Below is a Guest Blog from Becca Forsyth, leader with the New York State Poor People’s Campaign & Freedom Church of the Poor.
August 2, 2024
By Becca Forsyth
New York State Poor People’s Campaign & Freedom Church of the Poor
(Photo: members of the NYS PPC sitting in front of the District Courthouse Constitutional Ave N.W. Washington, DC June 29, 2024)
You heard in the Poor People’s Campaign for months that there was to be a meeting in DC and we were all invited. Hell yeah, my local comrades and I said we want to be in that number. We’ve been in this number for far too damn long. We are among the more than 135 million poor people in the richest country in the history of the world. We declared our right to live on this historic trip to the meeting. We brought 30 people from Rochester and Elmira to proclaim a resurrection, a reconstruction, a new creation at the 2024 Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington DC and to the Polls!
In this article, I’ll outline how we prepared for the trip and introduce the people who rode the Upstate NY bus, some of the speakers, the national leaders who showed up in force and those we miss terribly who should have been with us. The news stories we learned about during the trip and the pain we experienced reinforced the critical nature of our work. I’ll close by using these lessons to reestablish the need for the work we do and why we gotta win!!
Preparing for the Trip
The state team spent a month before the event, building budgets, voting on expenditures, negotiating healthy and popular snacks for the trip, and figuring out how many granola bars, rice crispy treats, chips, popcorn, and cases of water we would need to ensure everyone was comfortable and equipped for a powerful day. We coordinated passenger lists and had a $30 per diem available for every rider to make sure they could get essentials in DC. We arranged the hotel room for the bus driver to rest the regulated 8 hours between trips. We arranged a substantial tip for the driver that we agreed was important as a way of honoring and respecting the hard work of the blue-collar working guy who was already overworked and underpaid. There was so much communication needed to ensure that everyone knew where and when to get the bus and how to get back. We had resources on hand to counsel the riders on the principles of nonviolence and the substance and alcohol policies that would help regulate our time together.
Meet the Bus Riders
Our bus truly illustrated our fusion movement, with riders who were young and old, Black and White, from all walks of life, a beautiful blend of humanity. Five sixths were people of color. Almost half were youths under the age of 18. They were from all over Upstate New York.
On the bus were:
Tanisha Logan Lattimore, her husband and her sons from Elmira. When Tanisha speaks, she echoes 1960s Black Freedom leader Fannie Lou Hamer, saying, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am the mother of eight Black men!” She instantly shows that her American experience is qualitatively and quantitatively different from that of a white parent. It warms hearts to see her raising her children in the movement. They know the songs, love the chants, and you can’t pull signs out of their hands. Tanisha’s whole family supported her when she did civil disobedience with the Campaign a few years ago. We are grateful for her leadership and revolutionary mothering. These men will truly be powerful leaders, there is no question.
Rev. Angela Bamford came from Rochester with stories of the inspiring work she has done and continues to do in prison and jail ministry and restoration around the country. She lives with the principles and compassion of a trauma-informed warrior for her community. We helped her to navigate the trip with her wheelchair, reminding us again and again that we live in a truly ableist society that needs to see her beauty and humanity.
(Picture of the Eastern Southern Tier/Rochester/Syracuse team at Union Station, Washington, DC, June 29, 2024)
Brionna Dunn of Rochester and her three beautiful children, aged 3, 5, and 10 were also on the bus. Watching these children twirl and dance and explore and question was incredible. Brionna is a strong, young Black woman who led these children along with Rev. Angela with love, patience and intention. Ray Barber, also from Rochester, brought his son as well. It was a family environment from the minute we stepped on the bus.
Amelia Bittel, an organizer for the medical campaign for Citizen Action, People’s Action and New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN). She champions the rights of the disabled and low income folks being kept out of important conversations and sees so many ways the interlocking injustices oppress everyone, but not in the same way. She shared several experiences she has had that show that, again, the empire has no intention of making this job any easier.
Heather Townshead from Newfield brought a ton of experience championing for many causes and constantly caring for others, providing personal care services, babysitting, providing rides, she is always there to offer a hand to anyone who needs it.
