Economic Human Rights

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Economic Human Rights the Movement to Abolish
Poverty
"Poverty is the worst form of violence." --
Mahatma Gandhi
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Prepared Presented by members of

• Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights
• www.povertyontrial.org
• 207-650-5092

When we unite to claim our rights,
together we have POWER!
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• OVERVIEW
• What is poverty who is poor?
• What are Economic Human Rights?
• Who what is the Poor Peoples Economic Human
  Rights Campaign?

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"...There are millions of poor people in this
country who have very little, or even nothing, to
lose. If they can be helped to take action
together, they will do so with a freedom and a
power that will be a new and unsettling force in
our complacent national life..." -- The Trumpet
of Conscience,Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, 1967
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• What is Poverty Who is Poor
• There are a lot of myths about
• who poor people are and why
• we are poor.
• Here are some of them

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QUESTION

• What race are the majority of people living in
  poverty?

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Myth Most poor people are minorities.

• FACT The majority - over 2/3 of poor families in
  the U.S. - are white.i

HOWEVER, poverty affects people of color
disproportionately for example, about 24 of
African Americans families live in poverty
compared to about 10 of white families.
i US Census Bureaus Income, Poverty, Health
Insurance Coverage in the US 2006
www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf
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QUESTION

• Where do the majority of poor people live?

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Myth Most poor people live in inner cities

• FACT Only 40 of poor people in America live in
  inner cities, while 36 live in suburban
  areas.i

i Facts About Poverty That Every American
Should Know www.osjspm.org/101_uspoverty.aspxcit
y Poverty USA The State of Poverty in America
www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/povfacts.htm
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Myth Most poor people are uneducated

• FACT About 70 of people in poverty age 18 or
  older have a high school diploma or higher
  education.i

i Unfortunately, the US Census uses a formula
that includes age 15 and higher (an age at which
most people have at least 2 or 3 more years
before being able to complete high school), for
which the total of people in poverty with a
high school diploma or higher is 65.
http//pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032005/pov/new29_10
0_01.htm
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• Myth Most poor people dont work.

FACT 60 of poor households have at least 1
family member working for wages outside the home.
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Additionally, 3 out of 4 children in poverty
lived with a family member who worked at least
part time.ii 1 out of 3 children in poverty
lived with someone who worked full-time, year
round. Of the remaining 40 of households, a many
are disabled and/or elderly And many others are
raising children and/or caring for other family
members.
iUS Census http//pubdb3.census.gov/macro/03200
5/pov/new06_100_01.htm ii Facts About Poverty
That Every American Should Know
www.osjspm.org/101_uspoverty.aspxlife
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Myth Most poor people live off public
assistance.

• FACT Only 23 of poor families receive ANY cash
  assistance.i Poor families receive the largest
  percentage of their incomes in wages 62 with
  less than 30 of their total incomes from
  assistance, including Social Security.

i 62 includes all wages salaries (58.8),
plus the categories Non-Farm self employed
(3.4), Farm Self Employed (-1.4), Interest
dividend income (1.5). Other inome includes
social security (13.8), Pension survivor
Disability income (1.9), Means-tested Cash
Assitance (11.4). US Census http//pubdb3.census
.gov/macro/032005/pov/new27_001_01.htm
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MYTH

• Most people are poor or homeless because they
  choose to be.

Photograph by Harvey Finkle
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QUESTION

• WHATS THE AVERAGE AGE OF A HOMELESS PERSON IN
  AMERICA?

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• FACT The average age of a homeless person in the
  United States is NINE YEARS OLD.i Nearly 1 in
  5 (20) US children live in poverty a child
  poverty rate that is 2 to 3 times higher than
  most other western industrialized countries.

Photograph by Harvey Finkle
i Statistics on Homeless Children and Youth
http//www.misd.net/Homeless/statistics.htm
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QUESTION

• How many people live in poverty in the United
  States?

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Myth There are some poor people in the US, but
not that many.

• FACT According to the US Census, more than 36
  million Americans live in poverty (some estimates
  say over 50 millioni), and another 13 million
  of us are just above the official poverty line
  (125).

i The 2006 US Census says 36.5 million
Americans live below the poverty level, with 49.7
million below 125 of the poverty level see
Income, Poverty, Health Insurance Coverage in
the United States 2006, issued Aug 2007
www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf However,
the Kaiser Family Foundation (and others) says 50
million Americans below the poverty level with
105 million people at or below 200 of the
poverty level (considered low-income) see
Distribution of Total Population by Federal
Poverty Level, states (2005-2006), US (2006)
www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?ind9cat
1rgn21
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• Yet, the publics perception of the number of
  people living in poverty is out of step with this
  reality.
• When asked in a recent surveyii, the majority
  of people said they thought that less than one
  million Americans were poor.

ii Poverty Pulse, conducted in 2004 by
Catholic Campaign for Human Development
http//www.usccb.org/cchd/PP4FINAL.PDF
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Myth Sure theres some inequality in our
country, but for the most part, things are fair.

