About 100 people who are marching from New Orleans to Detroit to call attention to the problem of poverty in the United States stopped in Cincinnati this afternoon.
Marchers in the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign arrived at the Purple People Bridge, then proceeded to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center where they discussed the issue of economic slavery in America.—-
Afterward, the marchers walked north through downtown and into Over-the-Rhine, where they stopped at the Contact Center’s offices in Over-the-Rhine. There, participants held a Truth Commission rally and cookout.
The group will be involved in community events during the three days they stay in Cincinnati.
Held from April 4 to June 20, the march is centered on the theme of “Fulfilling the Dream,” based on a phrase from a speech given by the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s.
Founded in 1998, the Cleveland-based Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is working to unite the poor across color lines to build a leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty everywhere.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international standard for human rights, expresses the rights due every human being — including food, housing, communication and living wage jobs. While claiming to defend human rights, the United States has consistently ignored and undermined the global consensus on economic human rights,” the campaign’s Web site states.
“We do not seek pity,” it adds. “We do seek power to end conditions that threaten all of us with economic human rights violations denying us our birthrights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Various groups were involved with bringing the marchers to Cincinnati. They include the Contact Center, Ohio Empowerment Coalition, Hip Hop Congress, Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, St. Johns Unitarian Church, New Prospect Baptist Church, Masjid Ac Ashab Over-the-Rhine Islamic Center, St. Francis Seraph Ministries, Over-the-Rhine Community Council and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
For more information, visit the campaign’s Web site or call the Contact Center at 513-381-4242.
