Let’s take a few minutes at the end of this year, to appreciate all we’ve accomplished and gear up for what’s next! Highlights of 2022
January - NEW LEADERS AND BUILDING OUR BASE We continue to grow our base building efforts by establishing an organizing committee in the Dane County area and strengthening our regional committees in Rock County, Milwaukee County, and North Central Wisconsin. Identifying and supporting the growth of leaders directly impacted by the interlocking injustices of poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation, militarism, and religious moral nationalism IS OUR MISSION AND OUR FOCUS! No one is coming to save us, so we must build a movement and save ourselves!
February - PROJECT OF SURVIVAL TO ADDRESS WATER CRISIS IN WAUSAU In response to the news of PFAS-contaminated drinking water in all the wells in Wausau, the Wisconsin PPC North Central regional committee launched a GoFundMe posting, raising almost $1,000 to provide water and filtered dispensers to residents who could not access it, including a delivery to a local assisted living facility serving low income, disabled folks. This project helped meet the immediate need for alternative water in the face of inaction by officials while also supporting neighbors to join and speak out about the many injustices we face in Wausau, including impacts from pollution and poverty. Laura, a life-long Wausau resident and member of the WI PPC, stated: “I feel that the public should have been made aware of this…when it was first known. I am concerned about the long term health outcomes. I am left wondering if one of my daughter's health issues could have been caused by this. I wonder how long we have been drinking, cooking with and using this contaminated water. My children and many children in the city had [and still] have their formula prepared with city water.”
March - M.O.R.E Mobilization Tour in Madison Hundreds gathered from Wisconsin and across the Midwest to march around the Capitol Square and hear from impacted folks about why they were joining the Poor People’s Campaign’s national rally in Washington D.C. in June. https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2022/03/30/poor-peoples-campaign-mobilization-tour-draws-hundreds-to-madison/ https://captimes.com/news/business/poor-peoples-campaign-madison-william-barber/article_c3d52ad7-f748-5864-b07f-ee8ec2c75bb0.html
June 18 - ASSEMBLY IN DC Hundreds from Wisconsin joined tens of thousands from 38+ states for a Mass Poor Peoples and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. From teachers to laborers, pastors and youth, Wisconsin was well represented. We heard speakers from across the United States, including Mark Denning from Wisconsin, sharing personal testimonies about their fight for justice and amazing music from the Freedom Choir. The purpose of the assembly was to make our voices heard, to push for voting rights and a Third Reconstruction to fully address poverty from the bottom up. Someone is hurting our siblings and it's gone on for far too long and we won’t be silent anymore! A special thanks to Rev. Ari Douglas, Tri-chair of the WI Poor People’s Campaign who was the State Campaign Organizer who focused on assisting WI in bringing people to D.C. Poor People's Campaign Moral March is Just the Beginning - Wisconsin Examiner: WATCH: Official Rebroadcast of #MoralAssembly2022
August - HEALTHCARE STUDY WI PPC organized and led a 5-week healthcare study with participants from across Wisconsin as well as PPC partners in other states, members of the Non Violent Medicaid Army and Put People First! PA. We came together to deepen our understanding of the for-profit healthcare system and strategies to organize for Healthcare as a Human Right leading into the Nonviolent Medicaid Army Week of Action.
September - MEDICAID POSTCARDS As part of the NonViolent Medicaid Army Week of Action, WI PPC developed a postcard action calling on President Biden to extend the Public Health Emergency Order initiated during the COVID 19 pandemic. The PHE order insured 2,000,000 Wisconsinites who would not otherwise qualify for insurance. We distributed these postcards to areas across the state, asking people to sign and send them to the White House.
October - CANDIDATE LISTENING SESSION IN BELOIT A listening session for candidates for national, state and local offices was held in Beloit and hosted by New Zion Baptist Church with speakers impacted by systemic racism, homelessness, lack of healthcare access and over-policing. Candidates were there not to speak but to only listen to these stories. Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharris, national co-chair of Poor People's Campaign, facilitated the session and joined us in a march through the streets of Beloit that coincided with actions across the country focusing on the needs of the poor and dispossessed. This event had great media coverage, expanding the reach of the event to a wider audience.
December - PLANNING FOR 2023 Building off of our healthcare study, the Wisconsin PPC has begun planning to fight for Medicaid expansion and our human right to healthcare in 2023. Join us in the new year as we proclaim HEALTHCARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT and hold power holders accountable to the fundamental right of healthcare for ALL!
Start by signing our petition to the Joint Finance Committee.
Help us step forward together in to 2023 and not one step back by making a year-end donation to support the work of the Wisconsin Poor People's Campaign.
May 2023 be a year in which justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!
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