Poor People's Campaign plans to bring nonviolent action to Austin
AUSTIN, Texas - The Poor People’s Campaign and its partners will continue its Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action with a rally, march, and sit-in Monday at the Phoenix office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to demand that she take action to protect democracy.
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival; civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson and Barbara Arnwine, president of the Transformative Justice Coalition, were invited by Arizona leaders to join the rally, march, and nonviolent sit-in.
They are demanding an end to the filibuster; passage of the full For the People Act; restoration of the full Voting Rights Act and a federal minimum wage of $15/hour.
Hundreds of concerned Arizonans will join the rally and march, with at least 20 intending to participate in the sit-in, including Jackson, Barber, Arnwine, Doug Moore, executive director of United Domestic Workers, Arizona State Sen. Martin Quezada, prominent local Black clergy, and community leaders, and other Arizona faith leaders.
On Moral Monday, Poor People’s Campaign activists in about 40 states will take action at U.S. Senate offices in their home states. The actions will be held at different times during the day and then can be seen in an online program at 8 p.m. ET.
Next week, the campaign and partners will hold a 27-mile march from Georgetown to Austin to nationalize the assault on voting rights happening in Texas. That will culminate in a rally Saturday, July 31, at the state Capitol in Austin, which will be followed by a march of clergy and faith leaders with poor people and low-wage workers on Aug. 2 in DC.
The campaign launched a Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action with a news conference and call-in to all U.S. Senate offices on July 12. On July 19, nearly 100 women were arrested as they protested in the streets of Washington, D.C.
The sit-in comes only days after Republican senators filibustered an initial vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal negotiated by Senator Sinema. Last month, a Republican filibuster also blocked a vital voting rights bill, the For the People Act, from passing despite the bill’s majority support.
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