U.S. poverty has many faces

It was around the time of the 2004 presidential campaign that statistics came out pointing to Cleveland as the poorest big city in the U.S. Cleveland also had the third-highest child poverty rate and was the third most segregated urban community. While Cleveland does not currently hold that distinction, it is not because economic suffering here has decreased—other cities have gotten even poorer.

Thus Cleveland was a fitting location for the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) to bring the “National Truth Commission,” held here July 14-17. This powerful event drew hundreds from across the U.S. to hear and give testimony about the denial of basic human rights to low-income people in this country. The rights violations covered included violations of the right to health care; the right to a living wage; the right to housing; the right to water, utilities, food and other basic necessities; the right to education; as well as unjust removal of children from their parents.

While a few speakers provided damning statistics, most spoke firsthand from their own experiences. “Commissioners” from the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East heard of evictions, utility shutoffs, poverty wages, mistreatment of deaf children in schools, children and parents burned in fires caused by portable heaters, and the continuing inhumanity visited upon Katrina survivors.

The all-day hearing was chaired by Cheri Honkala of the Philadelphia-based Kensington Welfare Rights Union and Marian Kramer, president of the National Welfare Rights Union, organizations that played a major role in putting on the commission. The following day the PPEHRC sponsored a “Vision and Resistance” art and culture day, followed on July 17 by a march to both the Democratic and Repub lican party headquarters to demand universal health care.

Speaking at the hearing as one of a busload of people from Detroit, Maureen Taylor of Detroit Welfare Rights Organi zation inspired the crowd when she proclaimed, “Soon the people will rise up in a tidal wave of rage and wipe out these killers of education!”