Over the course of this polarizing presidential election, much focus has been on the “battleground states” of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Maryland was not one of those states. And yet what gets lost in this partisan mapping, is that the poor and dispossessed of every state and every county, whether red or blue, have more in common than they have differences. This truth can be hard to see, particularly as politicians and the corporate media seek to divide us along lines of race, region, nationality, gender, age, religion, and party. But the growing ranks of the multiracial poor—rural, urban, and suburban, in battleground states and non-battleground states—are in a battle for our survival everyday. This reality is what compelled us to make the decision 2 ½ years ago to expand statewide—to connect the struggles of the poor in Baltimore to the struggles of the poor across Maryland.  

In Maryland, one of the richest states in the U.S., almost 40% of residents are unable to meet their basic needs for housing, food, healthcare, transportation, childcare, etc. Maryland is not unique. This growing impoverishment is reflected across the country and becoming even more dire as a result of post-pandemic cuts in public benefits like the Expanded Child Tax Credit, SNAP benefits, and Medicaid. According to a recent Urban Institute report, more and more people are having to rely on various forms of debt (credit cards, payday loans, and Buy Now, Pay Later) just to pay for essentials, with 60.5% of adults resorting to credit cards to buy groceries. In the last year, over 25 million people nationally, and more than 343,000 people in Maryland, have been cut off of life-saving Medicaid. Decades of attacks on the poor and rising inequality is producing a health crisis in this country with poverty now the fourth leading cause of death. 

Each of these startling facts represents a question - how can this be that in the richest country in human history we are experiencing so much poverty and suffering? And whether you are the party on the rise or the incumbent going down in defeat, neither party has managed a compelling answer to this existential question. 

We launched the Right to Health Campaign to call out this death-dealing system, to unite the poor in Maryland around the survival issues we have in common and to demand answers from all power holders. This year, we kicked off our Right to Health campaign on Memorial Day at the site of our state’s very own Potter’s field to honor those fallen soldiers in this war on the poor. Through base-building outreach in Baltimore and Central and Western Maryland counties, we have been connecting with our base, hearing about the right to health struggles people are facing, and developing leaders from the ranks of the poor. 

In September, as part of the Nonviolent Medicaid Army (NVMA) Week-of-Action, our regional committees organized Right to Health Speak-Outs testifying to the myriad of ways that the denial of housing, living wages, healthcare, and dignity is affecting our mental and physical health, even leading to premature death. We had members courageously share about attempting suicide due to facing eviction, becoming homeless along with their five children following the death of their husband, and the death of their mother from an ear infection because she couldn’t afford the ambulance bill. 

We were not simply telling sad stories, but breaking our silence and isolation. Black and white, women, men, and gender non-binary, urban, rural, and suburban, we revealed that these are not isolated incidents, but rather all too common experiences for the growing poor in Maryland and this country. Despite our differences, we saw ourselves in each other's stories. Through the sharing and hearing of each other’s stories, we agitated ourselves and deepened our commitment to each other and this fight to demand our Right to Health and right to live.

Three weeks ago, we held our 3rd annual Statewide Membership Assembly in Sharpsburg, Maryland, the site of another historic battleground—Antietam. We reflected on how the battle at Antietam was a historic turning point during the Civil War not just because it initiated the Emancipation Proclamation, but because it also served as a vehicle that brought poor black slaves and poor whites in unity with one another. Today there is a narrative being pushed that our class is incapable of uniting. During our assembly we proved that not only can we unite in Maryland across urban and rural divides, and across state lines throughout the country, but also internationally. In addition to members from Maryland, we had leaders join us from nine other states, from Alabama all the way to Vermont, as well as comrades from the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil and the MLK Center in Cuba. 

The unity and solidarity of the poor across deep and historic lines of division whether geographic, racial, or partisan is what we need in order to transform the politics of this nation. This doesn’t happen overnight or by itself. This kind of solidarity must be created and fought for by transgressing the boundaries that contain and divide us. 

If you think that this sort of class solidarity is needed now more than ever. If you are tired of what Dr. King called the “cruel manipulation of the poor” by the powers that be, then sustain the work of United Workers by donating today. Help us raise $20,000 by the end of the year, so we can continue to unite the poor around what we have in common and demand a Right to Health for everyone, everywhere. 

United Workers' 2024 Membership Assembly

Upcoming Events: 

The NVMA’s November Saturday School of Struggle is tomorrow, November 9th. This special edition of the Saturday School will take place at 11:30 am ET because we will be broadcasting LIVE from the Vermont Workers Center Membership Assembly with a strategic dialogue on the post-election terrain! Our very own, Michael Coleman, will be on the panel from Vermont. 

