Poor People's Campaign
Toward the last days of his life, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., having seen that the new civil rights laws were not having much of an effect on material well-being of African Americans, turned his attention to economic reforms to benefit all groups of people in financial distress regardless of race or ethnicity. After his assassination, Ralph Abernathy took over leadership of plans for a march and encampment in Washington during the spring and summer of 1968.
Unfortunately, in the wake of problems at the Resurrection City camp on The Mall and setbacks in the leadership of the movement in the wake of the assassinations of Rev. King and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, as well as negative impacts from the Chicago National Democratic Convention demonstrations that summer, the movement largely fell apart.
Fast forward to the present, and a new Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival led by the Revs. William Barber II and Liz Theoharis has taken up the mantle of the late 60’s efforts. The new movement grew out of the Moral Monday protests in North Carolina. It has a broad range of anti-poverty objectives which, according to the New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb, include "federal and state living-wage laws, equity in education, an end to mass incarceration, a single-payer health-care system, and the protection of the right to vote."
The Unitarian Universalist Association teamed up with The Poor People’s Campaign to sponsor a march on Washington in December, while in Texas, Texas UU Justice Ministry and local UU’s have been involved in Poor People’s Campaign actions, including a multi-day march last summer to the state Capitol against the further restrictions of voting rights. Side with Love, a UU human rights campaign, is also working closely with the campaign.
Like collaborations at the local level, social justice alliances amplify our work on the national level. As the nation turns its eyes toward Texas, they also support our work at the state and local level.
Find out more about the Poor People’s Campaign at https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/ For more on Side with Love, visit their website, https://sidewithlove.org/
Confronting our Racism Group and MLK Day March and Rally
POSTPONED DUE to COVID: CORG will be sponsoring a screening of the critically acclaimed film, Judas and the Black Messiah with an introduction by actor Melvin Bowser, a cast member and Bryan native. This historical drama is based on the infiltration of the Black Panther Party by the J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI in the 1970’s.
On Saturday, January 15th, from 3-5 PM, also at First United Methodist in College Station, CORG is sponsoring a Race and Faith Forum. This will include faith leaders from a range of local religious congregations, making introductory remarks then answering questions. This is planned as a hybrid event, in person and streaming.
On Monday, January 17th, UUCBV Members plan to participate in the annual community MLK Day March and Rally. Please watch the E-Cast and announcements for more information.
Tiny Hope Village House Sponsorship
Tiny Hope Village is a project to construct tiny homes along with support facilities for homeless individuals at a site outside Hearne, Texas. To raise funds and become the sponsor of one of these homes by purchasing appliances, we will be dedicating the January through March Split-the-Plate proceeds to this cause. We also plan some sort of fundraising effort during this period since we will need $1,391 for this effort.
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