Dear friend,
This summer, the empire is on full display: bombs and budgets that kill, jails built for the poor, and politicians that worship power over people. But our people are rising up with faithful resistance. In this issue, we lift up veterans speaking out against war, communities organizing for housing over handcuffs, and a growing chorus of voices declaring the sacredness of trans lives. This is the work of Jubilee—where protest becomes prayer, and justice becomes possible. |
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In this issue: Calls to action: homeless criminalization, trans lives, war, & medicaid cuts. Organizing & Book Tour: upcoming stops in Kansas. New Freedom Church Season: Jubilee! In the News: podcasts and a featured article in one of the most prestigious medical journals.
We declare Jubilee, The Kairos Center team |
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One year since Johnson v. Grants Pass |
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One year ago, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Johnson v. Grants Pass that cities can jail or ticket people who have no choice but to sleep outside. Since the ruling last year, 250 anti-homeless, anti-survival bills have been introduced across the country. Most Americans are closer to being homeless than they are to being a billionaire. 60% of Americans cannot afford the basic costs of living, and half struggle to pay rent. When rents go up, so does homelessness. We need proven solutions like housing and healthcare, not handouts to billionaires and handcuffs for the poor. |
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Support Trans-Affirming Faith in These Perilous Times |
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Freedom Church of the Poor is collecting signatures for an open letter affirming the dignity and divinity of trans and nonbinary people. Please read and share with your faith communities before Aug 1st! |
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“We commit to care for our people, celebrating the divine image in every queer and trans body, and commit to building a movement that transcends division and takes aim at the real forces of oppression.” |
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How the “Big Beautiful Bill” will impact you. |
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The federal budget proposals being negotiated in Congress threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans and people living in this country. We’ve compiled 9 critical resources that break down the impact of the federal budget on your state and local communities to help us organize through these crises. |
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Common Defense: No more forever wars |
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Common Defense, the nation’s largest grassroots organization of veterans and a close partner to the Kairos Center, is organizing against the militarism of the Trump administration:
“The government is reusing the same lies they told about Iraq to justify an invasion of Iran. The American people will pay for these lies. We cannot sacrifice our brothers and sisters for the interest of corporations and foreign actors.” |
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Fund Medicaid, not War with the Nonviolent Medicaid Army |
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The Nonviolent Medicaid Army (NVMA) is coming together for support, survival and strategy with ALL whose families have been harmed and killed by this healthcare system that puts profit over our health and lives! Join the monthly national organizing call! |
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Kansas, here we come! Register now. |
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Next week, July 8th, 9th, and 10th, the You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take book and organizing tour is coming to Topeka, Wichita, and Kansas City, KS. We cannot wait to join you for convenings full of song, testimony, and organizing grounded in the lessons from the movement to end poverty. RSVP below! |
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Jubilee with Freedom Church of the Poor |
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The season of Jubilee at the Freedom Church of the Poor continues in July. This month will feature in depth Biblical reflection from key leaders in our movement family as well as the sharing of sacred stories about how we were drawn into the movement. Worship service, every Sunday at 6pm ET. Bible Study, every Wednesday at 6pm ET. |
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Journal of the American Medical Association: Expanded Child Tax Credit, Family Health, and Material Hardships. |
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This illuminating study, jointly authored by Kairos’s Director of Research and Policy Shailly Barnes, explores the relationship between the expanded Child Tax Credit and anxiety, food insecurity, housing instability, and falling behind on rent. They find that the expanded CTC supported families’ mental health, food security, and housing stability during a time of increased material hardship in the US.
JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) is a prestigious, peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It features original research, reviews, and editorials on clinical medicine, public health, and health policy. JAMA is known for its high-impact studies and is one of the most widely cited medical journals in the world. |
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The World in Black and Red: You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take |
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Join Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back to discuss what it means to be a poor people's movement, how God is already at work among the poor, and how a movement led by the poor has truly revolutionary power. |
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Impolite Company with Shailly Barnes |
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Tune in on July 6th as Shailly Barnes as she joins Rev. Matthew Best on his podcast: Impolite Company. They will discuss projects of survival, contextualizing individual struggles, and the deep ties between faith communities and the poor. |
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