Tim Wolcott from Binghamton represented his congregation of Unitarian Universalists. Tim was with us in October of 2017 when Bishop Barber visited the United Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, New York. He has built a collective within his UU congregation who are faithful to the principles and demands of the campaign. It blows my mind to see the ways that that visit to Binghamton seven years ago shaped the vision and drive of the Eastern Southern Tier region of the New York State Poor People’s Campaign. When the Campaign held its march on Wall Street in 2022, most of the speakers and organizers could tie at least a part of their history to that event, and now we see it again as Tim joins us at the big meeting and brings with him in his bones his community. This is how we grow.
We brought a group of folks from Binghamton that we met through a radical and powerful group of community organizers I’ve had the privilege to see in action for a few years now and they never stop short of truly revolutionary. “That group from Binghamton” created the 420 Smoke Weed in front of the Binghamton Police Department Annual Festival. The year that New York legalized public consumption , these folks literally threw a party, cordoned off the street, brought in food vendors, a DJ, and room for plenty of cannabis products, some presenting affiliated products.
Importantly, they had tables of political education materials to help us understand that not only is it perfectly legal for us to smoke weed in front of the police department, it’s also revolutionary. They explore the drug war history and the way it targets Black and Brown bodies. They offer narcan training and give away free supplies and fentanyl test strips. They teach us that it is us that keeps us safe. We spent years being terrified by Johnnie Law (well, I did anyway). It was important that, as a middle-aged White woman with very low risk, I participate and party with them. If I don’t help to tear down the false narratives affiliated with this plant, what hope do the marginalized and criminalized populations have? If we don’t have the courage now, who will? That’s a big thing I’ve learned from them…and the message continued through our experience this weekend as well.
The work they do to raise awareness and safety around substances, it’s important to remember that this is entirely separate from the tireless hours they put in feeding their houseless community and how much that work benefits from this work. We feed each other, as they are keen to remind me. They teach us the way to use foundational mutual aid instead of fake and weak charity models. They are viewed as radical and extreme, “because yeah, we smoke weed but it’s the political education and community building that the Empire is so afraid of”! That’s why they get targeted, arrested, and harrassed. Truth comes with a heavy cost sometimes. I’m so glad that they were counted in this number and I’m so grateful to count them among our family.
Moving into the Space
We arrived at the event a few minutes after it had started but we were able to pretty easily find a shady place to park most of ourselves. We were able to see the giant screens that broadcast the event for those of us who weren’t right up front. The sound system was also incredible. We were able to hear just about all of the speakers and presenters while also being close to the water truck and restrooms. Chants and hoots and hollers spread from the stage to the blocks and blocks of participants.
We saw in action one of our founding principles. The speaker is poor and tells you the true story of their poverty, its causes and its consequences in lived experience, the plight, fight and insight. At no point do we dishonor their truth. We ensure that they have the loudest microphone available blasting to all of us who need to hear these stories. The media aspect of the event was awe-inspiring as well as value instilling. We felt heard and seen on that stage and for that I am ever grateful.
We saw tents for folks like Roland Martin. One of our members had the chance to tell Roland that they wanted him to run for office. Without missing a beat, Mr Martin replied “I’m sorry, I don’t do pay cuts!” Great stuff!! It truly felt like a community.
The Speakers on Stage
The speakers for the event were powerful folk from all walks of life, showing our power of reflecting the faces of this nation. For example, Pam Garrison is a mighty, mighty warrior from West Virginia, the third poorest state in our nation. She spends her life and energy fighting the injustices of her state, the poverty, the lack of education, lack of housing, lack of dignity and respect while reminding us that it’s not our fault. She showed us how the veil of the lie of scarcity was pulled back for an instant. She explained that when the COVID $300 stimulus checks were distributed monthly, half of our children were lifted out of poverty for a blip of a second. This is how we know that it’s possible and that we really could provide for all if we just had the political will. It’s just cruel to remove those safeguards and safety nets. She is mad as hell, and so am I!
