Dear friend,

This Friday is the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While organizing with sanitation workers in Memphis, tenant activists in Chicago, hungry children in Mississippi and others, he said something powerful that we can learn from today.

“There’s nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way. Or, when a man is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed. There is a fire raging now in this society. We need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved.”

Power concedes nothing without a fight, and power concedes nothing without a demand. Thank you for joining us in ignoring the red lights of authoritarianism, oligarchy, transphobia, billionaire bubbles, the militarization of our communities and campuses, attacks on science, attacks on education, and attacks on freedom of speech until the emergency is solved.

We are sending you love and courage to you this week as we take action together and reject policies that harm the poor to serve the powerful. Read on to find information about taking action this month and how we can:

• Lift up our voices in song and prayer during the Hands Off! mobilization on April 5th

• Support & Share the new book by Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis & Noam Sandweiss-Back, You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty.

• Continue building spiritual homes for movement organizers within the Freedom Church of the Poor bible studies and services.

• Ground spiritual spaces with cultural resources from the movement to end poverty.

• Keep our hands on the project of organizing amongst the poor through a recent interview with Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis

You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take,

The Kairos Center

Hands Off! Mass Mobilization Resources

We’re joining the massive nationwide Hands Off! Mobilization this Saturday, April 5! There are actions happening all over the nation. Find one near you and get involved! We're also honored to share resources compiled and created by organizers from the Kairos Center in collaboration with Hands Off!

April 5th - Social Justice Summit at Stony Point Center featuring Rev. West McNeill

Stony Point Center is gathering organizers from across New York State to cross-pollinate, plant seeds, and grow roots with a community of leaders working to make the world more just for everyone. The Kairos Center’s very own Rev. West McNeill is the keynote speaker!

April 8th - Book Launch! You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take

On April 8, the Kairos Center invites you to a powerful evening of song, storytelling, and spirit-filled organizing as we celebrate the release of a groundbreaking new book by Rev. Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back: You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty. This book weaves together the struggles and victories of our movement’s history, offering a roadmap for navigating today’s urgent crises.

April 8th - Kill The Cuts

By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy. On Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 higher education workers across the country are standing up and demanding NO cuts to education and life-saving research.

Every Wednesday & Sunday: Lent 2025 with Freedom Church of the Poor

Join us for Freedom Church of the Poor bible studies and services during the 2025 Lenten Season! We read and study the Bible from the perspective of the organized poor. From the view of the unhoused, the excluded and the left out; those who have been devalued, dispossessed, and violated by the systems and structures of our world, but who refuse to allow this system to have the final word and continue in a commitment to fight for the world God intended, a world of abundance where all thrive.

The lyrics were first re-written by Owen Rogers from Picture the Homeless during their Potter’s Field Campaign—an effort that sought to expose how the dignity denied to unhoused people in life is also denied in death, as many are buried in mass, unmarked graves with no place for loved ones to visit.

Our brand-new social justice stoles are beautifully designed and hand-printed by David Solnit. Each stole is a unique, handmade piece, and may include slight imperfections that reflect the artisan process. Crafted from high-quality satin, these 72-inch stoles will make a striking and meaningful addition to any event, service, or protest.

Nonprofit Quarterly: Countering Criminalization: The Vital Role of Organizing Against Homelessness

For the past 20 years, the Kairos Center has been part of a network of grassroots organizing led by the poor to end all poverty as they seek to bridge religious leaders and poor people across racial lines. “A lot of what Kairos has done over the years,” Theoharis explains, “has been to build the network and capacity of grassroots leaders making a difference for themselves and their communities while at the same time shifting the narrative in the country about who is poor and why people are poor.”