“Building the Unsettling Force”: A National Conference to End Poverty
Louisville, KY July 16 – 19th
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
The dispossessed of this nation — the poor, both white and Negro live in a cruelly unjust society. They must organize a revolution against that injustice, not against the lives of persons who are their fellow citizens, but against the structures through which the society is refusing to take means which have been called for, and which are at hand, to lift the load of poverty. . .
Social Welfare Action Alliance
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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. December, 1967
Social Welfare Action Alliance – http://www.socialwelfareactionalliance.org/
Arenas of Struggle Dialogs & Facilitators (Friday, 11:00-12:30)
The following are community-wide dialog sessions organized by the primary arenas of struggle in which we work. They are intended to explore further the morning’s examination of our historical and contemporary context. Facilitators will make a brief presentation to stimulate discussion.
The Right to Health – Ethel Long-Scott, Women’s Economic Agenda Project Sandy Perry, CHAM Deliverance Ministry
The Right to a Living Wage – Logan Martinez, Nat’l Jobs for All Coalition Representatives from UNITE
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water – Cheri Honkala, PPEHRC
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement – Deeq Abdi, Ricky Brunner, & Bobbie Patterson, MN PPEHRC Representatives from Loring Nicollet Alternative School
The Right to Communication/The Media – Heather M. Kendell, ASL Advocates Representative from Tribuno del Pueblo
Arts & Culture – Lee Ballinger, Rock A Mole Productions Shamako Noble, Hip-Hop Congress & PPEHRC
Local to Global Movement-Building: The International Arena & Immigration -Rosemary Barbera, Monmouth University Jen Cox, PPEHRC International Committee
Religion & Faith Communities – Rev. Bruce Wright, Tampa Refuge Ministries
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena – Cecelia Perry, AFSCME[1] Larry Bresler, PPEHRC
Social work & Human Services – Khalilah Collins, Women in Transition Jennifer R. Jewell, Spalding University Mary Bricker-Jenkins, PPEHRC & Temple University
1. Workshop/Strategy Session Series #1: Data & Analysis (Friday, 1:30-3:00)[2]
The Right to Health
It begins with me: Confronting reproductive health issues – Mary Wallace
The right to recovery – Sr. Margaret McKenna and representatives from New Jerusalem Laura
The Right to a Living Wage
Creating Wage Campaigns – Attica Scott
Welfare cuts and “the right to just and favorable remuneration”– Cecilia Perry, AFSCME[3]
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water
Gulf coast hurricanes: Four years later – Davida Finger, Bill Quigley and Tracie Washington
The privatization of utilities & the need for projects of survival in a movement to end poverty – Cheri Honkala, PPEHRC, Galen Tyler, KWRU, and Ann Paterson, MN PPEHRC
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement
Critical themes for social work educators as partners – Rhonda Impink
The right to education – Representatives from S.T.O.P. and MN PPEHRC
The Right to Communication/The Media
Breaking the media blackout – Tim Dowlin and Peter Cooper, KWRU
Media Justice — Julie Chang Schulman, Hip Hop Congress
Arts & Culture
The epistemology of hip-hop — Shamako Noble
Local to Global Movement-Building/The International Arena
Youth poverty and their choice in South Korea – Hwang Hyo Jin
Planning for the World Court of Women on Poverty and Homelessness in the USA—Marguerite Waller
Religion & Faith Communities
The role of faith communities in ending poverty – Sr. Dorothy Pagosa and Katie Varatta, The 8th Day Center for Justice
On the street where we live – The Simple Way
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena
Drug laws, prison reform, poverty and community – Lisa Withrow
Criminalization of homelessness – Rev. Bruce Wright, Tampa Refugee Ministries
Social work & Human Services
Round and round we go: Contemporary anti-poverty initiatives, class bias and implications for progressive human services – Michel Coconis
The impact of poverty on domestic violence – Nadia Chivers
The Right to Health
Self-care: A model of health-care based on autonomy, community and empowerment – WENCH
Claiming the right to health — Members of ADAPT and Kentucky Injured Workers
The Right to a Living Wage
Organizing community-labor coalitions for community benefits agreements in African American communities – Bonnie Young Laing
