Recap: An Activist Workshop with Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
On Wednesday, October 21st, Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis joined Organizing Stories for a pressing conversation about the plight of poor people and the ways COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequality. As the Co-Chair of the Poor-People’s Campaign (PPC): A National Call for Moral Revival, Reverend Theoharis provided the Princeton community with critical insights on the interconnected nature of oppression. From fighting voter suppression and demanding climate change initiatives to creating fact sheets that detail how people are suffering across the nation due to COVID-19, it is clear to see how the PPC’s work invokess the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.
PPC’s National Call for Moral Revival was launched in the spring of 2018, on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign. It was the largest and most expansive wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in the 21st century spanning over 40 states. Coordinating committees with clergy and activists alike emerged from this create effort, much like the Students Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). PPC continues previous work on shifting the narrative on poverty, militarism, and injustice to build power among the 140 million poor and low income. A coalition amongst poor people equipped with thousands of leaders, not a few, is necessary for their liberation.
Through her work with PPC and as a published scholar, Dr. Liz understands the immense power in storytelling. Her theological background largely informs her motivation to fight for equality for the most vulnerable in our society in an inclusive way; every person deserves a good quality of life regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. She also recognizes that “dominant narratives have dominant narrators,” and actively works to center the voices of those with relevant lived experience.
As Dr. Liz noted during her workshop, “You need an accurate diagnosis to understand the problems you're dealing with.” Reverend Theoharis recognizes the need for deep analyses of American history to understand injustice today. Souls of Poor Folk tracks where things were 50 years ago and where they are now in regards to racism, environmental injustice, and militarism. It employs real empirical data and scholarship to approach this while theorizing fruitful solutions. Through intentional mapping and research, Dr. Liz learned that more than 26 states have engaged with racist voter suppression, and it’s no surprise that poverty, oppressive LGBT+ laws, military drafting, and Christianity proliferates in these same states. As she explains, the Bible Belt is also the poverty belt, so there must be an underlying theology allowing for these inequalities. God doesn’t will poverty, so PPC works through intersectional means to address the immorality of organizing society around the rich.
This pandemic has exposed fissures in our society, especially through health disparities, racism, poverty, militarism, and environmental injustice. Dr. Liz encourages us to be as willing to unlearn as we are to learn. The world has enough resources for poor people to no longer be regarded as an afterthought. “We must rise to challenge the lie of scarcity in the midst of abundance.”
Organizing Stories thanks Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis for so graciously sharing her insights, experience, and passion for engendering collective progress with the Princeton community.
In an extended interview clip below, Reverend Theoharis discusses how she places her activist work in a historical context. For more videos with Dr. Liz, head on over to the official Organizing Stories Youtube Channel!
