[Northampton-GP] Some more Information on the Anti-Poverty March

[Jim Bosman]

As an initial follow-up to our meeting on Monday, I am
passing along what information I have recieved so far
regarding our questions about the Anti-Poverty March.

Jim



THE PURPOSE OF THE MARCH

We are working to build a movement to end poverty –
the March is a step in that process.

Obviously at the end of the march we are not going to
have built that movement.  We will, however, have:
• created a vehicle for residents of conscience to
have come together in the lowest income communities in
Massachusetts, 
• formed coalitions to work together for a period of
time, 
• made visible the poverty that individuals in this
country of “meritocracy” are often too ashamed to
show, 
• pointed out that this is a systemic problem and 
• created a way for low-income activists to give voice
to the problems and 
•gotten them press coverage.  
And we will have done it in a way that shows that
these problems are across the state and networked
these local coalitions to each other.


THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES


The march seeks to support the development of a local
coalition in each target community – to center around
the abolishment of systemic poverty – especially the
focuses of the march on the safety net/welfare,
affordable housing, low wage work and healthcare. 
Each local coalition ideally will include all person
and groups of conscience and will encourage and follow
the leadership of area low-income activists.

These coalitions will get help with materials
development, press work, training in the present
poverty in Massachusetts and other organizing skills
as requested.  They will chose and organize our local
activities around the specific expressions of poverty
in their community.  We will be in each community for
part of or for a whole day.  This should allow, for
instance, for a breakfast/press event at say a
low-income development built in a toxic site hosted by
the local tenants’ group and then a march across town
the plastics plant that workers are trying to unionize
because of health and safety issues.

In addition, in many communities we will need a place
to stay the night.  This might allow for a time of
sharing more informally or perhaps a brief training or
skill sharing activity.

We are also hoping to use the actual marching through
a community for a “pledge-walk” type situation.  Each
walker would get a certain number of pledges (perhaps
we can set up a way to pledge on line).  This might
raise some money for the March’s expenses in general,
but most of it we want to see go to a local initiative
that is working for a systemic change in the direction
of abolishing poverty.  So although money for winter
coats is immediately useful, we really want to pledges
to go to empowering low-income folks in their work to
change public policy.





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