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Your vote counts! Remember to vote Democrat Nov. 5!

October 22, 2022 - October 28, 2022 The Afro-American A5

Volume 123 No. 20–22 Volume 132 No. 49

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THE BLACKwww.afro.com MEDIA AUTHORITY • AFRO.COM

JULY 6, 2024 - JULY 12, 2024

AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

Photo courtesy of Meta (Facebook)/The Poor People’s Campaign

Poor People’s campaign co-chairs Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (center, left) and Bishop William J. Barber II share their 17-point agenda for economic, moral and voting reform in the United States. The two led thousands in the nation’s capital on June 29, as they demanded change with the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls.”

Poor People’ People’s Campaign brings fight against poverty, voter disenfranchisement to nation’ nation’s capital Initiative now underway to reach 15 million poor, low-wage, infrequent voters By D. Kevin McNeir Special to the AFRO

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When national faith leaders, including Poor People’s Campaign co-chairs, Bishop William J. Barber II and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, held a press conference on June 10 at First Congregational Church Sanctuary in Northwest D.C., their goal was to drum up support for the June 29 “Mass Poor People’s and LowWage Workers Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls.” The vision was realized just days ago, after thousands descended on the capital in support of economic justice and voting rights. Barber and his colleagues were not disappointed with the level of commitment and passion displayed by those in attendance on Saturday, June 29 – men and women represent-

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ing their home states that included New Jersey, Alabama, California, New York and more than a dozen others. Speakers both at the microphone and in the crowd seemed to have one thing in mind: devising and following a strategy that will force America’s political elite to take notice of the needs of the poor. “Congress can pass legislation providing $20 million for war but cannot pass a budget to house the homeless. We deserve a place to live and we will take our demands to the ballot box this fall,” said Bryant. One attendee, Patricia Bryant, shared her view in the form of a spoken word manifesto. “Dearly beloved, 140 million people are gathered here and across the nation to form a more perfect union – that man and women who struggle daily to stay alive yet pov-

“In this time, poor people, low-wage workers, religious leaders and moral advocates are bringing our voices together to tell America that we’re ready for protest and agitation in the street; litigation in the court and legislation in the suite; and we’re bringing our massive swing vote to the ballot box.” erty is the way they die,” she said. “We are strong– not weak. Our votes are our voices. The ballot box should be our choice. We will lift ourselves up from the bottom and rise. And we will demand that America give this

land of the free back to the people – to the natives – to the poor.” Similar to the first Poor People’s Campaign, a two-week initiative that began on Sunday, May 12, 1968, this year’s Campaign and March brought

hundreds of activists and concerned citizens back to the National Mall. The first march included powerful sermons, speeches and personal testimonies about the myriads of challenges faced by the poor. Exactly 56 years later, what began as a labor of love by Coretta Scott King and the Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy, following the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, continues. However, unlike in 1968, Barber and his colleagues are employing a new strategy that significantly expands the goals of the Poor People’s Campaign. Armed with a 17-point agenda, Barber said they will call on all candidates running for elected office in the 2024 general election in November to step up and answer the needs Continued on A3

Tulsa race massacre survivors call for DOJ investigation after dismissal of reparations case By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer msayles@afro.com It’s been more than a century since a White mob looted, bombed and burned down Greenwood’s thriving Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Okla., destroying one of the wealthiest African-American communities in the country. Still, no trial has been conducted, and no one has been held legally responsible for what experts consider one of the most severe instances of racial violence in U.S. history. In June, the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a 2023 decision made by a Tulsa district court judge, Continued on A3

Photos courtesy of Justice for Greenwood

Tulsa race massacre survivors Viola Fletcher, left, and Lessie Benningfield Randle are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to uphold the dismissal of their reparations lawsuit against the City of Tulsa. The centenarians have also asked the federal government to launch an investigation into the 1921 race riot.