• FACT The richest 5 of Americans own and control
  over 58 of the nations wealth, the poorest 50
  make due with less than 3.i

i Put another way, the top wealthiest 10 of
Americans own and control 70 of the total
wealth, while the rest of us the bottom 90
own and control 30 of the wealth. See Wealth and
Inequality by the Numbers by United for a Fair
Economy, published in Dollars and Sense
www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2004/0104inequali
ty.pdf for another source, see United for a
Fair Economy charts on Wealth Inequality
www.faireconomy.org/research/wealth_charts.html
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Distribution of Wealth in the U.S.
The richest 5 of Americans own 58 of the
nations wealth
The poorest 50 of Americans own 2.8 of the
nations wealth
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Myth Poor people dont pay taxes.

• FACT The poorest Americans pay the highest
  percentage of our available wealth in taxes,
  while the richest pay the least.i

i Facts About Taxes that Every American Should
Know http//www.osjspm.org/101_taxes.aspxwhatper
centage
The US is home to some of the greatest wealth
inequality in the world greater than in any
other western industrialized country.ii
ii The Wealth Divide the Growing Gap in the
United States Between the Rich and the Rest,
Multinational Monitor http//multinationalmonitor
.org/mm2003/03may/may03interviewswolff.html
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What is the official poverty line?
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2007 Federal Poverty Leveli
of People inFamily or Household Household Income Monthly / Annual Household Income Monthly / Annual
1 850.83 month 10,210 year
2 1,140.83 month 13,690 year
3 1,430.83 month 17,170 year
4 1,720.83 month 20,650 year
5 2,010.83 month 24,130 year
For each additional person add 290 add 3,480
i 2007 Poverty Guidelines, issued by the US
Dept of Health Human Services (HHS)
www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility/Downloads/POV0
7ALL.pdf http//aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.s
html
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The FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL

• ...is set every year by the U.S. Dept. of Health
  Human Services, as the GOVERNMENTS OFFICIAL
  DEFININTION OF POVERTY.
• ...is NOT an accurate measure of poverty or need.
  
• ...is NOT based on the actual cost of living,
  it is NOT tied to or reflective of the consumer
  priced index.
• ...is used by the government to determine WHO IS
  ELIGIBLE for basic services, such as programs
  that provide housing, healthcare, nutrition,
  childcare, income support, education, job
  training.
• ...is unrealistically LOW. Unfairly small income
  standards mean that millions are NOT COUNTED as
  among the nations pooreven though we cannot
  afford to meet our basic needs. Based on these
  standards, each year millions are denied the
  resources our families desperately need.

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Compare this years (2007) Federal Poverty Level
to last years (2006)
Federal Poverty Level Federal Poverty Level Whats the difference Compared to last year, how much more does the government allow us to live on to be considered poor?
2006 2007 Whats the difference Compared to last year, how much more does the government allow us to live on to be considered poor?
of PEOPLE ANNUAL INCOME ANNUAL INCOME Whats the difference Compared to last year, how much more does the government allow us to live on to be considered poor?
1 9,800 10,210 410
2 13,200 13,690 490
3 16,600 17,170 570
4 20,000 20,650 650
5 23,400 24,130 730
Per additional person add 3,400 add 3,480 80
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Sound ? Thats because it IS
unrealistic!
unrealistic

• Based on a terrible formulai concocted in 1965
  (the cost of a food basket for a family of 3 in
  1955 multiplied times 3) the official poverty
  level is artificially low, and bears absolutely
  no relation to actual living costs, or what it
  takes for a family to survive.
• i See the following references Dollars and
  Sense article about how poverty is defined by the
  government http//www.dollarsandsense.org/archive
  s/2006/0106dollar.html US Dept of Health Human
  Services FAQ about the federal povertylevel
  http//aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/faq.shtml Further
  resources on poverty measurements, poverty
  guidelines, and their history http//aspe.hhs.gov
  /poverty/contacts.shtmlf

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A few of the items missing from poverty line
calculations
Transportation
Utilities
Childcare
Healthcare
ACTUAL cost of housing
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The United States is the richest most powerful
nation on earth, yet, unlike most other
comparably industrialized nations and many
so-called developing nations.
Here in the US, we have

• No national healthcare system.
• No public higher education.
• Under-funded housing social welfare programs.
• One of the largest homeless populations in world.
  