Rev. Dr. Savina Martin of the National Union of the Homeless showed us the bald face violence of the Johnson vs Grant’s Pass decision that intentionally criminalizes not having a home. She is a veteran who has first hand knowledge of the violence of being homeless. She defied us to go back home and organize, organize, organize. This legislation where municipalities can make laws against being homeless is being duplicated across the country. They won’t stop pushing the homeless and vulnerable until there is nowhere to go. She demanded that we move forward together, not one step back!
Joyce Paskewich Kendrick is a member of the Ohio coordinating committee and she shared the heartbreaking story of losing her husband, Jeff Kendrick, way too early, at 56 years old, because of the lack of a co-pay. They didn’t have the $35 co-pay to receive emergency services so they were told to go home and wait for Monday to be seen. In the richest country in the history of the world, her husband died of a blood clot in his leg because they couldn’t afford $35. It’s not ok, he should be here with her! She shouldn’t be a widow. Jeff Kendrick, say his name, Jeff Kendrick. God Bless Joyce, we pray that Jeff rests in the arms of the ancestors as we carry on the fight in his and your names.
Wendlser Nosie, of the Apache Stronghold reminded us that the indigenous nations are the first chapter of this country and we can’t do this without them and they can’t survive without us. He has been fighting pipelines that the US has tried and tried to lay across his sacred lands. He was calling out colonization and capitalism and reminding us of the abundance and beauty this land held before the settlers came. He reminded us that 90% of his people have been erased from the face of the earth, but they are still there, we are still here, and we need to come together to survive. We are all of the same tapestry of humanity and we have to find a way to develop unity and love.
Teresa Lewellen, Episcopal deacon, from VA, reminded us that Jesus told us to love one another, to feed the hungry, and to stand up to the empire to eradicate hunger. Her faith instructs us to care for the poor, house the homeless and walk the walk. She reminded us that we are held to these standards regardless of who the people are, what they look like, where they come from…these things don’t matter if you are looking through a moral lens. She believes that we are all made in the image of God so we don’t get to pick and choose who sits at the table.
One of the most powerful speakers, Rev. Alvin O’neal Jackson, who is the National Convener of Faith for the Repairers of the Breach, brought with him the spirit of Frederick Douglass who said, “I prayed for my freedom for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs!” He reminded us of the woman from scripture who cried to Jesus to heal her daughter, she had to holler. He asked us if we knew how to holler and it felt damn good to let out that holler! He reminded us of how important it is to stand and holler now and today. He delivered a prophetic call to action!!
Rev. Carolyn Foster of the AL Poor People’s Campaign said that folks back home love to sing the song, Sweet Home Alabama but her story isn’t so sweet. Her state has refused to raise the minimum wage, refused to expand Medicaid, and took $400,000,000 in COVID relief money to build three mega-prisons, which is not so sweet. She said it’s not only wrong but an insult to her faith. A woman who has truly spent her life trying to improve the lives of the poor Alabamans and break these systems of injustice to make sure they are free again.
Celebrating Leaders around the Country
The speeches, chants and songs were all so powerful but there was an important element to this and every mass event we’ve had in the years of the campaign. It was such a freeing feeling to go around the event, hugging comrades from near and far. It is so rare that there is such an incredible convergence of movement power in one place. It was just so much love and liberation and righteous anger melding into a beautiful new creation, a resurrection.
Some of the Attendees:
Linnell Fall, a trichair for the MD Campaign was there. She and I enjoy Morning Prayer online every weekday morning but it’s rare that we get to see each other in person. Katie Thiessen is an inspiration from the Lutheran Deaconess Movement who demonstrates how to be the hands and feet of God on this earth through their selfless work. Patty Saling with the National Union of the Homeless introduced us to the new folks they brought with them from Indiana … .always growing the team and preaching the good word!
Jennina Gorman and her children from the Put People First! PA team were counted in the number as well. She has taught us much about the struggles of indigenous mothers in this country still today. Her loving instincts were on full display in her children as well. Joey, her son, assisted some people with wet Nonviolent Medicaid Army bandanas, getting them drenched in cold water for relief from the heat. We keep ourselves safe. Thank you to Jennina, Liam, Joey, and Elyse, for the illustration of putting love into action.
ana lara lopez, from Freedom Church of the Poor was present. She and Becca are involved in partnership as a part of the TIDEL Fellowship (Technology, Innovation, Development, and Engagement Lab) developing a new system of subtitles to assist in translation to multiple languages simultaneously for Freedom Church of the Poor congregations. She is a blessing in so many ways, teaching people about her Guatemalan heritage and homeland and the way the interlocking injustices extend over land and sea. She reminds us that it doesn’t have to be this way!!
