Poor and working people ready to fight back gathered in Washington, D.C., July 14 for a rally to “stop the war on the poor!” organized by Global Women’s Strike, Every Mother is a Working Mother, and many other progressive organizations. Speakers, many of whom traveled from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pa., addressed a wide range of issues facing the most oppressed layers of the working class, with a special focus on the oppression of women.
The gathering was also intended to pressure members of Congress to support the RISE Out of Poverty Act, which will introduce important reforms to strengthen the social safety net that has been gutted by successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat.
The protest asserted the right of all people to live with dignity. When asked what the “war on the poor” meant to her, Nancy, a grandmother and activist from Philadelphia, said, “[it means people] have to fight to eat, fight to sleep, fight for anything.”
Donna Hill, whose daughter is in prison for defending herself against a rapist, addressed the rally about the devastating effects of mass incarceration on the poor: “The United States incarcerates more people than all other countries in the world… this is not the land of the free.”
While the rally exposed the grim reality facing poor and working people, it also expressed determination to struggle for justice. Phoebe Jones of Global Women’s Strike told participants, “Everywhere we’re being attacked, and everywhere we’re fighting back.”
