February 22, 2006

DIRECTOR'S CORNER

By TIM HARRIS

On Monday, Seattle once again held one of the nation’s largest annual marches to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Organizers drew the links between racism, poverty, and militarism, and called for an end to war so that the nation can address poverty here at home.

My twin two-year old daughters and I joined several hundred others in Olympia for a rain-soaked rally and march to the statehouse. Statewide Poverty Action Network (SPAN), Real Change, and others united for a day of lobbying and protest in the streets. Most of those who came were those living in poverty.

Our message was that so much poverty amidst so much affluence can not be tolerated. The SPAN legislative agenda this year includes regulation of exploitative lenders, expansion of health care for low-income children and adults, increased support for housing, a living wage for Washington workers, greater investment in Washington families, and expanded voting rights for felons.

Real Change’s Anitra Freeman reminded us all that “power protects itself by being boring,” and that we’ll always outnumber the interests that are mobilized in support of an unjust status quo.

For more information on how to support SPAN’s 2006 anti-poverty agenda, see their website at www.povertyaction.org, or call (206) 694-6794.S