Principle No. 10 of the Poor People’s Campaign, a National Call for Moral Revival: We will do our work in a nonpartisan way. No elected officials or candidates get the stage or serve on the state organizing committee of the campaign. This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican, but about right and wrong.

By Carol Pomeroy

Poverty has no color.

It has no gender, religious affiliation or ethnicity.

People affected by poverty can be of any race, any gender, have any religious affiliation or none at all and be of any ethnicity. The Poor People’s Campaign advocates for all people and does not let political affiliation become a platform for anyone’s personal agenda.

When we remove political identity such as liberal, conservative, right, left, Democratic or Republican from the conversation, we can focus on real issues.

We will not let political discord cloud the reality of unjust criminalization systems that exploit poor communities and communities of color.

We should acknowledge that lifting people out of poverty, raising the minimum wage to a livable wage, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, and addressing systemic racism not only helps those who are affected by it but lifts up the whole community as well.

This should never be about one’s political affiliation but about what is right and wrong.

More information can be found on the Poor People’s Campaign website, poorpeoplescampaign.org.

Carol Pomeroy is a member of the Salisbury Circle of the Poor People’s Campaign.

Editor’s note: This article was updated Sunday, Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. to correct the name of the author to Carol Pomeroy. It was previously attributed to an incorrect person. We apologize for the error.