Generating knowledge to eliminate injustices in port-adjacent communities – Rosemary Barbera, Jennifer Ristow, and Trina Scordo
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water
Homeownership, foreclosure and low income and minority communities – Amy Murphy-Nugen
Takeovers, tent cities, and holding foreclosed homes –Jay Mazon, Nashville Homeless Power Project and representatives of MN PPEHRC and KWRU
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement
The use of SPIN to devalue people and the environment: Our responsibility – Kim Teska
Educational engagement:” What works, what doesn’t — Joanne Hessmiller, Marywood University
The Right to Communication/The Media
How to write your own book – Anne Peak
Radical Writing Workshop – Marcia Cohen, Sadie Fowler, and Flower Noble, JPHS
Arts & Culture
New solutions to age-old problems through music and art — Lee Ballinger and Ernie Perez, Rock A Mole
Local to Global Movement-Building/The International Arena
Can freedom be fostered: A study of Afghan women – Nairutti Jani
Tools of the trade: PPEHRC’s global network – Tara Colon, KWRU and PPEHRC International Committee
Religion & Faith Communities
Poverty of spirit: When the invisible wall becomes visible – Pearl Gillespie, Spalding University
The role of faith in the liberation of the poor – Rev. Bruce Wright, Tampa Refugee Ministries
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena
How the ACLU can be of assistance to grassroots groups – Kendell Nash
Can Obama’s laws and lawyers end poverty? – Cecelia Perry and Larry Bresler
Social work & Human Services
Social workers and self-care during the tough economic times – Sharon Moore, Ramona Stone, Armon Perry, Michael Robinson
Is social work in the US ready for Marxism? – Sam Coleman
3. Workshop/Strategy Session Series #3: Tactics (Saturday, 1:00-2:30)
The Right to Health
A conversation on Health Equity – Joshua Jennings and the Center for Health Equity
Reproductive Justice is a Human Right – Loretta Ross and Sister Song members
The Right to a Living Wage
Poverty Credits – Ezra Rosser
“Are rich people evil?” Revisited – Brett Seabury
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water
The struggle continues: Fighting for a new home in post-Katrina New Orleans – Endisha Juakali and JR Fleming
At the eye of the storm and beyond – Sgt. Davis Kring, Wavers/Mississippi PPEHRC and Antoinette Harrell, Gatherings of Heart
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement
Power not pity: Integrating political education and organizing to claim human rights – Shamako Noble, Hip Hop Congress/PPEHRC
The Right to Communication/The Media
Can on-line social communities contribute to the unsettling force– Warren Yoder
Documenting Human Rights Violations: Oral documentation, video, & Truth Commissions – Mary Bricker-Jenkins, Khalilah Collins, and Arun Prabhakaran, PPEHRC
Arts & Culture
Theater of the Oppressed – Members of Women in Transition (WIT)
Local to Global Movement-Building/The International Arena
Abolishing poverty and human rights violations: The case of Chile – Miguel Sanchez
US aid to Israel: Robbing Boutros while fleecing Paul – John Swanson
Religion & Faith Communities
Networking session
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena
Using international law and instruments to claim human rights — Bret Thiele
Claiming the right to housing: WRAP tactics – Paul Boden
Social work & Human Services
Organizing for the rights of kinship caregivers – Lynn Williams, Quo Vadis Ellison, Loretta Hunter, Mary Causey, and Cassandra Barham
SWAA: Taking a non position “position” on criminal justice – Michel Coconis
4. Workshop/Strategy Session Series #4: Strategies (Saturday, 2:45-4:15)
The Right to Health
Setting the table for the “single-payer” solution – Dave MacCool and Rev. David Bos, Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare and Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP)
The Right to a Living Wage
“The Other America”: Revisited in Kentucky – David Ellenbrook and Luther Brown
Full employment: One real way to end poverty – Gertrude Goldberg and Marguerite Rosenthal
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water
Sisters of the Road: A systemic change approach to poverty and homelessness – Monica Beemer, Lisa Hawash, and Richard Walden
The fight to save public housing – Members of STOP & the Nat’l Alliance of HUD Tenants
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement
Students in the movement for economic human rights – Connor, Natashia Euler, and representatives of KWRU
The Right to Communication/The Media
Covering the fight, not just the plight – Dottie Stevens and members of Survivors, Inc.
