Dear friends and family,
We bring you Easter greetings in these dark and dangerous times – times when more than 16 million people have joined the ranks of the unemployed in just the past few weeks, 11 million homeless are struggling to find a place to shelter with more being thrown into poverty and homelessness, and tens of millions remain without health care in the midst of a public health crisis. Indeed, these are times when some of the least respected and paid workers have been deemed essential but wages haven’t been raised and have no access to the personal protective equipment needed to weather this storm.
The stories we are hearing in the midst of this pandemic resonate with the story in the Bible about the crucifixion of Jesus, a brown-skinned homeless refugee and convicted felon who was killed by the state for organizing a moral fusion movement to transform society to serve the needs of the poor, rather than the rich. And as Christian pastors, we believe they also resonate with the story of resurrection that follows. In Matthew’s Gospel, there are multiple resurrections. Before Jesus is raised, Matthew 27 tells us that right at the moment of Jesus’ death, the tombs of the holy ones and fallen fighters are raised to life. These resurrections take place in the midst of suffering, poverty, and death.
Theologically, the resurrection is confirmation of the justice of God – that Jesus was indeed right to stand up for the poor and dispossessed. The resurrection must then be responded to with us continuing in the power and hope of the resurrection and bringing good news to the poor, comfort to the broken and broken-hearted, in our world today.
Because we believe the resurrection is vindication of the love and justice Jesus stood for we fight for voting rights, living wages, universal health care, free quality education, immigrant rights, welfare rights, forgiveness of debt and a complete moral agenda right now.
As many have noted there is an eerie silence in many cities across this country but one that is being interrupted by sirens. These sirens remind us of this quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
“There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way. Or, when a man is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed. There is a fire raging now for the poor of this society. They are living in tragic conditions because of the terrible economic injustices that keep them locked in. Disinherited people all over the world are bleeding to death from deep social and economic wounds. They need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved.”
This is our call today. This has been our call since our founding. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has been sounding the alarm about the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism and the need to shift the narrative, impact policies and elections and build power among the 140 million poor and low-income people in this country. We need the Poor People’s Campaign today now more than ever!
Watch the Moral Revolution: An Interfaith Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic with MoveOn.org
Share this interfaith litany from the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and click here to watch a video of the litany read by religious leaders across the Campaign.
Watch the Good Friday service from Greenleaf Christian Church and Repairers of the Breach.
Tune in to Reverend Barber’s Easter Sunday Sermon “There Are Resurrections Happening All Over the Place” today at 10am ET and to the Kairos Center online service and study, entitled Revolutionary Resurrection from 6-7:30pm ET.
Read these Maundy Thursday and Good Friday resources created by the Kairos Center.
Today falls in a larger holy season. Passover is a celebration of a freedom and liberation movement. Easter celebrates new life in the midst of death and a sick society. Ramadan teaches us all about fasting and service and global interconnection. These faith traditions and moral teachings have much to say in this moment about the need to come together and build power among God’s creation.
In this religious season may we see a rebirth of our commitment to save the soul of our democracy and nation. Please continue to organize for the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington June 20, 2020, the largest online gathering of poor and low-wealth people, people of conscience and activists, and proclaim: everybody’s got a right to live.
Blessings,
Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Co-Chairs, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
