Panel of Formerly Homeless Mothers will Speak to Press
On Saturday, August 17 at 1 p.m., the Poor People’s Army will conclude their 90-mile march from Milwaukee to Chicago in Humboldt Park. The national group–which has a permit to march from the park to the United Center on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC)–will be setting up an encampment they are calling “GrantsPassville,” after the recent Supreme Court decision that allows for the criminalization of homelessness. Press and the public are invited to join them near the Puerto Rico Flag West at the southeast corner of Humboldt Park to watch the construction of their encampment, complete with tents, signs, and banners. Audiences will hear from a panel of formerly homeless mothers who have previously lived in Poor People’s Army tent cities and “takeover” houses. The event will also be livestreamed at https://www.instagram.com/ppehrc.
Poor People’s Army, also known as Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, has been organizing marches on the opening day of Republican and Democratic National Conventions for decades. They are a group led by homeless and formerly homeless people, with a mission to unite the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty everywhere and forever.
“It’s fitting to be in this historically Puerto Rican community and marching from here to the gates of the DNC,” says Tara Colon, a formerly homeless mother in the Poor People’s Army. “Many of us are Puerto Rican and we led a historic march to the DC offices of HUD when they were failing to protect our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters after Hurricane Maria in 2017. And now we have to stand together again to demand the government respond swiftly to damages from Hurricane Ernesto.”