Day 17 - Philadelphia to Camden, NJ

After two days of walking through Philadelphia, the march crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into Camden, New Jersey. Camden is another formerly industrial area which has been absolutely devastated as the industry and jobs disappeared. Like Kensington, the landscape is covered with abandoned factories, empty lots and vacant houses. The only major employer we marched past was a women's prison.

Ethel Long-Scott of the Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP) of Oakland, California, addressed the march as we were preparing to cross the bridge. "We bring you greetings from the state of California on behalf of the poor, the disenfranchised, low-wage workers, and the destitute. We are inspired and encouraged to be here on this march, our last evening before we leave off tomorrow. As a group we're going to be doing this educational and presentation. Just to kind of give you highlights for when you think about the state of California. There's about 35 million people in that state; it's about one of the seventh largest economies in the world, doing about 1 trillion dollars of business every year. And in the shadow of that, 8 million poor eke out an existence day to day. Eight million poor that you don't hear about unless it's through and in our movement of the new class of poor. And what globalization of capitalism has done, has accelerated making more people poor in our state...Of the 400 billionaires in this world, a lot of them are in Silicon Valley. Anyone heard of Silicon Valley before? Anyone thought we were gonna get rich out of those jobs there? Gonna get a better life? Most of the new jobs that have been developed here have been of contingency workers, who are barely, if at all, making an existence, and they are constantly facing the impact of the automation of the production, that of course is changing everything, for all of us. Our labor is constantly being replaced."

"With that 1 trillion dollars that I talked about that this state develops every year, the same state that, along with yours, has decided to rob the poor through the TANF program and CalWorks. At the Women's Organizations we are 17 years old, and we are dedicated to the empowerment and uplifting of poor women and their families. We have been on that track since our existence. Our first and most important constituency were welfare moms and moms that were homeless, and we have been involved in the Welfare Rights Union and the Homeless Union since they started. So one of the big things that's been extremely important to us, as this globalization has developed, is that we have a way to get past begging for the crumbs provided by welfare reform, and get onto developing a new social contract. So we have been very, very excited about this Economic Human Rights Movement, because it allows us to affirm what we need, families need, to live life with dignity. The next people who are gonna talk are gonna talk about things that we do as a part of our educational and organizing work, both in the city of Oakland, which I didn't talk about yet, and throughout the Bay Region, and to some degree in the state."

We heard from other members of WEAP, including Lynn Bruce: My name is Lynn, and I've been with the organization WEAP for 3 months now. I was sent from my recovery home there, to find me another career. I went to the doctor - I'm a licensed cosmetologist - I'm getting carpal tunnel in my arm. So they don't allow you to work, in a treatment program, but they will let me volunteer in this organization, which somebody was familiar with and thought it would be very empowering, and could help guide me to another goal and get me another career. The three months that I've been there, I found that to be very true. It really has empowered me to come out and really open my eyes to the community which I had my eyes shut. I'm in a real learning process right now because of the lack of knowledge that I had by struggling with my own struggles. But it has opened my eyes and let me know that I'm not the only one that's struggling in this world. That was the biggest thing that has been for me and right now, like I said, I'm really in my beginning stage of learning.

But I want to tell you that I was born and raised in Oakland and at 22 years old I was locked up in prison. I was robbed, I was beat up, and my womanhood was taken. So when the guy had threatened to come back and finish whatever he was gonna do with me, when he got back I shot and I killed him. They didn't have a self-defense law in California, so I was sentenced to a 15 to life sentence, and I served 13 years of that. I could barely read and write when I went, but after I got back there I got my GED, I finished an 1800 hour course in major appliance repair, I got about 37 college units. I wanted to learn to type; I type about 50-60 words a minute now. I took computer classes; I completed word processing. Cosmetology was a 1600 hour course which I completed, I mean, I had 400 hours to complete when I was released from prison. While in prison I learned all my rules and regulations, the law books, everything up under my case I fought and I fought. I got caught up under the new law, but I think it's about 20 people there before me under the new law. But through me working through the law library I worked myself out and I was the first woman to come out of that prison under the new law.

But I grew to learn about the law, and the rules and regulations. I learned to fight with a paper and pencil. I learned to write grievances, and I fought for women's rights in prison, and I fought the whole 13 years I was there to get everything that I possibly could get for us before I walked out of the door. I was elected chairperson of the whole women's prison, to lead the whole womens' organization and on my way out I was elected to be the peer counselor over all of the therapists in the prison.

When I came home I found myself in another struggle to get back on my feet after 13 years of being gone. So I finished my course, got licensed in cosmetology, did that for about 6 years, and, being that I was working so many hours I ended up losing my 9 ½ year relationship behind working so much. That's when I first used cocaine, and I used for about a year and a half before I found a recovery program. I wind up having my first baby at 40, and when I found out I was pregnant, I had been using. And when I was 5 months pregnant I couldn't get an abortion so I was kinda forced to have the baby, and I had him 2 weeks later after finding out in 5 months. So I went through a whole pregnancy.

I went through a treatment, and when I got home, the baby, since he was born so little - he was 1 pound and four ounces - he was put on SSI. Shortly after I came out the program, they cut my baby's SSI off, and told me they wanted me to just do the treatment program. But the rent was due, I couldn't pay bills, they wouldn't let me go to work, so I did the next best thing, I hustled to take care of my baby and me and keep a roof over my head. So they locked me back up in the program, which I got today, 18 months clean and sober. They're doing my paperwork, like I said, they helped fight to get me here. And they fought, I fought, and like I said I'm gonna fight to get the women out to the march. She's gonna let them do that before I leave up out of there. And like I said I'm really grateful to be here. Like I said I am new, but I'm here to be down for the cause and to support the March for my human rights that's being violated that I see there, and my community. Like I said I do a lot of outreach, I pass out fliers, I set up presentations, I go speak. Anything there is to do: I type memos, I do everything to participate in this march. Like I said I kept up with it over the Internet, with Kensington. So like I said I was gonna make it here one way or another. My baby is here, and I'm here to stand for the cause.

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