Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign's New Freedom Bus Tour kicks off in Philadelphia
The New Freedom Bus Tour is traveling across the United States for a month bringing attention to communities struggling for Economic Human Rights. A diverse group representing organizations of the poor from across the country is carrying the message of Economic Human Rights around the country and, on December 12th, to the United Nations in New York city The Bus tour is gathering documention of economic human rights violations occuring in the United States to update our petition charging the US government with human rights violations against its citizens.
Hundreds of students, labor leaders, workers, healthcare professionals, social workers and community members gathered in Philadelphia for a march and rally demanding healthcare for all.
The march assembled at the convention center during the opening session of the American Public Health Association's Convention.
Over 45 million Americans are without health care. The United States is the only industrialized country without universal health care. However, our system costs far more than those other systems. For-profit health care companies were the single greatest contributor to political campaigns this past year. Over 1.5 million families declared bankruptcy last year due to health care-related issues.
KWRU member and actor Mark Webber (recently appearing in the movies Hollywood Ending and Chelsea Walls) lead the marchers in chants.
Congressman John Conyers, a leader in the US House of Representatives in the fight for universal healthcare, who is now working to introduce a national single-payer health care bill, said,"We want a single payer healthcare system because - guess what? - it saves money, and it saves lives."
Cheri Honkala, Director of KWRU and National Spokesperson for the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign said, "We will use our national bus tour to expose the hidden war taking place in America. State by state we will witness the denials of basic human rights and we will document and listen to the stories of people who are living without the basics of food, housing, living wage jobs, education, and healthcare."
Mark Dudzic, National Organizer for the Labor Party spoke: "The Labor Party has made this struggle for Just Healhtcare at the top of our organizing agenda. And we salute the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, who are leaving today on a bus tour to carry this message of healthcare for all around the country.We belive that the only way that we are going to create a movement for national healthcare is to build a strong, independent movement of working people, of medical professionals, of poor people, of all the locked out, shut down, left out brothers and sisters around this country. Only then will the political parties listen to us and will do what every other country in this world has done for its citizens."
Other event speakers included:
Eric Hodgson - American Medical Student Association Bill Kane - New Jersey Industrial Union Council Quentin Young - Physicians for National Health Program / American Public Health Association Claudia Fegan - Physicians National Health Association Pedro Rodriguez - Action Alliance Ellen Isaacs - American Public Health Association Special Musical Guest: Foreign