The Path to Becoming a UUCB Poverty Abolitionist
EDUCATE, ADVOCATE, ACT
By Connie Loftman
Many of you have followed the footsteps to our table in Fellowship Hall and several have signed up to join our movement or receive more information.
For those who haven’t: what are we about? We are Bloomington UUs who came together in a book discussion group organized by the Bloomington Multi-Faith Alliance, Faith for Racial Equity. For several weeks we read and discussed chapters of Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond. In the first few chapters, Desmond lays out the grim details of poverty in America and why it seems so hopeless. Then, in each chapter he dissects one of the institutions of poverty and shows how it can be dismantled. As we read, met, and discussed, we realized that we could not sit back and watch while many millions of Americans, including more than a million Hoosiers, live in poverty with no hope for the future. Thus, we formed Poverty Abolitionists.
We are also looking for ways to coordinate our efforts with other local groups with similar aims. Many of us also belong to one or more of the UUCB Task Forces. Because poverty impacts each of these areas, our efforts are endorsed by several Task Forces, and we help promote some of their events and activities. People living in poverty are keenly affected by unfair or unjust policies due to the intersectionality of poverty.
What are we going to do about it? We are trying to learn about the extent of poverty in Monroe County and the State of Indiana. How can resources be shifted to make a positive difference in the lives of those living in poverty? We also believe in action. By the time this Perspectives is published, several of us will have rallied at the Indiana Statehouse on March 2 with the Indiana Poor People’s Campaign, an affiliate of Reverend William Barber’s national campaign. There we will deliver a packet to every Indiana legislator, outlining our demands for:
- Abolishing poverty as the 4th leading cause of death in the US
- A living wage ($15+)
- Full voting rights
- No more voter suppression
- Worker's rights and labor rights
- Healthcare for all
- Affordable, adequate housing
- An end to gun violence, profit and proliferation
- Clean air & water
- Environmental justice
- Fully-funded public education
- Just immigration laws
- An end to systemic racism, white supremacy and the extremist political agenda
To find out what our next action is, follow the footsteps to our monthly table in Fellowship Hall. Meanwhile, please read Poverty, By America, available at the UU Book Table in Fellowship Hall, at a 20% discount.
We hope you will join us in this campaign. Contact Connie Loftman using this form to be added to our UUCB POVERTY ABOLITIONIST email list.