On tonight's TV show, Glenn will mention the "We Are One" movement. While Glenn will lay out a lot of the facts on TV, you can see for yourself the language and ideas being put forth by leaders of the movement
We Are One Movement (April 4)
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. The workers were trying to form a union with AFSCME.
Beginning with worship services over the April 1 weekend, and continuing through the week of April 4, unions, people of faith, civil and human rights activists, students and other progressive allies will host a range of community- and workplace-focused actions.
Join us in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for: the freedom to bargain, to vote, to afford a college education and justice for all workers, immigrant and native-born. It’s a day to show movement. Teach-ins. Vigils. Faith events. A day to be creative, but clear: We are one.
We Are One Teach-In Toolkit - Read it here
Fight Back! National Teach-In (April 5) Website
A National Teach-in On Austerity, Debt, Corporate Greed (and what YOU can do about it)
Hosted by Frances Fox Piven and Cornel West
Teach-In Participating Campuses Website
What are the leaders saying?
Stephen Lerner, SEIU
“Join thousands of Americans on April 4 in cities across the country for a dramatic series of actions to stand up for the middle class.”
Richard Trumka in Support of We Are One Teach-Ins:
America’s working people, well we’re tough. We’ve been through three decades of stagnant incomes and declining living standards. And we’re willing to sacrifice to do our part. But then something else happened in Wisconsin, and Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, in dozens of states. The politicians weren’t just taking our money and our benefits. They weren’t just going after the food on our table and the roofs over our heads. They were coming after our rights.
We have the opportunity to rekindle and share with a new generation that fundamental American belief that we the people can transform our nation, our economy, our political leadership and our world. Now it’s up to us. All of us to turn this moment into a movement. And this movement into a force that can’t be turned back.
Leo Gerard (President of United Steelworkers / Member of AFL-CIO)
It’s time workers stood up to the freeloaders. Join Monday’s We Are One rallies. These demonstrations across the country by religious groups, social justice organizations and labor unions will illustrate that the middle class is mad as hell and not going to take trickster economics anymore.”
Finally, below are "A Prayer for Workers on the Occasion of the We Are One Mobilization" and "A Song of Solidarity (Red, White & Blue)" By Geoff Gilson
A Prayer for Workers on the Occasion of the We Are One Mobilization
Almighty God,
We are gathered here today in fellowship and in hope
As women and men committed to justice and freedom,
And as people who honor the dignity and rights of all working people.
We recall today the life and the hope of Martin Luther King, Jr.
And we remember today his vision of a just society, a beloved community.
We have been to the mountaintop,
And we have seen the Promised Land
Even as Dr. King courageously stood with sanitation workers in 1968,
So we stand today with teachers, firefighters, police officers,
And all workers whose rights are today imperiled across this nation
We know, God, that your Spirit is among us
And that Dr. King’s vision abides in our hearts.
We have been to the mountaintop,
And we have seen the Promised Land
We see in one another and in our working brothers and sisters
Your divine signature, God, and we lift it up this day.
We offer this common prayer in one voice to you,
In one mighty chorus across the nation.
We have been to the mountaintop,
And we have seen the Promised Land
God of Compassion and Mercy,
We ask that you remain with us and strengthen us
As we endeavor to ensure that freedom prevails for working people,
And that your divine signature is never obscured by injustice.
We have been to the mountaintop,
And we have seen the Promised Land
We ask that you guide us today and in the days to come
That we may all one day arrive in the Promised Land
As a beloved community, a great fellowship of men and women
Committed to the dignity and welfare and freedom of all people.
We have been to the mountaintop,
And we have seen the Promised Land
We ask for these things
In the sure knowledge that justice
Will triumph.
Amen.
A Song of Solidarity (Red, White & Blue) By Geoff Gilson
"From the factories to the farmyards
Where we work and till the soil
We keep our country running
With our backbone and our toil
From the mountains of Montana
To the Gulf shore, with its oil
We sweat and grind and break our backs
And risk health beyond call
We're not corporations
Making wealth for the few
We are the whole nation
The Red, White and Blue
We're not about money
We want justice too
It's not just the rich
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue
It's not a sin to offer
A helping hand to those
Who can not make both ends meet
Through sweat and tears alone
There is no faith nor charity
In claiming liberty
And being mean and selfish
To deny equality
We're not corporations ...
There are those who doubt us
They say it can't be done
What we say, we've said before
And that is, 'Yes We Can!'
We will stand together
With hope and dignity
It's not just the rich
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue
From the streets of Cairo, Egypt
To the shanties in Darfur
They look to us for democracy
Not arms to make more war
It's not about our dollar bill
But strength and guts and will
The world loves Martin Luther King
And the freedom songs we sing
We're not corporations ...
We're not a split nation
Giving rights to the few
We are One America
The Red, White and Blue
We know without thinking
What we need to do
It's right and it's true
It's you and me too
We're the Red, White and Blue"