"Let's Make This Movement": The We Must Do MORE Tour in Maine and New Hampshire

November 25, 2019

Category: Events

On Thursday, October 10 and Friday, October 11, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival made our third and fourth stops on the We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour (Mobilize, Organize, Register, and Educate) in Portland, Maine, and Nashua, New Hampshire. 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 capital to demonstrate our power.
The Maine We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour started with a site visit to an impacted community in Portland, ME, where a homeless shelter is preparing to be moved, due to the gentrification of its current location. The Maine Mass Meeting also heard testimony from Ian Yaffe, Executive Director of Mano en Mano in Washington County, Maine, and other moral witnesses sharing the plight, fight, and insight of the poor in Maine. The next day, six Poor People’s Campaign moral witnesses stood trial in Concord, NH for their non-violent direct action during the 40 Days of Action last year. The Campaign arrived in Nashua, NH on Friday evening for a March and a Mass Meeting to close out the tour stop at the First Baptist Church of Nashua.
The following are some of the powerful images captured on the tour by Steve Pavey, #HopeInFocus.

instagram-NH-moreppc-bypavey68 — Organizers gather on the morning of Oct. 10 at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Portland, Maine, making plans for the mass meeting that evening and a site visit later in the morning.
Steve Pavey

instagram-NH-moreppc-bypavey02 — Among the protesters who gathered in Lincoln Park before the march was a brass marching band.
Steve Pavey

2019-1010-Maine-MORE-PPC-by-Steve-Pavey-HopeinFocus-88 — Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis leads the march through downtown Portland, ME.
Steve Pavey

instagram-NH-moreppc-bypavey21 — The mass meeting at First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME. 'We have to rise up! Rise up for living wages, rise up for immigrant rights, rise up to end racism, warmongering, to save this planet! RISE UP! Join us June 20, 2020!' —Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Steve Pavey

2019-1010-Maine-MORE-PPC-by-Steve-Pavey-HopeinFocus-120 — Rev. Christina Sillari, pastor of First Parish Unitarian Church, started the meeting off with prayer and with an acknowledgement of the colonized indigenous land on which the meeting was being held. She says, 'This is the revolution! If you haven't yet joined, I hope tonight you're inspired to become part of the Poor People's Campaign.'
Steve Pavey

instagram-NH-moreppc-bypavey41 — “Why did I join the Poor People's Campaign? Because for the first time in my life, I’m being heard! And I will march with everyone here on June 20, 2020, and I’ll be saying, I’m down, I’m ready, let’s make this movement! Nobody has to be silent anymore!” —Denise Smith
Steve Pavey

2019-1010-Maine-MORE-PPC-by-Steve-Pavey-HopeinFocus-139 — 'Idolatry is about worshipping economic structures that oppress God's people and not worshipping God, not caring for human beings made in God's image...It's making laws removing children from their families because they can't afford their water bill.' —Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Steve Pavey

2019-1010-Maine-MORE-PPC-by-Steve-Pavey-HopeinFocus-147 — 'We believe the communities we work with are already strong. It's the systems that need to change. We have the resources to move forward, they're just distributed unfairly.' —Ian Yaffe of Mano a Mano in Washington County, Maine
Steve Pavey

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey47 — Six Poor People's Campaign moral witnesses stood trial in Concord, NH for their non-violent direct action during the 40 Days of Action last year.
Steve Pavey

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey44 — Our New Hampshire Poor People's Campaign family marched to the First Baptist Church of Nashua, NH.
Steve Pavey

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey58 — 'I am one of the 38 million underinsured. I sometimes can’t afford the medicines I need. 1 in 5 Americans can’t afford their medications...What I’m describing is far too common in America.' —Genera Clay
Steve Pavey

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey66 — '50 years ago Dr. King called for a revolution of values in this country…We are proud to be a part of this movement…You are standing up and not being silent any longer!' —Pastor Maggie Lewis of First Baptist Church of Nashua, NH
Steve Pavey

Rev. Dr. Barber — Rev. Barber spoke to our New Hampshire Poor People’s Campaign family who went on trial the morning of our NH Mass Meeting for their civil disobedience during the 40 Days of Action last year: 'Be good tonight, then get up tomorrow, and start a revolution!'
Steve Pavey

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey11 — 'Our nation is afraid. The one refrain that I see in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, in so many sacred texts, is 'Do not be afraid!' Fear not, the angel said to Mary, and turn the world upside down!' —Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfield
Steve Pave

instagram-2019-NH-PPC-by-pavey88 — Theomusicologist Yara Allen leads the Nashua Mass Meeting in song. We know we must do MORE to break the chains of injustice!
Steve Pavey

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!

“Let’s Make This Movement”: The We Must Do MORE Tour in Maine and New Hampshire