While we mark Martin Luther King Jr.’s life today, let’s remember that one of his programs, the Poor People’s Campaign, sought:
middle ground between riots on the one hand and timid supplications for justice on the other.
Here’s a link to today’s iteration of the movement, and it’s also called the Poor People’s Campaign. I admire this effort immensely, so I’m asking: Why, then, is this concept — heal the country by paying attention to the people who are living in poverty — so difficult to grasp for so many people?
Too many of us are oblivious to the pain and suffering that surrounds us! Abject poverty abounds here in the land of plenty affecting all of us whether we know it or not. Connecticut is a state that is a perfect example of the dichotomy between the wealthiest and the poorest - think Darien versus any of our major cities. Amidst all the problems yesterday’s Courant had a front page article about one of Bridgeport’s state reps proposing legislation to extend bar hours to 4 a.m.?!? That story is one small example of misplaced priorities and from a guy who represents a city awash in poverty!
I get that we might be oblivious to pain and suffering, but once that story is told and we hear it, what stops us from acting to work toward ending it?
Capitalist Christianity tells them that poor people are poor because of some fault of their own, not because the American system of capitalism holds them down.
But that's not what Christianity says, is it? We have historically treated people who are poor as if they are the culprit, not the system that makes them that way.
I participated in the Hartford Poor People’s campaign and got arrested. Very proud of myself for that!
Go ahead! I bow in your general direction.
Too many of us are oblivious to the pain and suffering that surrounds us! Abject poverty abounds here in the land of plenty affecting all of us whether we know it or not. Connecticut is a state that is a perfect example of the dichotomy between the wealthiest and the poorest - think Darien versus any of our major cities. Amidst all the problems yesterday’s Courant had a front page article about one of Bridgeport’s state reps proposing legislation to extend bar hours to 4 a.m.?!? That story is one small example of misplaced priorities and from a guy who represents a city awash in poverty!
I get that we might be oblivious to pain and suffering, but once that story is told and we hear it, what stops us from acting to work toward ending it?
Stupidity like the example provided of the Bridgeport state rep and ignorance of our fellow citizens.
That DID seem a strange thing to make a fuss over, keeping bars open later. Does this serve people...how?
May this darkness be a bell tower
Amen.
I just readTerrance Carroll’s op-Ed piece in today’s Courant. Creating the beloved community should be a goal for everyone.
We'd all surely benefit from that.
Capitalist Christianity tells them that poor people are poor because of some fault of their own, not because the American system of capitalism holds them down.
But that's not what Christianity says, is it? We have historically treated people who are poor as if they are the culprit, not the system that makes them that way.