Non Violent Moral Fusion Rally & Direct Action-NJ State House

Start: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 2:00 PM

Everybody has a right to live!

We are one of over 30 states across the country and in Washington, DC heading to their state capitols on May 29 to force a serious national examination of the enmeshed evils of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy.

We stand together on Tuesday, May 29 to show the power of people united across issues and geography. We stand together because there are over 40 million people living in poverty in this country including 13 million children, and because although the U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other country, 32 million people remain uninsured. And with fewer voting rights in place today for people of color than 50 years ago when the Civil Rights Act was passed, we stand together to say that we cannot go down this road any longer.

Join us at 2:00pm at the State House on Tuesday, May 29 for the third of six consecutive weekly rallies. Non Violent Moral Fusion Direct Action trainings will take place at 11:00am (location TBA) before each of the rallies and is required for anyone willing to participate in civil disobedience. Also, required for those interested in having a leadership role at the Rally and Action.


Week Three Rally & Action Theme:  THE WAR ECONOMY: Militarism and the Proliferation of Gun Violence

Email newjersey@poorpeoplescampaign.org for more information on direct actions and trainings.

If you haven't done so yet, join the movement here by signing a pledge card.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

    1. We are rooted in a moral analysis based on our deepest religious and constitutional values that demand justice for all. Moral revival is necessary to save the heart and soul of our democracy.
    2. We are committed to lifting up and deepening the leadership of those most affected by systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation and to building unity across lines of division.
    3. We believe in the dismantling of unjust criminalization systems that exploit poor communities and communities of color and the transformation of the “War Economy” into a “Peace Economy” that values all humanity.
    4. We believe that equal protection under the law is non-negotiable.
    5. We believe that people should not live in or die from poverty in the richest nation ever to exist. Blaming the poor and claiming that the United States does not have an abundance of resources to overcome poverty are false narratives used to perpetuate economic exploitation, exclusion, and deep inequality.
    6. We recognize the centrality of systemic racism in maintaining economic oppression must be named, detailed and exposed empirically, morally and spiritually. Poverty and economic inequality cannot be understood apart from a society built on white supremacy.
    7. We aim to shift the distorted moral narrative often promoted by religious extremists in the nation from issues like prayer in school, abortion, and gun rights to one that is concerned with how our society treats the poor, those on the margins, the least of these, women, LGBTQIA folks, workers, immigrants, the disabled and the sick; equality and representation under the law; and the desire for peace, love and harmony within and among nations.
    8. We will build up the power of people and state-based movements to serve as a vehicle for a powerful moral movement in the country and to transform the political, economic and moral structures of our society.
    9. We recognize the need to organize at the state and local level—many of the most regressive policies are being passed at the state level, and these policies will have long and lasting effect, past even executive orders. The movement is not from above but below.
    10. We will do our work in a non-partisan way—no elected officials or candidates get the stage or serve on the State Organizing Committee of the Campaign. This is not about left and right, Democrat or Republican but about right and wrong.
    11. We uphold the need to do a season of sustained moral direct action as a way to break through the tweets and shift the moral narrative. We are demonstrating the power of people coming together across issues and geography and putting our bodies on the line to the issues that are affecting us all.
    12. The Campaign and all its Participants and Endorsers embrace nonviolence. Violent tactics or actions will not be tolerated.