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Missourians Invited to Join 2018 Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

Missourians from All Walks of Life Travel to Capitol to Call for a Just and Moral Agenda; Vow Historic Wave of Nonviolent Direct Action This Spring

Rally is part of a Nationwide Day of Action in 32 States and District of Columbia

 

Jefferson City, Missouri – From across Missouri, disenfranchised people, low-wage workers, clergy and moral allies will come together in our State Capitol on Monday to launch the 2018 Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. This campaign has historic roots; exactly fifty years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. launched the first Poor Campaign, shortly before his assassination in 1968.

This new effort will urge policymakers on state and federal level to examine with new urgency the current impact of systemic racism, poverty and economic inequality, militarism and ecological devastation have on communities all across Missouri. The coalition will announce that a failure to address these issues will be met this spring with six weeks of direct action.

Following the call to action, the initial delegation of the campaign will deliver a letter to key policy makers, highlighting dozens of racist voter suppression laws passed nationwide in recent years and a stark jump in income and economic inequality. They will vow to risk arrest beginning Mother’s Day if politicians fail to adopt a moral and just agenda.

The rally in Jefferson City will be one of 32 at state capitols and the U.S. Capitol Monday, marking the first nationwide action by the campaign since it launched on Dec. 4, 2017, fifty years to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others called for the original Poor People’s Campaign.

 

WHO: A broad coalition of disenfranchised people, low-wage workers, clergy and moral allies from across Missouri
WHAT: Rally to launch in Missouri at the State Capitol and in 32 state capitols, U.S. Capitol the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 5, 2017, 10:30 am
WHERE: First Floor Rotunda, State Capitol Building, 201 W Capitol Ave, Jefferson City, MO 65101

BACKGROUND:

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is the product of a decade of organizing by grassroots groups, religious leaders and others to end systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and ecological devastation. Expected to be a multi-year effort, the campaign will unite the poor, disenfranchised, and marginalized, combining direct action with grassroots organizing, voter registration, power building and nonviolent civil disobedience.