March 28, 2007
Last year when thousands gathered at Friendship-West Baptist Church, dealing with America’s disenfranchised was the primary focus, as well as finding employment for the unemployed.
This week, the summit returns with an equally impressive agenda and many of the same concerns.
Calling it a “War on Poverty,” Pastor Frederick D. Haynes III, of Friendship-West, said this year’s summit will target the economic impacts of housing, journalism advocacy and criminal justice/societal re-entry.
A highlight of the two-day Faith Summit on Poverty will be the Haynes’ Bill of Rights for the Poor.
Introduced at the end of the summit last year, the Bill was filed as a house bill by Texas State Representative Yvonne Davis (TX-111) and is titled the Bill of Rights for the Underprivileged, House Bill 947.
Over 35 million, according to the U.S. Census, live below the poverty line, but those numbers, many say, are just the tip of the iceberg. Sadly, over a third are children.
Featuring such heavyweights as Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), comedian/activist Dick Gregory, Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, Father Michael Pfleger of Chicago’s St. Sabina, Rev. Michael Eric Dyson, 97.9 The Beat’s Rickey Smiley, National Newspaper Publisher’s Association’s Editor in Chief George Curry, Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood of New York’s St. Paul Community Baptist Church, State Sen. Royce West and State Representative’s Terri Hodge and Davis.
“I’m excited to be participating,” said Mr. Gregory, who because of health reasons was unable to participate last year. In addition, to appearing on a panel discussing the criminal justice system on Friday afternoon, Mr. Gregory will participate in the town hall meeting on Saturday.
Friendship-West’s Executive Pastor Rick Hill agrees. “Poverty is destroying our community. Every three in six kids live in impoverished circumstances and this inhibits their ability to learn, to get a quality education.”
Rev. Hill, who was in Austin on March 15 when Rep. Davis introduced the bill,and testified on behalf of the bill, said that when you look at crime, poverty plays a role because there is no hope in the community.
“In our community you have to drive four to five miles ot find a grocery store, to get access to services, because the businesses aren’t there. And poverty is tied to racism, too.”
Once again the summit will feature community job expo where “AT&T will lead more than 60 employers and a consortium of job training, trade school and institutions of continuing education” who will provide opportunities.
“We are declaring war on poverty,” said Rev. Hill. “This is a fight that’s not just in our city. Our country has turneds its back on those who are suffering, blaming them for their own conditions. We are taking a stand for those who can’t speak for themselves.”
Faith Summit on Poverty
Convened in Dallas, Texas at Friendship-West Baptist Church, March 24th and 25th for the purpose of reigniting a “war on poverty” by dramatizing the plight of the poor, demanding economic justice for the poor and creating communities of opportunity where there has been neglect. As Christians we recognize the biblical imperative to liberate and lift those left behind socially and economically. We are committed to lifting up a vision of justice and love for those who’ve become invisible, the ones Jesus referred to as “the least of these, my brothers and sisters.
”We are dedicated to picking up the emancipating and empowering baton of the Drum Major for Justice, Martin Luther King, Jr., who died while planning The Poor People’s March to Washington, DC. He was determined to “place the problems of the poor at the seat of government of the wealthiest nation in the history of mankind.” The broken levees of Louisiana and the winds of Hurricane Katrina blew the covers off of the unresolved issues of racism and classism in these “yet to be United States.”A Somalian proverb proclaims that poverty is slavery. This Bill of Rights for the Poor is a Proclamation of Emancipation for those who are still left out and left behind. Our forebears of faith declared that slavery in the United States was morally wrong and we declare that the economic enslavement of poverty is morally wrong.
ARTICLE ONE:
All forms of human oppression must be dismantled. All people and especially the poor have the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness without institutional barriers. Racism, sexism, discrimination against disabled people, classism and imperialism must be addressed and eliminated if the poor are to escape impoverishment.
ARTICLE TWO:
The poor have a right to a public policy agenda that invests in human beings. Too this end, we are calling for the creation of “Communities of Opportunity” where there has been historic neglect and economic apartheid. These “communities of opportunity” should eliminate all forms of economic predators that preclude economic development. Federal, state and local resources should be made available to community groups and efforts that create economic opportunity in these communities. Partnerships between corporate and community based groups that open doors of opportunity and invest in the “least of these” should be encouraged and rewarded. Communities of Opportunity will necessitate a comprehensive economic policy on the National, state and local levels which places the interests of people in need over the interests of corporate greed. Government must regulate corporations and end the transfer of jobs out of the country. Legislation must be passed that forbids the closing of plants and business headquarters without a public hearing and insures compensation for those who suffer job loss.
ARTICLE THREE:
One in every six children in America is a victim of poverty. One in three children of color is growing up in poverty. Every child should have access to quality health care, education, and housing and live in a safe community.
ARTICLE FOUR:
All people should have “equal protection under the law” and the poor must be protected from injustice in the legal system. The poor are often warehoused in the nations prison industrial complex, which has become the 21 st century’s version of slavery. The poor must be guaranteed competent representation and equal justice. The poor must be assured of justice in civil and criminal courts.
ARTICLE FIVE:
The poor must be protected from state sponsored terrorism in the form of police brutality. The poor have a right to be protected and served, as opposed to being abused and exploited. We call for unequivocal civilian control of our neighborhoods and citizen review boards with the power to discipline police abuse and misconduct. A community partnership for the elimination of crime and violence in poor communities must be established between the police and community based groups.
ARTICLE SIX:
The poor should have the right to full employment and a guaranteed income that enables them to rise above the poverty level. We call for government investment in community-based and cooperating partnerships that generate jobs. Wherever there are areas of concentrated unemployment there must be a concentrated effort to bring jobs and opportunity.
ARTICLE SEVEN:
The poor should not be victimized by inequality of opportunity. Pay equity for women and people of color must be legislated. Women must be legally protected from sexual harassment and abuse on the job and domestic violence.
ARTICLE EIGHT:
We believe in the liberation and empowerment of oppressed people all over the world. Dr. King maintained that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We demand that the foreign policy of the United States is characterized by justice and freedom. This policy must insure that economic exploitation of impoverished nations is eliminated. This is a moral bill of rights, rooted in our faith as Christians. The implementation of this bill of rights will move us closer to being “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Cheryl can be reached at csmith@dallasweekly.com
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