From Friday, July 15th to Saturday, July 23rd, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign held its first ever Leadership School. Over 30 organizations from 12 different states joined together to share experiences, learn lessons, and exchange organizing skills to further develop our growing movement. The school was coordinated by our educational arm, the University of the Poor.
View the week long schedule
View the evening events schedule
July 23rd:
The School closed today with a graduation ceremony and many "see you laters." We will all go home fueled with enthusiasm and shared wisdom to continue the work of building this movement!
Thank you to all Bryn Mawr staff who graciously hosted us for the week. We look forward to working with you in the future.
Friday, July 22nd:
Today's theme for our morning workshop was "Leadership." We heard from many leaders of our growing movement, including Heather West of the Deaf & Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights in Ohio, Jesse Vear of Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights in Maine, Solobia of Arise for Social Justice in Springfield, Massachusetts, Ron Casanova of Artists for a Better America in NYC, and Liz Theoharis, co-coordinator of our University of the Poor.
We reminded ourselves again that we are leaders not just of our organizations, not just of our movement, not just of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. We are leaders of our country. We are the foundation of our movement and we will continue to train ourselves to fight for leadership of the poor as a social force. We feel deeper. We see further. And we will fight to make the invisible visible, to make the voiceless heard, and to have untold stories told.
This evening we viewed a great expression of our leadership: the finished product of the Media College workshop track on film making. The members of this workshop track, many of whom had never held a camera before, filmed and edited to completion, a 28-minute film about our first Leadership School in the history of the PPEHRC. Stay tuned for an excerpt of that film here on this website.
Thursday, July 21st:
Day 6 of the Leadership School found most of us physically tired, but mentally engaged. Our theme today was "Values and Morality," and our morning panel revived our spirits by bringing us good news and hope for our future. We heard from Pastor Scott Wagers and Brother Muliaga Togotogo of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry (CHAM) in San Jose, CA, Rev. Noelle Damico of the University of the Poor's School of Theology, and Ethel-Long Scott, director of the Women's Economic Agenda Project in Oakland, CA.
"We need a revolution of values in this country...a code that upholds human life, not private profits," preached Pastor Scott.
"We live in a society where our kids are taken away from us if we're forced to live in the shelter system...Are these the kinds of family values we want for our society?" "We live in a society that is killing our brothers and sisters by denying them decent healthcare...Are these the kinds of values we want for our society?" proclaimed brother Togo.
As leaders of our growing movement, we must and will reclaim the language of values that our oppressors use against us. We will continue to build a society that unites human beings in the spirit of sharing, cooperation, and economic human rights for all.
Wednesday, July 20th:
Today was our day of action! We started the day by watching the documentary, "Health Care Crisis, USA," a production by Poor Voices United in Atlantic City, NJ and the Media College of the University of the Poor. The movie opened up a large discussion and sharing of testimony about our country's failed health care system.
Fueled by our anger and memories of loss, we all traveled to the Liberty Bell to for a national health care demonstration, organized by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union.
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| pictures taken by Natashia Euler |
Visit our Main Health Care Page for more information on Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign efforts to fight for our human right to health.
We ended our day with an introduction to the Just Health Care Campaign of the Labor Party, led by Ethel Long-Scott and Michael Polson of the California-PPEHRC. Visit www.justhealthcare.org for more information on this campaign and more.
Tuesday, July 19th & Monday, July 18th:
Today's theme was "The Battle of Images." If we are to win the hearts and minds of people in our country, we must master the battle of images. Historically, art and culture have played a significant role in the development of social movements. And recently, in the success of the Taco Bell Boycott victory, the battle of images was key. PPEHRC affiliate, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers presented on how they were able to use the media and art to their advantage. Their creative use of the Taco Bell chihuahua logo and their well designed website were pivotal to the boycott success.
Our afternoon workshops featured a session on unjust child removal, an issue that impacts too many of our families in this movement, and a session on the drug war, a war that paralyzes our communities and presents a huge barrier to our organizing. No matter what barriers are thrown in our way, we will continue to organize and build this movement, led by the poor. We have no other choice.
This evening finished with a special premier of the movie "August in the Empire State" about the Republican National Convention, featuring the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. To view a trailer, visit www.rncfilmproject.com
Yesterday, we talked about why we are poor in the richest country in the world. MichaelAnn Busee of Arise for Social Justice, Janine Grantham of the Women's Economic Agenda Project, and Sandy Perry of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry shared their organizing experiences with us. Seasoned veterans, they talked of the worsening conditions in their communities and across our country.
In response to these worsening conditions, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign will be holding local and statewide Truth Commissions throughout the next year, leading up to a large, National Truth Commission in Summer 2006 in Cleveland, OH. These Truth Commissions will expose the economic human rights violations that plague our families, and shine a light on our efforts of resistance. Stay tuned for more information on the date and location of the National Truth Commission.
Sunday, July 17th:
Day two of the Leadership School featured a discussion of the question, "What is a Movement?" Many of us are young people who have never lived through a social movement period, so we must study what a social movement is and make use of the experiences of those around us. Willie Baptist, co-coordinator of the University of the Poor was featured on this morning's panel, as well as Joanne Hessmiller of the Pennsylvania-Economic Human Rights Campaign. They shared their experiences within the Civil Rights Movement and the Battered Women's Movement respectively.
We also took the opportunity to learn from the children of our growing movement today. Mark Webber, actor and son of National Coordinator, Cheri Honkala, shared his experiences of being a homeless youth, being a part of this movement in its early stages, and his continued effort to put as many people and resources as possible into our movement today. He and the other youth showed us that in this movement, children are not in the way, they are the way.
Saturday, July 16th:
Today marks the first day of our first ever PPEHRC Leadership School, coordinated by the University of the Poor. Today, we opened up with a panel on "Economic Human Rights," featuring our national coordinator, Cheri Honkala, Mary Bricker-Jenkins of the Social Welfare Action Alliance, Jennifer Jewell of Women in Transition in Louisville, KY, Kent Nemeth of the Deaf and Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights, and Rafi Rom of the PPEHRC legal committee.
Kent showed how the DDBCHR uses creative images to depict the different articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that we organize around. In the deaf community, the average literacy level is around 3rd or 4th grade, so using images and videos is the best way to engage the community. Jennifer and Mary also shared with us how using an economic human rights framework has been successful in the South.
Today, everyone chose between five different workshop tracks: art & culture, hands-on media/film making, projects of survival, community organizing, and preaching & teaching. These workshops are designed to provide in depth skills transference and capacity building.
Everyone also chose a team to work on throughout the week-long school. This school will be run collectively, with everyone playing a role, from childcare, to cleanup, to transportation, to media/web, and everything in between. Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming days.
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