The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival (PPC:NCMR) is a relaunching of a campaign in 1968 led by Martin Luther King Jr and thousands of poor and low wealth Americans. This relaunch of the PPC:NCMR has been a driving force in shifting the national narrative around poverty and its interlocking injustices of systemic racism, militarism, ecological devastation, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. A key principle of the movement is identifying and uniting leaders from the ranks of the poor and dispossessed across historical lines of division, to take action together and become, as Dr Martin Luther King Jr declared in 1968, "A new and unsettling force in our complacent national life."

Inspired by the PPC:NCMR's work, analysis and organizing, leading members of Congress have recently put forth a clear vision for a just society, anchored on a set of moral demands based on a framework of human rights, in the form of a a congressional resolution that was introduced in May. Titled, "Third Reconstruction: Fully Addressing Poverty and Low Wages from the Bottom Up," the resolution is a call to address the interlocking injustices with meaningful legislation. During this session will hear from testifiers and policy experts in the campaign about the resolution and the campaign's broader plan of organizing towards June 2022. We learned how the PPC:NCMR arrived at this point, and what work lies ahead.

Pauline Pisano, Poor People's Campaign, Kairos

Pauline Pisano, is a multimedia artist, cultural worker, and community organizer. She holds a Masters in Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work, a Bachelors of Fine Arts from New York University, and a certificate in graphic/web design from Boston University’s Center for The Digital Imaging Arts. She received the Carmen Ortiz Hendrick Award for Excellence at her Silberman School of Social Work graduation last year. Pauline is currently an Arts and Culture Coordinator with The New York State Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival and a Digital Organizer for Labor Religion Coalition. Over the past 10 years Pauline has worked in various movements fighting for human rights and dignity. She was a DOVE Advocate at New York Presbyterian Hospital, a Big Sister of NY, a musician for musicians on call, and a facilitator for various groups. She is also an award winning songwriter.

Shailly Barnes, Director of Cultural Strategies for the Kairos Center

Shailly Barnes is the Policy Director for the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. She has a background in law, economics and human rights and has spent over 15 years working with and for poor and dispossessed communities. Around poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation and militarism, Shailly has worked with policy experts, impacted people and lawmakers to: develop reports, policy briefings, articles, fact sheets, testimonies and other resources; organize hearings on Capitol Hill, including a hearing on poverty in front of the House Budget Committee; and organize truth commissions, public events and conferences.

Dr. Charon Hribar, Policy Director for the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign

Dr. Charon Hribar is the Director of Cultural Strategies for the Kairos Center and Co-Director of Cultural Arts for the Poor People’s Campaign: National Call for Moral Revival. She holds a Masters in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a PhD in Christian Social Ethics from Drew University. Over the past 15 years, Charon has been dedicated to the work of political education, leadership development, and fostering the use of arts and culture for movement building with community and religious leaders across the country. Through her work with the Poor People’s Campaign, Charon has developed cultural resources to help leaders on the ground integrate arts and culture into their organizing work, including the We Rise Movement Songbook and the Justseeds’ Poor People’s Campaign Art Portfolio.

When You Lift From The Bottom Everybody Rises