Poor people’s campaign

PeaceWorks and Poor People’s Campaign join in KKFI show

A Dec. 31 program on KKFI, 90.1 FM, celebrated the political activism of PeaceWorks-KC and the Poor People's Campaign (PPC), giving reasons for hope. Among the six persons interviewed, Tammy Brown, of the Missouri PPC, says in the podcast, "I was hungry. I was homeless. Somebody told me, 'Cherith Brook feeds.'" She went there for help, began volunteering, and now belongs to the PPC.

What’s wrong with this picture?

When we hear GOOD NEWS—for example, U.S. troops are coming home from Syria and Afghanistan—why is it that the news media almost exclusively report the viewpoints of those who have been managing our country’s endless wars, stating that bringing U.S. troops home is a bad idea? Where is the other side of the story? With, hopefully, troops coming home, a Senate vote to end U.S. support for the brutal Saudi war in Yemen, and a newly elected, more progressive Congress, the Peace Movement needs to seize the moment.

Poor People’s Hearing highlights poverty in Missouri

The national movement called the Poor People’s Campaign held a Poor People’s Hearing in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 10. An overflow audience heard the heartbreaking stories of an undocumented person, a Native American, a farmer, a low-wage worker, and a veteran. After each of their stories, the audience chanted, “Someone is hurting my brothers and sisters, and we are not going to take it anymore!”

Labor on: the need for unions and the Poor People’s Campaign

The work of peace in action demands justice for laborers the world over. The dominating cultural ethic in economic practice is exploitation for the benefit of an ownership class; the resistance, hard-fought, has resided in labor organizing into the collective power of unions. These protective organizations for workers remain precarious, now, perhaps, more than ever.

GI mom: ‘How are we supporting our troops when 20 vets die by suicide every day?’

At a rally, Mary Hladky asks, for example, “How are we supporting the troops when many military families need public assistance to make ends meet, while defense contractors rake in record profits?”

McDonald’s worker reflects on power—together!

Bryan Scarcella, a leader in Stand Up KC, is seeking a $15 an hour minimum wage and a union for low-paid workers. "My low pay," he said March 11 at the PeaceWorks Annual Meeting, "means not having access to health care. It means I haven't turned on the heat in my apartment for years." Both Stand Up KC and PeaceWorks are part of the Poor People's Campaign.

Renewing the Dream

The 2018 PeaceWorks Annual Meeting had a surprise guest: The Lone Ranger. He soon took off his mask, decried the American myth of redemptive violence, and—taking a tip from MLK—asked us to engage in totally restructuring American life.

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