Listen: U.S. Poverty and the ‘Long Train of Abuse’

Rev. Dr. William Barber [center] during the 3-day Poor People’s Campaign rally in Washington, D.C.

By Bob Hennelly

On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we welcome New Jersey Poor People Campaign’s delegates Rachel Dawn Davis, with WaterSpirit, and Pastor Rupert Hall from Trenton’s Turning Point United Methodist Church who recently joined nearly 1,000 other activists from over 30 states at the three-day PPC event that culminated in a lobby day in Congress.

Davis and Hall discuss the new research that was shared last week documenting poverty as the fourth leading cause of death before the COVID pandemic — contributing to 183,000 deaths in 2019 alone. Public health experts estimate that 330,000 people died during COVID because they lacked access to healthcare.

Last week’s gathering was a follow up to last June’s mass march in Washington, D.C. that was organized by the PPC under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.

This week’s show features extended excerpts from Rev. Barber’s opening remarks where he spoke about his retirement after 30 years pastoring at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, and his new position at the Yale Divinity School as the founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy. Rev. Barber also discusses his support of 1199SEIU’s living wage campaign in Connecticut, since his shift to Yale.

We also hear from Sierra Edmisten, a 28-year-old single mother of four from Nebraska who took part in the PPC’s national speak out in front of the U.S. Supreme Court where she shared her family’s history of food insecurity. 

Listen to the entire show below: