Virtual discussion features those ‘on the ground doing this work’
by Darla Carter | Presbyterian News Service
Photo by Hannah Busing via Unsplash
LOUISVILLE — The latest in a series of Matthew 25 webinars provided inspiration and information about using effective strategies for eradicating systemic poverty, including banding together to build power.
Monday’s online gathering featured three main speakers: the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins of the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness (OPW), the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis of the Poor People’s Campaign, and Denzel Mitchell of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities (RISC).
Prior to the event, the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, who co-hosted the workshop with Jennifer Evans of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, explained the reasoning behind the workshop, “Matthew 25 — Community Organizing, Policy Advocacy and Movement Building.”
“We chose this topic because it is important for us to begin to lift up working models and create opportunities for the church to be conversant with those who are actually on the ground doing this work effectively,” said Johnson, coordinator of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP). “Unfortunately, conversations about addressing systemic poverty stay theoretical; it is important for those who seek to engage this work to both hear and learn from those who are doing this work so that we can actualize it and see it through.”
The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Theoharis, a Presbyterian minister who co-chairs the Poor People’s Campaign and leads the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice housed at Union Theological Seminary, noted that the workshop was taking place on the anniversary of the March on Washington in which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Sixty years later, Theoharis said, the United States still is a place where poor people are being told, “No,” such as, “No, we can’t raise wages” and “No, we can’t actually make sure that everybody has health care.”
But she believes the tide can change if people band together.
“What Dr. King talks about is from the bottom up, led by the people, bringing people together across all the lines that divide into a powerful force to be reckoned with,” she said. “If we come together, if we build alliances together, if we organize in our community together, if we advocate for policies together, then we can build the kind of compelling power to turn those no’s into yeses, and we can actually build the kind of society that is needed and that God requires of us, and so I look forward to doing that with you all and us keeping on moving forward together and not one step back, as we say in the Poor People’s Campaign.”
The second person to speak was Hawkins, who highlighted why it’s crucial for churches to be involved in politics and social justice.
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins (Photo by Rich Copley)
“We are called to be advocates, and the work that we do in New York and in D.C. is on behalf of the church so that the church’s voice can speak out for justice,” said Hawkins, who leads the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) advocacy offices: OPW and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.
“And we know that advocacy plays a major role in addressing and eliminating systemic poverty, especially for communities of color and other underserved families that have been particularly hit hard by economic inequality, even in the best of times,” Hawkins said. “And we know that U.S. poverty would be twice as high, if it had not been for the advocacy of communities of faith, pushing the government to do more.”
Some of the historical examples he cited included the New Deal, which offered immediate and permanent relief to millions suffering under the economic devastation of the Great Depression, and the GI bill, which made the receiving of a college education possible and helped to build America’s middle class. He also cited the more recent Inflation Reduction Act, which has a focus on climate goals and that he said will help create well-paying jobs.
However, millions of people continue to struggle in the United States and “much more needs to be done, especially to provide protections for families of color to ensure that they have full access to available resources without discrimination or bias,” he said.
In addition to advocating for local, national and state initiatives, he recommended partnering with the Presbyterian Mission Agency ministries, such as the Presbyterian Hunger Program, SDOP and OPW in their advocacy work, which has recently included raising awareness about the Farm Bill.
“Obviously, we know that the Farm Bill deals with many of the safety net programs, especially SNAP, and we know that there’s a push in Congress by some right now to reduce those benefits and we must be advocates to make sure that they are not reduced but actually increase,” Hawkins said.
Denzel Mitchell
Mitchell, an associate organizer for RISC, a grant partner of PHP, talked about harnessing people power and churches working collectively to bring about change. His organization started when a group of congregations came together to do justice work. “What we do is we organize people power in order to bring about justice in our community,” he said. “We’re helping them to organize long-term,” rather than focusing their efforts around one book or one event.
The work includes listening to what issues are deeply concerning to people, researching how other communities are addressing them and holding public officials accountable on important things like affordable housing.
“We pushed for an affordable housing trust [fund] and we were successfully able to get that” but have had to continue to push officials to make good on promises to fund it in a preferred manner, Mitchell said.
Watch the webinar here.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations are part of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
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