Although they started as a response to the murder of George Floyd, the protests that have swept across the U.S. this past two weeks have grown beyond this.

When people saw his brutal murder and heard his dying words “I can’t breathe” it sparked a reaction in people who said, “I can’t breathe either.” As the protests continue, people are demonstrating their will to save our democracy and eliminate the systemic racism and systemic poverty that permeates American life. With its broad sweep, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us into an unprecedented national emergency. This emergency, however, results from a deeper and much longer-term crisis — that of poverty, racism and inequality and of a society that ignores the needs of 140 million people who are poor and where 700 people die of poverty every day.

Supported by the Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival (PPC) new leadership is emerging from poor and dispossessed people, paving a different way forward. We live in the richest country in the world yet deny basic human rights like affordable housing, healthcare and a decent education to millions of people. Co-Chair Rev. William Barber declares, “We deny the lie of scarcity amidst abundance.”

On Saturday, the Salisbury Circle of the PPC invites you to the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington, A Digital Justice Gathering. It will be a historic and transformative digital event across the airwaves and on the internet. History teaches us that, in moments like these, a movement of the many is necessary to force the nation into action.

Register for this event and show it is possible to come together in bold new ways. On Saturday we cry power to the nation!

Visit www.poorpeoplescampaign.org or www.june2020.org.

— Mary Walker

Salisbury