The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival & Campaign Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis are traveling the country, mobilizing the grassroots to march on Washington on June 18. 
 
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice and the Wisconsin Poor People's Campaign are working together to plan the Madison stop on the tour. Rev. Theoharris will bring the tour to Madison on Monday, March 28.

The event begins at 4:30 at the top of State Street. From there we will march to the Capitol and circle the Capitol. Following music and inspirational speakers at the Capitol, we will continue to First United Methodist Church for a mass gathering at 6:00.

•    Additional information (FAQ's, parking info, etc.) will be sent via email to those who have registered: http://tinyurl.com/midwestmore 
 
Directly impacted people, faith leaders, and artists will gather together to demand this nation do MORE to live up to its possibilities:  

MORE to fully address the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of health care, militarism and the war economy, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism. 

MORE to change the narrative and build the power of those most impacted by these injustices
. 
MORE to realize a 3rd Reconstruction agenda that can build this country from the bottom up and realize the nation we have yet to be. 
  
The event will also be livestreamed on the Poor People's Campaign FB page and at poorpeoplescampaign.org/livestream 
 

Faiths United to Save Democracy (FUSD) is a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith, and multi-generation 2022-2024 voter justice campaign focused in the states of AL. AZ. FL. GA. MI. NC. OH. PA. TX. WI.

The FUSD campaign exists to overcome the unprecedented assault on democracy aimed at making it more difficult for people living in poverty, vulnerable voters including the targeting voters of color, the elderly, students, and the disabled to exercise their sacred right to vote.

The Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign, co-led by WFVJ and Wisconsin Council of Churches, is partnering with this effort in Wisconsin. 

FUSD will be hosting a kick-off webinar for Wisconsin on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30.  Log onto Zoom and use the meeting ID: 858 4786 9689; passcode: 279457

Research shows that voter pledges encourage voter discussions, voter turnout, and hold people accountable to their commitment. Voter pledges help organizations find committed volunteers, create networks of allies, plan civic engagement events, reach out to first time voters, and facilitate productive conversations.

We would like to help you engage your congregations and organizations with this Voter Pledge. Sign up to receive a downloadable copy of the Pledge in your email. Please share the pledge with at least 10 others from your congregation/organization. Help us encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote!
 

Planning on voting absentee for the April 5 election? Read and share this important update from our friends at the League of Women Voters:

***UPDATE FOR APRIL 5 SPRING ELECTION: Due to new rules, plan to return your absentee ballot by mail or by delivering it to your clerk's office rather than a drop box. Additionally, if possible, voters should plan on returning their own absentee ballot. Voters with disabilities may ask for accommodations to return their ballot. If you have questions about these changes, contact your municipal clerk.***

The April 5 election includes judgeships, school board races, a mayoral race in Milwaukee, and other important elections.  Local elections often get small turnouts, but the people in these local offices can have a tremendous impact on your day to day life.  Don't sit this one out!

Find out what's on your ballot here.

Make sure you are registered.

Find your polling place.

See you at the polls!

Read-In April 4, 2022 at 7:00pm via Zoom

Register here to receive the Zoom link

Clergy and people of faith across Wisconsin will gather on Zoom on April 4 to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s powerful and prescient 'Beyond Vietnam’ speech with a virtual Read-In. The Read-In will also be livestreamed on WISDOM’s Facebook page.

Representing Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Unitarian, and Buddhist faiths, clergy, high school and college students, Black, white, Latinx, gay, straight, and trans, all will come together to read the speech collaboratively.

Dr. King’s speech against the U.S. military intervention in Vietnam was seen at the time as a radical departure from his work for civil rights and was widely denounced, even by his own Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Yet, his words were prophetic, and still resonate today, as Dr. King called upon us all, as a nation, to undergo a ‘radical revolution of values’. He further warned us, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

“These words were spoken 55 years ago, but they are as relevant today as they were then” said Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, Executive Director of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, one of the sponsors of the event. “With growing economic inequality, corporations and CEOs reaping enormous profits while their workers struggle to feed and house their families, the forces of racism and white supremacy seeking to bring us back to the days of Jim Crow, we need more than ever to hear and heed Dr. King’s words. The issues he addressed speak to the same issues of white supremacy and racism that we are fighting. We are today, just as we were 55 years ago, ‘confronted with the fierce urgency of now.’”

Speakers (Congregations/organizations listed for identification only)
Rev. Ben Morris, Lutheran Campus Ministries, LaCrosse
Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson - First Unitarian Society, Madison
Jane Kavaloski – WCC Stewardship of Public Life Commission, Madison
Sister Maureen McDonnell, O.P. - Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Madison
Rev. Luis Velasquez – Wellspring United Methodist Church, Madison
Adam Clausen - Life Center Madison
Rev. Jerry Folk – Interfaith Peace Working Group, Madison
Robbie Gunshor - junior at Madison West High School, Madison
Madelyn Peppard – UW Madison/PresHouse, Madison
Sydney Tepner - UW Madison/UW Hillel, Madison
Julia Sikowitz Lee – UW Madison/UW Hillel, Madison
Bishop Paul Erickson – ELCA, Milwaukee
Rev. Walter Lanier – MICAH, Milwaukee
Rev. Joseph Jackson – MICAH, Milwaukee
Pardeep Kaleka – Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, Milwaukee
Rabbi Steve Adams - WI Council of Rabbis, Milwaukee
Jodi de Fosse - Black Lives are Sacred, Milwaukee
Taylor Staples – Zao Milwaukee Church, Milwaukee
Susan Myoyu Andersen – Great Plains Zen Center, Monroe

The Read-In is co-sponsored by MICAH, Wisconsin Council of Churches, the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, and WISDOM.