| To the Mountain Top: Reviving MLK's Poor People's Movement |
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| Written by Lawrence Jones Mahoney | |||
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The Philadelphia Student Union works on an array of issues from effective teaching to school & state funding to whole school transformation. But this past August, we traveled down to West Virginia to address a related and root cause issue: poverty. We attended the Poverty Initiative Leadership School, which was a week-long gathering of over 150 people from across the world to discuss the re-ignition of Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Movement.
The birth of the Leadership School started about a year ago when a smaller group in New York starting meeting, talking about poverty and a move to organize something bigger. So, we had conference calls and constant emails, setting up logistics and developing the workshops. The participants of the leadership school did daily workshops about four topics: religion, media/communications, the economic crisis, and organizing. We learned about worldwide struggles including the Shackdwellers’ Movement in Durban, South Africa, which is a movement to stop the eviction of poor people by the government. We met with Mazwi, the youth leader of the movement. We learned a lot about the economic apartheid that is faced by the majority of South Africans, and how they are coming together to meet their needs. Learning about what Mazwi has had to face and how he is still persisting is an inspiration to us as young organizers. We also went to Kayford Mountain to meet Larry Gibson and learn about mountaintop removal. Mountaintop removal is the extraction of coal from a mountain area by the use of explosions. It poisons the environment and the people. Despite the health risks, poor people are forced to take jobs in this industry because there is no other work. Larry’s family has owned a majority of the mountain for over 200 years, but the coal companies have been trying to get him off the mountain in order to get the coal. They tried to buy it from him, but because he grew up there, raised animals there, and loves the mountain, he will never sell it. For standing up to the coal companies, he has been followed, threatened, and attacked. Talking to him and hearing stories about him growing up and nurturing injured animals, left me both upset that he’s going through this, but also encouraging to see him fight. It gives me more fight for the struggles I am going through. Much of the week was about study, learning about the Poor People’s Movement that MLK had started before he was assassinated. It was a powerful start to our fight in ending poverty. At the end of the week, everyone at the Leadership School started thinking about next steps. We as a group decided that focusing on the religion and media aspects were key. Since then, individuals have met and we are planning conferences for both fronts. Two summers ago, I went to West Virginia for the first time and it was a really powerful experience. It was the first time I realized how the huge gap between rich and poor really affects peoples lives. PSU mainly focuses on education, but we know that there’s an undeniable link between our education system and poverty. Transitioning from being a student to being an alumnus of the Philadelphia Student Union, I see my role has changed. Before, I was doing the work as an organizer and member, speaking up at meetings and rallies, giving ideas, and taking part in leadership. Now, I can focus more on supporting new members and showing that link between education and poverty. Learning about the young people from the Shackdwellers’ Movement to the the coalfields of West Virginia, PSU realizes that youth are a big part of the global economy. We have to be the ones to transform the economy and make it responsive to the needs of all people. And for us to do that, we have to have a good understanding of history as well as of our present situation. If we know what is going on, then we can make positive change. And the Leadership School was one experience that helped us do that. •
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