Rev. Barber: “Whose side are you on, Joe Manchin?”
“If you’re not on the side of truth and justice and living wages and health care and infrastructure and voting rights, then you just picked a fight with the wrong people…”
By DOUGLAS J HARDING
The West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, along with the national organization, will lead a “Mass Moral Motorcade on Manchin” Thursday to demand the senator support several political reform initiatives, including ending the filibuster, restoring the 1965 Voting Rights Act, passing the For the People Act and implementing a $15 minimum wage.
Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, will participate in the motorcade from Boone County to Charleston and, in addition to other activists and organizers, will deliver a speech at the Capitol beginning at 2:30 p.m. The motorcade will also make a stop at Sen. Manchin’s office in Charleston at 2:15 p.m.
Rev. Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign also organized a “Moral March on Manchin” at the senator’s office in Charleston earlier this year, during which the reverend and other speakers thoroughly criticized Manchin’s role in recent political developments, asking him repeatedly: “Whose side are you really on, senator?”
“That’s the question we need to be asking Sen. Manchin,” Rev. Barber said at the Charleston march in June. “Whose side are you on, Joe Manchin? Because in West Virginia, 700,000 people are poor and low-wealth. In West Virginia, 355,000 people make less than $15-an-hour. In West Virginia, 46.7% of the Census tracts can’t even afford water (…) West Virginia needs free and unabridged voting. West Virginia needs a $15 living wage. West Virginia needs health care for everybody. West Virginia needs infrastructure. In fact, West Virginia needs a real senator who doesn’t just talk about it.”
Rev. Barber said the senator has made it clear throughout his time in government that he cares most about protecting and serving the interests of wealthy elites and himself rather than fighting to help the many struggling people across his state.
“[Joe Manchin] is one of those who would rather serve the U.S. Chamber of Commerce than serve the people of West Virginia—[one of] those who would rather serve the wealthy of this nation than care about the poor and low-wage working people of every race, creed and color,” Rev. Barber said. “Your own motto says ‘Mountaineers are always free.’ Well, why is [Manchin] locked down by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? Why is he locked down by the Koch brothers? That’s the question. Is he really being a mountaineer? Is he really acting like a West Virginia progressive? Back in the 20s and 30s, West Virginians took on the bosses. My granddaddy was a coal miner. He stood beside other white coal miners who took on those who stole their wages. It’s time again to shine a light on this nation.”
Rev. Barber said West Virginians should be outraged at Sen. Manchin’s voting record and political priorities and should serve as leaders in organizing and protesting to demand radical change.
“I’m here today because I believe West Virginia has some good news for the nation: I believe when you mess around and wake up a mountaineer, then you’ve got Hell on your hands,” Rev. Barber said. “I believe West Virginians are tired now—tired of Sen. Manchin standing before national cameras and saying he’s doing this because this is what y’all want (…) The voices of the people of West Virginia will be heard. We are non-violent, but we ain’t playing. We will fight. Whose side are you on, Joe Manchin? If you’re not on the side of truth and justice and living wages and health care and infrastructure and voting rights, then you just picked a fight with the wrong people because we’re going to fight you until Hell freezes over, and then we’re going to fight on the ice.”
The motorcade, which will include at least 151 cars marking the 151st anniversary of the signing of the 15th Amendment, will leave Thursday at noon from the parking lot on State Street across from the Boone County Courthouse and will conclude in Charleston. The starting point is set in Madison to honor the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain.
For more information about the motorcade, visit https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/mass-moral-motorcade-on-manchin/.
The West Virginia Holler is an affiliate of The Tennessee Holler and is powered, in part, by West Virginia Can’t Wait.
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