“In 2019, poverty was the fourth-leading cause of death.” This was the data and message from Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign when he spoke at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta on Dec. 9.
The gathering met to organize a coordinated day recognizing poor people’s and low-wage workers at our State House in Augusta, to be held on March 2, 2024. Along with citizens in state capitals across the nation, it will be a call for economic justice, the major goal of the Poor People’s Campaign, originally launched by Martin Luther King Jr.
We are:
• Maine citizens experiencing poverty,
• Maine activists dedicated to our Constitution which establishes justice, and
• Maine religious leaders of all faiths dedicated to protecting the rights of the poor.
In the two years of the pandemic, from 2020 to 2022, billionaire wealth grew by $1.5 trillion. Billionaires have kept their massive tax cuts by previous administrations. Why?
In the same two years, poverty in Maine decreased by 45% because of the Child Tax Credit, the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, expanded SNAP (food stamps), and protection from evictions.
As of January 2023, Congress has not renewed this legislation and poverty is once again on the rise. Why terminate programs that provide life, a future, food, housing, health care?
As Maine citizens, we are committed to a moral agenda that calls for Congress and legislators to listen and to act.
Carole Beal
Blue Hill
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