(Picture of the NYC/La Iglesia del Pueblo team in front of the stage at the event in Washington DC, June 29, 2024)
Some members of La Iglesia del Pueblo from NYC were also in attendance, like Arelis Figueroa and Raquel Irizarry of the NYC team who beamed with love and liberation. They didn’t sit long as they traveled right up to the front of the event. They brought a team of people with them and flowed freely through the crowds. It’s always such a joy to see them in community.
Tammy Rosing of the National Union of the Homeless, Put People First! PA, and the Poor People’s Campaign was there. She was able to bring several comrades from the homeless shelter she works at so they could feel the collective power and energy of an event like this. The very next night, they had to go home to mourn the closing of that shelter, the very last homeless shelter in Lancaster County PA. Where will they go? How will they survive? Today there isn’t an answer but people like Tammy are out there trying to figure it out.
A few members of the NYS team gathered together to discuss the event. Author and educator, Michael Zweig and organizer from Candor, NY, Jake DeLisle analyzed and discussed the different issues that came up and how things were communicated. There was such a deep bench of knowledge of history and language and how it all fits together.
Mariana Pineda, a sibling in struggle from Long Island shared that on the way home, her son, Max, told her that he didn’t want to be a part of the Poor People’s Campaign because “being poor sucks!” He wants to join the Rich People’s Campaign. This is where we show revolutionary parenting. She explained to him that although we are poor, we are indeed rich, with love and support from the movement family. Imagine his perception of that after having spent the day in community? This is how we break the generational cycles and build new ways.
The People Who Weren’t There
One of the speakers asked us to recall someone who should be there with us, but because of the violence of this system that eats our people, they aren’t here. It was important for us to feel the electric energy of the collective mourning and the strength of all of our stories and pain. It’s been said that grief has to go somewhere. We can send it out into the universe together and build a new creation together.
A dear friend and sister, was remembered. Loretta Hamilton Gleckner, a friend who was a friend before this writer knew what friends were. She isn’t here because we don’t know how to treat substance abuse problems and her community in particular hasn’t spent nearly enough time thinking about it. We don’t know how to show compassion and empathy for our siblings in struggle, particularly a struggle with substances. She isn’t here. She would have had a seat on this bus. She can’t because she isn’t here.
One of our passengers was Jenn Baxtron, a resident of Potsdam, NY who has a very personal reason to organize. She organizes with Black Lives Matter in the North Country, leading marches and founding a chapter in her community against racism and the rash of violence that was happening all over the country. She had recently moved Upstate and was experiencing the intense and often overt racism that still burns hot in our state. She was holding protests and was raising her voice as loud as possible, demanding accountability and encouraging her son, Terron Evans Jr to join her in Potsdam. Racial tensions were so high and there were some who didn’t want to see this work being done.
On January 8, 2021 there was a 911 call for a 26 year old male who was found deceased at his 42 year old girlfriends house. That was Terron Evans Jr Jennifer’s son. Through a long story of cover ups and misinformation, Jennifer investigated, and got on the case, trying to find out what happened to her precious son. The autopsy results didn’t support any of the information that had been given about a drug overdose. When she learned that the girlfriend was an undercover informant for the police, she started to understand why it was so hard to find the truth. Jennifer is sure that this is retaliation for her organizing work. She shares her info on all kinds of social media to get attention and help to reopen the case and find the actual truth in what happened to her son. There have been layers of corruption and cover ups to ensure that no one in law enforcement gets tainted by the perception that they could have been involved. While we were in DC, Jennifer got to meet the famed journalist, Roland Martin who took her information and will hopefully pick her story up. This is a link to a podcast that tells you more of the story. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5aFFszuiHflvp26nBkq3DC?si=5XVVJXbPQWSPe22nRFfofA&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0VMfPDdvpMj-X8ZemG7VlzPaIAJzt3Fs7PgHPXSenR7UNa1Wn9j94oEko_aem_QgztogCMHHCyaiSuDE9z5Q&nd=1&dlsi=155defc943564178
We remembered our brother, Patrick Braswell of the Rochester Homeless Union who is gone too soon. James Shearer, of the Spare Change network, we miss him so deeply every day. Pamela Sue Rush, a strong prophet from the beginnings of this work, who we had to watch the system steal from us. We remember Mama Callie’s children as we wail with her, taken too soon. We cry with Scott Desnoyers whose son Danny is gone too god damn soon for a lack of a health insurance premium payment to MEDICAID…in New York. We mourn the loss of Erro Willynd of the Nonviolent Medicaid Army and their widow, Julia, a life snuffed out by a cancer that was more profitable when they kept this powerful leader in treatment mode instead of curing the disease. There are so many examples of the system caring more about making money for the healthcare profiteers and stealing from our family.