FB event and registration link are here:

FB event- https://www.facebook.com/share/19dqcWqioE/

Registration link-  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkd-ugrDwtGNMAVU46wmIpDeY7wRnS0Dwc#/registration

Updates: Right to Health Speak-outs

On September 26th and 27th, we held our Right to Health Speak Outs in Baltimore, Cumberland, and Westminster. Our Speak- Outs were a part of the Nonviolent Medicaid Army’s Week of Action where 12 states across the country came together to connect our struggles and strengthen the broader movement to end poverty. We heard powerful testimonies from our members across the state that called out this death-dealing system of poverty and showcased the power and leadership from the ranks of the poor. Click on the links below to watch the live streams of each region’s Speak- out. 

Baltimore Right to Health Speakout 

Westminster Right to Health Speakout

Cumberland Right to Health Speakout

A Mother Knows: Exposing The Human Cost of America’s For-Profit Healthcare System 

Western Maryland Speak-out Shines Light on Systemic Neglect of American Workers and Their Families

United Workers member Ginger Lee testifying at Cumberland's Right to Health Speak-out

“….During the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, over 25 million people were disenrolled and over 56 million had their coverage renewed. Overall, 31% of people whose coverage was redetermined during the unwinding were disenrolled, but that share ranged widely across states.

That's why Ginger and many others members across the state recently held our Right to Health Speakouts to demonstrate how America's for-profit system is failing us all. They gathered on a rainy Friday night at Allegheny College in the hills of Western Maryland, across from UPMC Western Hospital – a rural hospital struggling with understaffing, which has led to the closure of beds and reduced the hospital's ability to care for patients. And most of the patients they can treat can't afford it, leading to crushing medical debt and denial of services….”

Click here to read full article written by United Workers member, Mike Hughes

Arts and Culture: 

What Would You Do?

Poem By: Melissa Wiertz, United Workers' member from Cumberland, MD

What do you do?

When your health is failing

When your medical insurance is cut 

What do you do?

When you can’t afford food

When you can’t afford medicine

What do you do?

When doctors stop listening

When tests aren’t enough

What do you do? 

When bills can’t be paid

When costs go up, but income stays down

What do you do?

When a months pet food is cheaper than a months human food

When doctors can’t find the answers

What do you do?

When you have more questions than answers 

When your food budget shrinks but you still need food

What do you do?

When you can’t afford rent

When you can’t find clean water

What do you do?

When rent goes up but income stays the same

When utilities get shut off

What do you do?

When vet bills are cheaper than doctors bills

When being poor costs too much

Western Maryland Speak-out Shines Light on Systemic Neglect of American Workers and Their Families

What if your child had bipolar before anyone even knew that was a thing? You somehow find a doctor who's supposed to help. One who has a lot of letters after their name. And works at a fancy office. And maybe you're not dressed as nicely as everyone else in the waiting room. And they seem uncomfortable, their eyes stealing glances at you from behind their magazines. And it would help if your child wasn't in a manic state today, pulling out tissues and ripping them into confetti. 

They finally call your child's name and the two of you head back to one of the appointment rooms and take your seats. You sit and you wait. You calculate how long it will take before your daughter has a complete meltdown. You think about work. That your pay barely covers the gas and the cost of this visit. And that your middle-aged boss, between hitting on you and insulting your intelligence, puts you on his layoff list for asking for time off.

A soft knock and the door opens. The doctor enters, well groomed, his pants pressed, his shoes shined, staring at a clipboard. "I see here that you're having some behavior problems with your daughter. What sorts of things have you tried?" The interrogation has begun.

You explain in detail all of the coping mechanisms and interventions you've come to rely on to get your child through the day. You're not sure if he heard any of that.

"Have you thought of attention deficit disorder?"

You had thought of that but it didn't fit. Your child could swing from a manic state to a depressive one and back again, without warning and for no reason. Then she would sometimes get aggressive and hurt her little brother. It could happen in a matter of minutes. And it's just you there to take care of them – no one else to keep both of your children safe. 

The doctor looks at you suspiciously and you feel the urge to shrink into your chair. Behind him on the wall are framed diplomas and certificates, which combined cost more money than you will earn in your life. "Your child isn't bipolar. It doesn't manifest that early. Your child is too young. It has to be something else."

"ADHD meds will help," the doctor says. "I'm writing you a prescription."

But wait. Stimulants? Your mind is racing. The doctor's already starting to leave. 

"You can't give a kid in a manic phase stimulants."

"Not bipolar. Too young. The nurse will see you out." The door closes and he's gone. 

Back in your car, you think to yourself, "What just happened?" 

