50th Anniversary celebration of the Welfare Rights Movement 1966-2016

 
Editor’s note: On June 24-25, in Detroit, the Welfare Rights movement celebrated its 50th anniversary in the fight to eliminate poverty. Activists shared stories of the courageous battles of the past—and the challenges faced today in a new era where automation is destroying jobs, and at the same time creating the possibility of a new society that ends poverty forever. The People’s Tribune, and its sister publication, the Tribuno del Pueblo ,have covered this historic struggle for decades. Below are quotes from participants; more voices will be in future editions.
“I’ve been in Welfare Rights for 31 years. Its about the importance of an organized voice, its about low income people being mistreated. It’s like a tale of two cities. When a city is poisoned and two years later the poisoned water is still coming through the pipes, it’s clear a decision was made to say ‘that’s OK.’ With the number of schools closed, when police shootings of people of color are right next to people that are blonde and blue eyed getting shot; when women, and 17-year olds get shot and police are saying ‘we’re not at fault’—if we allow someone else to decide our outcome, it will turn out just like this. All this stuff happening today is tied to the new technology. You put that ATM card in that slot and get your money out. There was a time when I knew all those tellers working in the bank. They all went away because I had that card and they didn’t need employees anymore.  Go to Home Depot, CVS, to the self-serve lines. They don’t need you anymore. Capitalism is collapsing. It’s time to get together. When we talk about one call, one class, organize not on basis of what you look like, but on the basis of who is tired of not being educated and tired of homelessness. Now is the time. The enemy is in flux. They can’t make money the way they used to. We need to get on the offensive. Open those houses and put people in them. Take the churches, hospitals, schools. The time for change is now. This is the 50th anniversary. Welfare Rights is extremely important. Over the next two years, we are going to make them holler!”

 Maureen Taylor, State Chair, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization:
 

 
“Listen to your children. Our young people are ready. The whole world knows what happened in Baltimore.  I’m a grandmother and a great-grandmother and a great great-grandmother. I had grandchildren in the middle of it.  I had a grandson that helped organize it.  We old people were sitting talking about how we was going to respond, and my grandson came up and said, ‘Grandma, can you get all of the elders out here?’ I said, why? He said, ‘We can take care of this. Please, Grandma.’ Well, we in Baltimore never seen like what we seen that day. When we woke up, the children had already planned what they was going to do I asked them where did y’all get them rocks? They said, ‘Hell they all over the city.’ They beat the Baltimore city police back so bad—I mean, police was saying, ‘Where is these children coming from?’ The children started organizing in elementary school for the day they was going to stand up and fight. My grandson was the young man they said tore up the police car. Let me tell y’all, the children tore up a lot of police cars and they had the police on the run. They called me up from downtown at City Hall and said, “Can you come out and speak to the children?’ I said Hell no. I’m not one of those people. They beaten y’all ass. They is fighting like Joshua out there. They tore it down. So talk to your children. Tell them your history and they will fight. I seen girls, boys. It’s us that’s talking about what we going to do. The children are ready.  — Rev. Annie Chambers welfare rights activist, Black Panther, and  President, Big Mama House.
 

 
“We taught each other in the past and still are. We use the People’s Tribune to educate because it’s a movement paper. We don’t just want to be part of coalitions; we want people to get an education about the type of system we need. My goal is not to become an entrepreneur. My goal is to create another system. Young people out in the streets are under attack for protecting the community, doing what this government should be doing. We may differ on some things but we are together because we are all under attack.  As long as they keep us divided we won’t get anywhere. They already took everything from us. You’re not needed to work, so you don’t need healthcare or education. We need the government to move over or get the kind of system we need. We need to be educators to those on the front lines to make this happen.” Marian Kramer, Co-Chair, National Welfare Rights Union:
Selma Goode (95 years old), Westside Mothers:  “We know the system stinks. We know democracy or socialism, whatever it is we need, means we have to be working together. We are so far from where we need to be. We should not be working in our own silo. Lets reach out to the people. Lets keep up the good work.”