There are many who are with us because of family members who were wronged, killed, or otherwise disposed of by the empire. Jackie Wood of Binghamton, NY couldn’t join us because of chronic health conditions but she is in this movement because her brother was killed while in the local jail. Bryce Strobridge of Elmira can’t travel with us physically but we carry him in our bones. His son was brutally killed by the police in Elmira when he had a mental breakdown. Bryce lost his wife less than a year later due to the stress and strain of watching her only son killed. Deb Davis of Elmira has seen just about every man in her family deeply impacted by the criminal injustice system in this state. Friends with chronic illnesses or mental health problems who cry for help with a stoic stone-faced reply from the system. So many examples of people we should have with us but we have been robbed by this death dealing system.
Reminders of the Critical Work
We were reminded frequently during our trip why this is so important, the coming together of representatives from across the region. We are all connected and we brought the Eastern Southern Tier with us. We heard about a tragedy in Utica, a small town within an hour of our hometowns. There was a 13 year old boy named Nyah Mway who was a refugee from Myanmar living in Utica. He was approached by police, and unsurprisingly, Nyah ran for his life. Who can condemn him, since in the land of the free and the home of the brave, immigration is criminalized, and it’s often seen as illegal to have skin color other than whyte, and we’re globally well known for unacceptable police violence? The police allege that they saw a fake gun that resembled a glock, tackled this child to the ground. Some say that as many as ten cops may have been restraining the boy when one of the officers shot him at short range.
We were shocked and horrified and reminded of the importance of organizing around the issues that impact our communities. We had time to discuss this together and think about what we saw. We can’t forget that it is us who keeps us safe. When we came home from this event, the local news was talking about the power being expressed in protests in the streets organized in Utica to cry for justice for Nyah and justice for the whole community. It was a strong reminder of the work we have ahead of us. We can enjoy the power of national events but we need to always remember that this work supports the work at home, not the other way around. It’s critical for us to keep our eyes on those in our communities. It is critical that Utica has the organizers to get the people in the streets and hopefully, this continues until we can ensure that the right of everyone to live is protected and respected.
We were also reminded of the power of the interlocking injustices and their power to destroy and eliminate us when we heard the news of a Cat one hurricane that was boiling up in the Caribbean. We know that climate change has significantly increased the temperature of the ocean and altered the jet streams so that big storms are more and more likely…and that the poor are hurt first and worst, living in the areas that are subject to catastrophic consequences from these storms. The day after the event, it was reported that not only is Beryl now a dangerous category 4, it’s the earliest category 4 on record, ever. A deadly storm roiling and now there is a congressman who wants to sound off about this being a nonbinary storm name…WHAT? This is what the system does. They want us to be quibbling amongst ourselves arguing over the gender of the death dealing storm that is barreling towards the Caribbean? Distraction distraction distraction!!
The System Makes this Hard Work
This isn’t to imply that the trip was all flower throwing and compliments. The very last thing the passengers heard from this writer was that I will never be a bus captain again. It was intense and stressful. This country we live in will never intentionally make this job of organizing easy. From the beginning of this trip, we fought with the fact that traveling from Upstate NY is incredibly hard. When compared, a map of the rail systems in Europe and a map of the rail systems in the US shows that there isn’t a mass transportation option that makes this easy. The automotive lobby early in this country managed to stifle the development of train lines here and the aging infrastructure doesn’t help things.
