“What will you do to end poverty?” A new national alliance of community and faith-based groups wants an answer to that question from public officials, delegates to the Party Conventions and this year’s candidates for public office, especially the presidential candidates. The alliance, “LET JUSTICE ROLL: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty” also will work to register, mobilize and protect voters, especially low-income voters, whose voices must be heard on policies that affect them. "LET JUSTICE ROLL" events are being scheduled in cities across the United States, beginning with Seattle, Wash., June 25-26 and will include events in Boston, Mass., and New York City concurrent with the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. This multi-city initiative is co-sponsored by the National Council of Churches and the Center for Community Change in collaboration with national, state and local partner organizations. Click here for more from the National Council of Churches.
"LET JUSTICE ROLL" Principles and Vision
Poverty is on the rise in the United States, and opportunity for most families is declining. We seek to restore hope and revitalize public policy in communities by bringing our commitment to end hunger, poverty and economic injustice to the national public discussion this election season.
We are told that uncertainty about our jobs and our future is the inevitable cost of our modern, interdependent world, and that government policies need to be less restrictive to allow American business to prosper and “lift all boats.” But we know that even a rising tide does not lift all boats. We know that our voices and energy are needed to make a positive difference in the lives of people who continue to live in poverty.
In the last three decades, economic security has declined for most workers as good jobs (jobs with family supporting wages and benefits) have disappeared. Most families now must work harder and longer to avoid falling further behind, and as a result families are struggling to balance work, raise their children and care for their aging parents. Others among us, because of age or disability, may not be able to work but deserve to be treated with dignity and to have basic needs met.
To be true to our shared values, and to reverse the course we are traveling today, we need to rededicate ourselves to advancing a collective agenda to ensure real access to opportunity and to fulfill our hopes and expectations about work, family, our communities and our future.
In Our Vision...
Everyone will have the tools to have their basic needs met regardless of income, geography, citizenship, or other condition, including
* access to nutritious food * comprehensive and affordable health care * high quality education at every stage of life * accessible and affordable housing
Everyone will have the opportunity to work, be compensated fairly, earn enough to meet their basic needs, and be treated with dignity. This requires policies that promote
* job creation * full employment * the right to organize * a fair minimum wage and a true livable wage and income
Everyone will know that families are given respect and support for their care-giving responsibilities. This includes public and workplace programs that provide
* universal access to pre-kindergarten and childcare programs * improved family and sick leave policies * support systems for those balancing the needs of young children, * elderly parents and other dependents
Everyone will pay a fair share. We advocate a progressive tax policy that rewards work and raises revenue to support needed public investments. Earned income through salaries and wages will not be taxed at a higher rate than unearned investment income.
Everyone will live in a community valued by our society. Whether one lives on a family farm, on a Native American reservation, in an urban center or in any other community, all will live in a healthy environment where affordable housing, food security, public safety and other basic needs are assured. Those who have been excluded or disenfranchised will be embraced and returned to society. Immigrants will be given a path to citizenship. Ex-felons who have paid their debt to society will be able to vote and get and hold a job.
Our vision for our nation is as close to reality as the political will to make it happen. Justice will roll down like a mighty river as good, effective public policy is brought into being.
We are mindful of current policies that require our attention, such as the efforts to fully fund the current welfare legislation, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); and to work for fundamental changes in TANF legislation, particularly around time limits, higher education opportunities, inflexible work requirements, child care provisions, and accountability of welfare programs, including tracking the impact of programs on reducing poverty rather than just reducing the welfare rolls.
We know from experience that change comes when we take history in our own hands and require our leadership to take action. The knowledge, strength and leadership of the people living the reality of poverty and injustice are essential to the integrity of this task. We will look to them for guidance as we shape a public policy that assures the well being of those living on the margins of society.
Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty is a project of the National Council of Churches Poverty Mobilization Coordinating Committee and the Center for Community Change.
“There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we now have the resources to get rid of it.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
