The Rev. William J. Barber II recently said that we need “a transformative movement that not only will go to the polls but will also organize in the streets and state capitals as well.” Rev. Barber and the Rev. Liz Theoharis, national co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival, will be in Portland on Oct. 10 as part of a multi-state We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour.
M.O.R.E. stands for mobilizing, organizing, registering and educating. In launching the tour, Rev. Barber said, “This is not just a voter registration tool. This is about building power amongst poor people, moral leaders, and their allies —who vote. The tour is designed to shed light on the pain and suffering of poor and low income people whose painful living conditions are the consequence of the inter-related evils of systemic poverty, systemic racism, militarism, a bloated military budget, and environmental degradation.”
Anyone who has attended mass meetings led by Rev. Barber and Rev. Theoharis has experienced the spiritual power of their words, complemented by the freedom songs of Yara Allen, whose voice and presence kindle a palpable sense of the joy and love generated by this movement.
The powerful spirit of the campaign grows out of the leadership of people directly impacted by injustice. They join with religious and secular moral leaders in nonviolent direct action to create what the campaign calls moral fusion. Moral fusion broadens Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of the union of poor people of all races, bringing together Americans across the many lines by which we divide ourselves: race, religion, ethnicity, place of birth, class, physical ability, age, gender identity and sexual orientation.
In nonviolently transcending what divides us, the campaign shifts the moral narrative away from scolding people impacted by injustice and toward embracing them in their need. It is merciless and unjust (inaccurate as well) to blame the poor for being poor. Castigating impacted people for being impacted adds insult to injury. It is cruel, and it allows, policies and systems that perpetuate injustice to remain in place.
The poor are not sinners and poverty is not a sign of moral failure or simply bad choices. Similarly, people of color, women, and LGBTQ people are not sinners by virtue of being who they are. The sins are systemic: racism, misogyny, and homophobia.
Worn down by political corruption and moral exhaustion, we need a big shift in our consciousness. We speak about winners and losers in life as if we were all on a level playing field. Competition has brought us to the brink of destruction. Naomi Klein teaches us how the climate crisis requires that we quickly learn the value of cooperation. We must ask ourselves why we tend to think that competition is more exciting than cooperation. Cooperation is not lame. We need to celebrate cooperation — fusion — with the same enthusiasm that we invested in competition.
We may know that “war is not the answer,” but we keep going to war. Cooperation is a strong human need which history suggests we have disregarded. On the other hand, we are in need of treatment for our addiction to competition. Zero-sum thinking goes very deep.
The two-fold promise of both the Poor People’s Campaign led by Dr. King 50 years ago and the current campaign led by Revs. Barber and Theoharis remains the same: uprooting structures and systems that perpetuate blatantly immoral social and economic policies. The power to uproot these deeply rooted structures and systems is generated by a growing, transformative movement and people who vote.
The We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour began in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 16, rolls into Portland on Oct. 10. The campaign will work to unite many of the 140 million poor people and low wealth people and their allies.
If you are a lover of freedom, please forgive my presumption in saying that you owe it to yourself to experience the presence of Rev. Barber and Rev. Liz and their team as they call for a moral revival that can awaken the hearts of every American to the human suffering still increasing all around and within us.
The We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour will end in the nation’s capital on June 20, 2020, with a Moral March on Washington, the presentation of a Moral Agenda, and a Mass People’s Assembly.
People get ready, there’s a train a’coming —you don’t need no ticket, just get on board!
Rabbi Joshua Chasan is a resident of Portland. He is Rabbi Emeritus of Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington, Vermont, where he was rabbi for 25 years.
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