Overcoming barriers to communication – Heather Kendell and Michael Haynesworth, ASL Advocates
Arts & Culture
Picture this: Using photography to mobilize the unsettling force – Harvey Finkle and Marcia Cohen
Local to Global Movement-Building/The International Arena
Another world is urgent: Linking the poor of the US to movements worldwide to confront the global crisis –PPEHRC International Committee
A conversation with international guests: Birgit Daiber & Roland Kulke, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and others TBA
Religion & Faith Communities
Living our faith: Building the PPEHRC Religious Organizing Committee – Peter Larson, KWRU/PPEHRC
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena
A State-level strategy for funding human needs — Diana King and Tim Walters, Organize Ohio!
They won’t televise it, but will they fund it?—Cheri Honkala and the Freedom Fighters for Foundation Funding
Social work & Human Services
Tribal and intentional communities: Social laboratories for confronting the effects of poverty – Kevin Gebhart and Christine Blackstone
Claiming our rights, reclaiming our children: An example of the poor organizing the poor – Members of Women in Transition
5. Workshop/Strategy Session Series #5: Visions, Plans & Actions (Saturday, 4:30-6:00)
The Right to Health
Local and national organizing for the right to health: Representatives of CAN, members of STOP, and Galen Tyler, KWRU
Holistic health and the medical model: Can they coexist? Sr. Margaret McKenna, New Jerusalem Laura
The Right to a Living Wage
Local and national organizing for a Living Wage and the Employee Free Choice Act – Members of UNITE, Centro Obrero, and Logan Martinez, National Jobs Coalition
The Right to Housing, Utilities, & Water
Local and national organizing for the right to housing — Sandy Perry, Eve Wood, and Steve Chehy, CHAM/CA PPEHRC
The Right to Education/Youth in the Movement
Redefining and claiming the right to education — Cheri Honkala and Shamako Noble
The Right to Communication/The Media
Claiming the media, communicating the message – Dottie Stevens and Arun Prabhakaran
Arts & Culture
Using all the senses to come to our senses — Tim Dowlin and Natashia Euhler
Local to Global Movement-Building/The International Arena
Consciousness, vision and strategy for the 21st century bottom-up movement building – Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott
Religion & Faith Communities
Linking global faith communities working for peace and justice – Sr. Dorothy Pagosa and Katie Varatta, 8th Day Center for Justice
Policy, Legislation & the Legal Arena
Legal strategies and movement strategies: Strange bedfellows? — Bill Quigley, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Larry Bresler, PPEHRC
Social work & Human Services
If you build, they will come: SWAA Chapter Development – Barbara Kasper, Melissa Affronti, Melissa Sydor, and Nicholas Coulter, Rochester SWAA
Using an economic human rights lens in social work practice — Carrie Young, Philadelphia Prison Association & Temple University, Monica Beemer, Sisters of the Road, and Mary Bricker-Jenkins, PPEHRC and Temple University
[1] For identification purposes only
[2] Because some presenters were available only one day, some workshops have been moved among session series and may focus on other dimensions of the topic—e.g., “tactics” more than “data & analyses.”
[3] For identification purposes only
The New Liberator