Truth Commission on the Right to Not Be Poor – Standing Commission

The Standing Commission is a group of leaders from struggles of the poor and dispossessed around the country and beyond: from Flint to El Paso; Los Angeles to Lowndes County, Alabama; New York to Grays Harbor County, Washington. These commissioners come from the communities and organizations that are able to see the problems in our society most clearly. They’ll be getting together throughout this year, in the lead-up to the launch of the Poor People’s Campaign in December 2017, to talk about what they’re seeing and hearing at the Truth Commission events. Out of those events, discussions, and relationships, they’ll be offering some ideas about what issues the PPC should focus on and what values need to be at the center of our moral vision.

Here are the current members of the Standing Commission:

Onleilove Alston, Faith in New York (New York, NY)

Laurel Ashton, North Carolina NAACP (Western North Carolina)

Paul Boden, Western Regional Advocacy Project (California, Colorado, Oregon)

Avery Book, Vemont Workers’ Center (Vermont)

Todd Cherkis, United Workers (Baltimore, MD)

Larry Cox, Kairos Center (New York/National)

Nijmie Dzurinko, Put People First! PA (Pennsylvania)

Catherine Flowers, Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise,Equal Justice Initiative, Center for Earth Ethics (Lowndes County, AL)

Shawna Foster, Iraq Veterans Against the War (National)

Cherri Foytlin, BOLD Louisiana (Rayne, LA)

Fernando Garcia, Border Network for Human Rights (El Paso, TX)

Chris Grove, International Network for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (International)

Roz Pelles, Repairers of the Breach (North Carolina/National)

Dawn Plummer, food and anti-poverty advocate (Pittsburgh)

Luis Rodriguez, Co-founder and President of Tia Chucha’s Cultural Center and Bookstore, former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)

Aaron Scott, Chaplains on the Harbor (Grays Harbor County, WA)

Felipe Sousa Rodriguez, Popular Education Project (National)

Maegan Wilson, Democracy Defense League Water Task Force (Flint, MI)