On Monday, Sept. 16, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival kicked off the We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour (Mobilize, Organize, Register, and Educate) in El Paso, TX. The National M.O.R.E. Tour highlights the work of the Poor People’s Campaign on the ground in 20+ states from September 2019 to May 2020, and will culminate in the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington on June 20, 2020, where thousands of poor people and moral agents will gather at the nation’s capitol to demonstrate our power.
For the first stop of the We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour, the Campaign partnered with the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso. On the first day of the tour, we held a powerful Mass Meeting at All Saints Episcopal Church. We continued over the next few days with community canvassing throughout border communities, and finished the tour with a march and rally in the main square in El Paso. At the rally, we proclaimed that next year, on June 20, 2020, the border would go to Washington!
The following are some of the powerful images captured on the tour by Steve Pavey, #HopeInFocus.
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-0916-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-127.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”The tour began by listening and following the lead of the grassroots-led organization, the Border Action Network for Human Rights.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-0916-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-67.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Fernando Garcia: ‘On August 3rd, they wanted us to stop — to stop resisting, to stop welcoming immigrants and refugees. But that will not happen. The answer is, we must do MORE. El Paso has become the symbol of resistance.'” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/IMG_0175-e1568904613347.jpeg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Yara Allen leads us in theomusicology during our Mass Meeting in El Paso.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-0916-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-116.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”The Campaign joined with BNHR to do community canvassing and listening leading up to the march in El Paso.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-0916-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-109.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Segundo Barrio with organizers Irma and Susannah.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-0916-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-105.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Joseph carves a cane for the elderly in his community. He says suffering is the result of not loving those in need around you and this he says is because most people are driven by greed.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/533EB7F2-A2C0-4A2F-81B2-9D6DD59898DE-1142-000000CBD17E9077.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”We finished the tour with a march and rally in the main square in El Paso, TX.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-0918-PPC-El-Paso-by-Steve-Pavey-10-2.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Fernando Garcia educates us that ‘what happens in the borderlands will move to the interior.’ This rapid and expansive militarization of the border will spread and this is deeply troubling to all our communities.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/7CCCB265-B050-4D84-9DD4-5100316B4A63-1062-000000C1BEE43BDE.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Garcia says, ‘Our fight and struggle is not only about immigration reform. It is more about the larger struggle for human dignity and the rights and dignity of immigrants.'” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
[aesop_image img=”https://kairoscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/9120AF56-92D0-4CF5-8B0D-23293DF02A52-1251-000000D2EE536234.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Steve Pavey” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”As Rev. Dr. Barber declared on the first night of the tour, ‘Right here in El Paso, the rising begins … People are rising to build power, to change the narrative, all over the country! We’ve got to change the moral conversation of the nation!'” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
Join us as the We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour continues across the country, leading to the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington on June 20, 2020! Find a tour stop near you!