That visit would start an ordeal that would last several years. The ADHD meds only make things worse. Everyone thinks it's your fault. You manage to collect data from various studies and medical journals. But you, a woman, a single mom with regular clothes and no letters after your name – what do you know? You're probably just a bad mother anyway. 

It would take 25 doctors and thousands of dollars until Ginger Lee found a medical provider who would believe her. It would take 25 doctors until one of them would listen – before one of them would trust her about her own daughter. 

Ginger Lee at Cumberland's Right to Health Speak-out

Call to Action: Protesting the 25 Million Americans Cut From Medicaid This Year

Have you ever heard someone lie to your face – but they use technically true words? Look at the disingenuous foolishness below and try not to laugh through your teeth:

During the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, over 25 million people were disenrolled and over 56 million had their coverage renewed. Overall, 31% of people whose coverage was redetermined during the unwinding were disenrolled, but that share ranged widely across states.

Did you hear that? That's what policy murder sounds like. Translations are as follows:

Unwinding = You go to the pharmacy for the medication you depend on and the pharmacist says, "I'm sorry, you no longer have coverage," while someone behind you grunts for you to move along.

Disenrolled = You have been cut from Medicaid and will have to hope for the best. Try not to lose your house while you sink into increasingly devastating health and financial consequences.

Redetermined = That one really is funny, as in "your existence on planet Earth has been redetermined. Please make arrangements for your imminent demise at your earliest convenience."

Ranged Widely Across States = Depending on where you live, you may not have any chance at all of escaping these cuts, and these cuts affect every state: Red and Blue. And this is happening during a Democratic administration. It seems that, on some issues, our elected leaders are still capable of crossing the political divide and passing laws that will affect every American.

That's why Ginger and many others members across the state recently held our Right to Health Speakouts to demonstrate how America's for-profit system is failing us all. They gathered on a rainy Friday night at Allegheny College in the hills of Western Maryland, across from UPMC Western Hospital – a rural hospital struggling with understaffing, which has led to the closure of beds and reduced the hospital's ability to care for patients. And most of the patients they can treat can't afford it, leading to crushing medical debt and denial of services. 

This gathering was part of a nationwide call to action by the Nonviolent Medicaid Army, supported by United Workers and several sister organizations across the United States. They gathered in protest of the 25 million poor and low-wage workers who are being cut from Medicaid this year. Those are 25 million Americans who are being thrust into a desperate situation. One that could end in financial ruin, chronic illness, and even death. 

Borrowed Time: Living at the Mercy of a Broken Healthcare System

All of this is happening in the richest country in the history of human civilization. All of this is happening so that billionaires and for-profit healthcare executives and politicians can all pocket just a little more money. They do this so workers will be scared for their lives – scared to lose their jobs, scared to lose their private health insurance, scared for themselves, and scared for their families. Scared and compliant. 

My name is Mike Hughes. I live in Western Maryland with my wife and daughters. My wife is on disability due to heart failure and autoimmune diseases. I am autistic and struggle with anxiety and depression. I've worked the last six years as a contractor and then as a full-time employee for a major corporation. We made more profit this year than our company ever made before. Our team hit our metrics and exceeded all expectations. We thought we'd be getting bonuses. Instead, many of us were laid off without warning. How could someone who doesn't know us make a phone call and blow up that many lives? 

Now I'm scared. I don't know when I'll find another job or if we'll qualify for Medicaid at a price we can afford. My wife depends on her medication to live. Without it, her heart failure will get worse and worse until she dies. 

Policy Murder: Losing My Mother at 48

That's actually what happened to my mother who was 48 years old when she died. Not of heart failure though. Hers was an ear infection that spread to her brain and the rest of her organs until her whole body shut down. She had refused the ambulance because she couldn't afford it. A few days later, she went into a coma and never recovered. 

She had called me when it all started. To say she loved me and to say goodbye. I didn't understand what was happening. I made a joke but she couldn't hear me because of the infection. That was the last time we spoke. She never met her grandchildren. She would have been 71 years old this year. 

That's why we gathered to bear witness to what's going on in this country. To protest what Reverend William Barber of the Poor People's Campaign calls policy murder. Ginger Wiertz, along with several other mothers, stood in front of a banner of Harriet Tubman the abolitionist to proclaim what this death-dealing system has done to their children. 

"A mother knows," they exclaimed, each one recounting how they and their children were denied treatment and endangered by for-profit healthcare. They spoke out to make the invisible visible. To make the tolerable intolerable. Like Harriet Tubman who fought to end slavery, these women and other activists are fighting for an America that doesn't exist yet, except in our dreams and imaginations. An America where healthcare is a human right, not a privilege of a select few.

