 November
18 - San Jose & Merced, CA |
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Directly
next to the church is the site for the new city hall which
the city of San Jose is prepared to spend $329 million dollars
on, while homeless people go without basic economic human
rights.
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Sister
Adrienne Lawton of CHAM and Blanche Mackey of Women's Economic
Agenda Project sing "Rich Man's House" with members
of the Economic Human Rights Choir. |
Willie
Baptist, Education Director of the KWRU, and Co-Coordinator
of the University
of the Poor, said: "There's no reason for the suffering
that is occuring in this country. We have got to wake up
the American people and break these stereotypes that we
have gotten through the media-- this weapon of mass deception.
We've got to confront this. We've got to tell the truth
about each other."
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From
the church the crowd marched through downtown San Jose.
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Some
of the chants included, “I don’t know but I’ve
been told, San Jose has a pot of gold, And if they don’t
give it up soon, We’ll be marching here til June.”
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Towards
the end of the march we rallied with SEIU local 715, a union
of court workers who that were on strike for a new contract.
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The
rally began after the march in a park just outside of the
Mayor’s house.
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Pastor
Scott Wagers addresses the crowd which included members
of WEAP CHAM and the New Freedom Bus Riders: "Poverty
is the ill that most other ills stem from. America has not
yet tacked this ill."
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We travelled
from San Jose to Merced California, where we joined Labor
Party organizers Gloria and Sal Sandoval. The Labor Party
Organizing Committee of Merced hosted an evening event which
included many testimonials from local residents as well
as Freedom Bus Riders. Many of these stories centered around
the health care crisis in America. We talked at length about
the solution offered by the Labor Party's Just
Healtcare Campaign.
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Dr.
Sal Sandoval (right) opened the session, and Ramon Hernandez
(left) shared his testimony about how the company he was
working for changed owners. The new owners reduced and eventually
eliminated his benefits, leaving him, his wife and two children
without healthcare and owing money to the clinic.
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KWRU
member and Freedom Bus Rider Liz Ortiz gave her testimonial
of her lack of access to quality healthcare. "After a
heart attack and triple by-pass surgery I am still fighting
everyday for our basic economic human rights."
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The
San Joaquin Valley which, extends from South of Sacramento
and includes Merced is a largely agricultural area. If the
vally were a state it would rank 30th in population and 2nd
in poverty behind Mississippi.
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Collecting
documentation of economic human rights violations in Merced,
we learned of:
- people
living in chicken coops and other deplorable living
conditions
- sick people
not being able to afford to go to doctors
- people having
no way to pay overwhelming medical bills
- people having
to go back on welfare after having their hours reducing
at work and losing benefits
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Galen
Tyler of the KWRU testified that the last time he had access
to quality healthcare was over twelve years ago when he was
in the US military. Today he is organizing for Just
Healthcare.
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Press Link
Nov 19:
"Tour advocates for the poor,"
Merced Sun-Star
Daily
Prayer for the New Freedom Bus Tour
The Rev.
Noelle Damico, Catalyst, School of Theology, University
of the Poor
Monday, November 18
God we
come before you as Americans to pray for the soul of our nation.
Our country promises “liberty and justice for all”…not
just for those who are powerful enough and rich enough to
secure it for themselves. And yet children are hungry in our
nation. Mothers are ashamed because they cannot find jobs.
Fathers are dying from lack of healthcare. Families are living
hand to mouth in cars and on the street. God in your mercy
we ask you to save the soul of this nation. Change its priorities
and strengthen its resolve that it may ensure the well-being
of all its people. Amen.
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About
the Campaign 
