In its demands unveiled last month, the Poor People's Campaign called for “a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a Veterans Administration system that must remain public.” (Photo: Poor People's Campaign/Twitter)
By Jake Johnson | Common Dreams
Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s warning that “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom,” the Poor People's Campaign launched its third week of action in cities nationwide on Tuesday with the aim of confronting the American war economy, which pours resources that could be used to provide healthcare and food to the poor at home into the killing of innocents abroad.
Hoisting signs that read “The War Economy Is Immoral” and “Ban Killer Drones,” demonstrators gathered at the capitol buildings of New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and several other states to denounce a militaristic system that profits “every time a bomb is dropped on innocent people.”
As of this writing, hundreds have been arrested and many more are facing arrest as they gather outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office in Washington, D.C.
#PoorPeoplesCampaign lining up outside McConnell’s DC office. Today’s theme: “challenge the war economy.” They’ll be facing arrest. pic.twitter.com/EcblF33ZOV
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) May 29, 2018
[VIDEO] The Rev. William Barber and his Poor People’s campaign hold a nonviolent protest at North Carolina statehouse. READ MORE: https://t.co/raxokUTH9D pic.twitter.com/rLGCDFBGMo
— AP South U.S. Region (@APSouthRegion) May 29, 2018
HAPPENING NOW: Dozens of Missourians have shut down the state capitol with the #PoorPeoplesCampaign for the 3rd time to call for an end to the war economy. We're fighting for our lives. And we all have a right to live. #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/nKLSZFhAJf
— Stand Up KC (@standup_kc) May 29, 2018
“If you want to thank me for my service, work for peace!” #PoorPeoplesCampaign pic.twitter.com/ImoBMmE2CM
— Union Seminary (@UnionSeminary) May 29, 2018
“We have a long history of wars against other people, mostly people of color, around the world…it’s time we stopped calling it the defense department and started calling it what it is: the department of war.” -John Braxton, Vietnam War draft resister #PoorPeoplesCampaign pic.twitter.com/nVrjcRMlDk
— PA Poor People's Campaign (@PennsylvaniaPPC) May 29, 2018
As Common Dreams reported, the Poor People's Campaign unveiled a detailed series of demands last month ahead of the launch of its 40 days of action in more than 30 states across the country.
“We demand a stop to the privatization of the military budget and any increase in military spending,” the agenda reads. “We demand a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a Veterans Administration system that must remain public.”
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