“'Everybody In, Nobody Out' - is more than a slogan, it is one of the guiding values of the movement for universal healthcare, and it is a guiding value for the entire policy platform that this resolution is drawn from." -Rev. Joe Paparone, On the Third Reconstruction Resolution
In this June newsletter: LAUNCHING A THIRD RECONSTRUCTION THE NATIONAL POOR PEOPLE’S AND LOW WAGE WORKERS ASSEMBLY
Launching a Third Reconstruction
Monday, June 7th, was an incredible day of action where moral leaders from across the state gathered in Albany, NY to lift up the need for enacting moral policies grounded in human rights and rooted in a third reconstruction.
Below are highlights from some of the speeches.
Rev. Joe Paparone *Photo by Jeff Mikkelson
“Everybody In, Nobody Out” - more than a slogan, it is one of the guiding values of the movement for universal healthcare, and it is a guiding value for the entire policy platform that this resolution is drawn from.
This resolution calls us back to the first reconstruction - that moment after the Civil War, when a segment of the ruling class had been defeated, and four million formerly enslaved people secured their freedom. More than that, they immediately began a project of rebuilding society from the bottom up - and at its best, the leadership of formerly enslaved workers, poor whites, and people of moral conscience formed multi-racial, fusion coalitions. They immediately set about a project of transformation - including public education and health clinics through the freedman’s bureau. It was just a start but it pointed to something deeply powerful - the possibility that, when you lift from the bottom, everyone rises. That reconstruction was met with fierce violence and backlash, and the damage done reverberates today. But we are learning the lessons of history."
Rev. Dr. Roxanne Jones Booth *Photo by Jeff Mikkelson
Reimagine. Rethink. Redefine. - have all become buzz words for the way forward after the horrendous Summer of 2020 when we witnessed over 400,000 deaths from COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd, and the responding protests across the entire United States against police brutality and systematic racism. Reimagine. Rethink. Redefine. - are words that challenge us to adjust our way of thinking, so that the way forward does not resemble what was. Because what was didn’t work for us. What was didn’t include us. What was, is wrong. What was, did not lift from the bottom so that everybody rises;. What was did not implement a living wage. What was did not address healthcare for all. What was did not expand our public health infrastructure to address social determinants of health. What was did not speak to the 140 million people who are poor, low-wealth or one emergency away from economic ruin. But there is another word that can capture our thoughts and direct us away from what was and move us to the reality of what can be and that word is, Reconstruction. ________________________________________ Join us on June 21, 2021!!! FOR THE PPC:NCMR's NATIONAL POOR PEOPLE’S & LOW-WAGE WORKERS’ ASSEMBLY Register to join us here: 3rdReconstruction.org
Forward together, The Team at Labor Religion Coalition