In Washington DC, we attended the "D.C. Poor People's Economic Human Rights Tribunal" at Arthur Capper Recreation Center. Above, Michele Tingling-Clemmons, of the D.C. Statehood Party, emcees the event: "We are not alone. The fight we are facing is not on our own. We are all facing the same pattern. They want to move those of us who are dispensable and disposable out. We need this bus tour. What you have done has helped to inspire us to organize and fight back and take what we deserve."

We heard testimony of economic human rights violations from Rose Walker of Friends and Residents of Arthur Capper Carollsburg, Oscar Flores of Neighbor's Consejo, David King & Frank Williams of La Casa Support Committee, and Daysi Perla of the 1460 Irving St Tenant Accociation, among others. (Testimonies will be available soon on economichumanrights.org)

 

From the testimony of Oscar Flores, fighter for human rights with Neighbor's Consejo (second from right): "I cannot be silent seeing the suffering and deaths of my people. Cold kills. I was with a friend as he died from hypothermia after trying to live on the streets. Many of us are forced to live on the streets and suffer the cold. Right now I’m living in La Casa shelter, and before I was living in the street because I was injured and lost my job. Because I didn’t have medical insurance, I couldn’t go to the hospital. Many of us on the street are looking for hope, for the light of freedom, and are fighting for new laws to help people like me who are homeless."

Mark Dudzic, National Organizer for the Labor Party, said: "Health care, education, and affordable housing are not a commodities to be traded on the market. We say that housing, quality safe and affordable housing is the birthright of all Americans. And its not just us that say this, so does the United Nations.
We are pledged to build an independent party of working people to build a powerful movement to change these conditions once and for all."

 

After the tribunal, we held a candlelight walk through the Arthur Capper Carrollsburg housing projects.

The bus welcomed new freedom riders from France, representing the unemployed movement in Europe, and from the United Workers Association in Baltimore.

After the bus left DC, we were met along the road by many supporters, including Labor Party activist Palmer Kane and his family, and Jim Fite of the White Lung Association who's fighting to worker's rights in unsafe working conditions.

We were also met by Marilyn Hunter, with the National Education Association, who brought a unique form of human rights documentation. Each link on the chain, above,represents a person without healtcare in Maryland.