We had to invest way too much money in a 55 passenger bus and figure out how to share that to provide rides for folks from Potsdam, Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton and Elmira. We had to navigate a pick up schedule that started in Rochester at 1:00 in the morning with a pick up in Elmira at 3:00 AM. The bus company we booked with subcontracted the drive to another carrier. The driver was tired and several times on the way to DC we ended up riding the rumble strips on the sides of the highway.
We made it to DC about 15 minutes into the event and the driver dropped us off at the wrong place. We had to make quick arrangements since the shuttles couldn’t get to where we were. It was a challenge navigating the DC streets that were unfamiliar to me. We also had folks on our bus who were disabled, including a participant with a wheelchair. But, we made it.
We knew that our driver is required to have an eight hour break between trips so we had hoped (being dropped off at 10:00 AM) we could leave close to 6:00 PM. That departure time would have gotten us home by 11:00 PM. The traffic delayed his arrival at the hotel so now the pick up time was pushed to 7:00 PM (getting us to Elmira at midnight). However, the driver had to get back to Union Station to pick us up and the delay with the traffic meant that we got stuck waiting at Union Station with 14 tired children and a bunch of frustrated adults.
We watched the security guards at Union Station target our Black women, taking them one by one aside to complain about some activity we were involved in. Since so many of us are familiar with what frequently happens to Black Americans when they are talking with law enforcement, we were intensely vigilant. The comments were trivial and annoying, we can’t hold PPC signs in Union Station because it’s private property, we can’t sit there, we shouldn’t do this or that. It seemed that our liberating presence wasn’t absorbed by all.
We finally reboarded the bus just before 8:00 PM, surely ready for a fast trip back home. The driver again swerved and created an unsafe environment that scared so many of the participants. He missed multiple exits and a drive that should have taken five hours took seven. We arrived in Elmira at 2:30 AM at which point many of the riders that were supposed to go on to Rochester were too scared to continue. We were all so tired and frustrated and it was challenging to decide if it was right to soldier on or if there needed to be alternative plans made. The team rallied together, got the driver some coffee, expressed our concerns and the bus continued on….and everyone was delivered safely.
This happened for so many of the reasons that caused us to book this trip in the first place. This farce of a transportation system is intentionally run by folks who are underpaid, overworked, and not properly trained, driving on crumbling roads with difficult routes, encountering large spots of internet desert in the more rural parts of the country…because that all costs money. We can’t blame the driver but the series of unfortunate events that allowed for this to happen.
OH AND BY THE WAY…during the little more than 24 hours this trip took, approximately 800 Americans died from poverty, as this is the fourth leading cause of death in this country. Again, this is the richest country in the history of the world. What a shame.
It’s how the system works to keep us separated and isolated. If we can’t come together, we can’t see our collective power. If the poor can’t make it to DC to scream at our elected legislators, it makes it that much easier for them to claim that we are enjoying being destroyed by this system. If the poor can’t freely travel this countryside, why do we continue to say it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave? We shouldn’t have to be brave to exercise our rights as citizens of this country.
This Had to Be Done and WE WON’T BE SILENT!
There are so many reasons that trips like this are so important. In hindsight, all of that delay and frustration gave us the room to grow closer and learn each other’s stories. It built a stronger team with more tenacity and intention to beat this system. We proved that we aren’t the insurrection but the resurrection. We showed ourselves to be a truly new and unsettling force everywhere we went. We learned that the false narratives that circulate around us are what should be disposable. Our strength is in the display of the 4 C’s at every level of this organism. We saw leaders who were competent, connected, clear, and committed. As Bishop Barber reminded us at the meeting, the other side damn sure are organized. We better get with it and do it better. As Willie Baptist often reminds us, they aren’t going to pay us to kick their asses.
We will continue to fight. In the immortal words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true”. We will continue to not only stand, but march, rally, holler, scream and cry for justice!! Forward Together!! NOT ONE STEP BACK!!