• The largest prison population in the world.

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Economic Human Rights

• Economic Human Rights are what we all need just
  to live a decent life-style. While we are
  frequently led to believe that basic needs such
  as food, housing, medical care, education, and
  good jobs are privileges, according to the
  Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by
  the US and all other United Nations members in
  1948, everyone has the right to a standard of
  living adequate for the health of him or herself
  and his or her family, including food, clothing,
  housing, medical care and necessary social
  services

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• Economic Human Rights are the same rights that
  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kings Poor Peoples
  Campaign fought for back in 1968 when he began
  his Poor Peoples Campaign and the historic Poor
  Peoples March from Marks, Mississippi to
  Washington, DC. These rights are violated every
  moment of every day, in every city and town
  across America.

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The Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
(PPEHRC)

• committed to uniting the poor across color
  lines as the leadership base for a broad movement
  to abolish poverty.

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Economic Human Rights March 2003
World Social Forum 2006 Venezuela
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PPEHRC

• Made up of several different groups around the
  country, such as POWER, who are organizing in
  their local areas to end poverty
• Advancement of economic human rights as named in
  the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such
  as the right to food, housing, healthcare,
  communication, education, and living wage jobs

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GOALS

• abolishing poverty
• Leadership development
• Increasing the visibility of poor people
• Strengthening local regional member
  organizations
• Building uniting our membership

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METHODS

• Education the University of the Poor
• Made up of several areas of focus, it offers free
  educational opportunities and leadership schools
  to help develop new leadership and teach
  organizational skills to those around the country
• Documentation
• Documentation can happen in many ways, such as
  filling out a questionnaire with questions about
  specific Violations, making audio or video-tape
  recordings, taking photographs, and drawing
  pictures. When together we document our
  conditions of poverty, we stop suffering in
  silence, we find our voices, we see we are not
  alone and that instead of being ashamed of our
  poverty, we should be outraged!!

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METHODS (cont)

• Undisappering the poor creating our own media
• There is no denying the fact that poverty exists
  in America yet you wont hear about it on the
  news, you wont read about it in the paper, and
  chances are you wont learn about it in your
  classroom at school. To undisappear the
  poor in America, one of the major activities of
  the Campaign is the creation of our own media.
  we learn how to produce our own videos,
  websites, radio material, news articles,
  newsletters, newspapers, brochures, and flyers
  you name it, we can make it! We use videos to
  educate, communicate, and motivate by telling
  our side of the story.

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Examples of Past PPEHRC Actions Events

• New Freedom Bus Tour (1998)
• Poor Peoples Summit on Human Rights (1998)
• The March of the Americas (1999)
• Economic Rights Protest against Republican Natl
  Convention (2000)
• 2nd New Freedom Bus Tour (2002)
• Poor Peoples March for Economic Human Rights
  (2003)
• March for Our Lives Bushville Tent City (2004)
• 8 Day Leadership School (2005)
• Delegation to World Social Forum in Venezuela
  (2006)
• National Truth Commission in Cleveland, OH (2006)
• 2nd Leadership School (2006)
• Delegation to the US Social Forum in Atlanta, GA
  (2007)
• March for Our Lives Protest, Minneapolis, MN
  (AUGUST 2008!)

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OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD!
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Based in Southern Maine, Portland Organizing to
Win Economic Rights is...

• a grassroots anti-poverty action group that is
  led by poor low-income people. United with all
  those who align themselves with this mission,
  together we're building a local movement to win
  economic rights for all, end economic oppression,
  abolish poverty.
• When we unite to claim our rights together we
  have POWER!

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PLEASE CONTACT US!!!

• For more information about POWER
• Call (207)-650-5092
• Email power_at_povertyontrial.org
• Write to Po box 4281 Portland, Maine 04101
• VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.povertyontrial.org

PORTLAND ORGANIZING TO WIN ECONOMIC RIGHTS
POWER! www.povertyontrial.org
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• Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
• PO Box 50678
• Philadelphia, PA 19132
• (979)-487-8131

info_at_economichumanrights.org www.economichumanrigh
ts.org www.universityofthepoor.org
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ECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL!
END POVERTY NOW!
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www.povertyontrial.org

• Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights