States, as well as provide extensive data for each of the 50 states and D.C.
Read a full breakdown of key findings from these fact sheets and the actions decision makers must take to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality in our communities here.
Key fact sheet highlights include:
- Poor and low-income people make up more than 40 percent of the population in 13 states.
- As pandemic protections wind down, millions of Americans are at risk of losing their health care, including over 5 million children, 6.6 million white people, 4.6 million Hispanic/Latino people, 2.2 million Black people, and over 500,000 Asian and Native people.
- With rising inflation, average household debt rose in every state between the last quarters of 2021 and 2022, with a third of all states now having average debt burdens of $50,000 or more.
Click here to learn more about how these challenges impact your community or here to read our most recent opinion piece on what comes next.
We look forward to building on the momentum from Congress in the months ahead. For too long, we, the 140 million poor and low-wealth people of this nation, have been left out of our nation’s abundance. Until this nation invests its great riches towards those living at the bottom of our society, those who have been discarded and left out, we cannot be silent. When you lift from the bottom everybody rises.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back,
Bishop William J. Barber, II
National Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign, President & Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
National Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign, Director of Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice
Roz Pelles
Senior Strategic Advisor, Poor People's Campaign, Assistant Director for Student Engagement and Lecturer at the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at the Yale University Divinity School