It's dawning on more of us every day that we get the government we're willing to tolerate. No matter how bad it gets or how powerless we feel, this situation does not continue without our consent. We don't have to put up with this. This could all be stopped if we get organized and united in saying, "No, you are not going to do this to us anymore!"

"They won't listen," Ginger said. Then after a long pause, "That's why we have to make them listen."

UW organizers assemble in Cumberland, joining together across lines of division to gain new members and leaders

In the Jewish scriptures, there is a story about a great king whose armies had conquered the world. His heart was full of pride. So he had a great statue formed of himself made entirely of gold. Then he gathered his subjects on a great plain in Babylon before his golden statue and commanded them to bow down. He commanded them to bow down and worship their new God. The king's power was total, his word was absolute. Everyone obeyed. Everyone except three Hebrew young men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The great king was in a generous mood so he said, "Hey dummies, perhaps you didn't hear? It's time to bow down to your God." 

From far across the plain, three tiny voices came back, "No, no, our king. We already have a God."

The king, whose mood had taken a turn, said "In case you haven't noticed those giant furnaces over there, that's where you're going if you don't obey." 

They said, "We know. But we're still not going to do it." 

The king asked, "Who will rescue you from my hand? You'll die."

From far across the plane, the tiny voices came back again, "Our God might save us. But even if he doesn't, we're still not going to do it." 

The king lost it. "Seven times hotter, make the furnaces seven times hotter! Then bind them and throw them in." 

The soldiers obeyed. The soldiers died. The insane heat killed them instantly when they threw the young men into the furnace. But the young men were unharmed, their ropes consumed by the flames. 

"Weren't there three men that we threw into the furnace?" the king exclaimed. "But I see a fourth walking among them, one like a God." 

The story has a happy ending. The young men come out of the furnace and their clothes don't even smell of smoke. The king learns his lesson and proclaims his allegiance to the God of Israel (until he doesn't but that's another story). 

What I find interesting today is that these three young men said no. They said no to state corporate power, even if it cost them everything. Who would do that? 

Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about the poor coming together as one, a nonviolent army with nothing to lose. United across lines of division -- across race, across religion, across gender and orientation, across everything that has separated us to become "a new and unsettling force," rising as one to say no to state corporate power. 

Do you feel the heat? Is it getting hotter? Do you find it harder and harder to imagine a future where we don't just want to curl up and die? A future where a $400 car repair won't sink us or where we don't have to worry about having enough food to feed our kids, if we even have enough money to have kids? A future where we all have a safe place to live that doesn't eat up a month's worth of paychecks? A future where we can get sick and not go bankrupt from medical debt? 

Yesterday, a group of us came together in a hot room in the back of a church in LaVale Maryland as part of United Workers' outreach to new members. Led by Ammie Ballheim, the local western regional outreach lead, who's been gaining traction with folks in the area who are fed up with the way things are and want to do something about it. A group of people who are ready to get organized because they know that's the only way for anything to really change. 

My name is Mike Hughes. I am autistic and I struggle with depression and anxiety. My wife has heart failure and several autoimmune diseases. It's been hard to pay our bills and I'm scared. I mostly try not to think about it. Sometimes that works.

Cari Neal-Harden, another organizer from Western Maryland at the event said, "I like to study history and all over the world the poor have been put down more and more until something happens and they say enough. Then things get better." 

It's getting hotter all over. Extreme heat. Record temperatures, with each summer hotter than the last -- with the poor and the unhoused having nowhere to escape. We all work real hard to block it out. To pretend that all of this is normal. But it's not normal. We've become numb to the violence and economic savagery of life in the United States of America. 

Like those three young men on the plains of Babylon who didn't ask to be thrown into that furnace, that seven-times-hotter furnace. They weren't looking for trouble. But they wouldn't back down either. They weren't going to surrender their identity, their dignity to anybody and they were together in that furnace. They were united. They were free. Then something wonderful happened and nothing was ever the same. 

As we live through late-stage capitalism together, it seems as if even the ruling class is growing more and more desperate, more erratic. Taking more risks, acting more brazenly, with their coercive power seeping into every area of our existence. Commanding us to bow to their absolute authority and commanding us to do so with smiles on our faces.

But the ruling class messed up. Extreme heat can melt things that are different into one thing. By turning up their furnace seven times hotter, they're melting all of us together into a new and unsettling force. A force not dependent on one man who can be assassinated, but built on the masses of the poor. We're ready to say, "Enough!"

This Memorial day, United Workers will mark the launch of our Right to Health Campaign with a memorial at Springfield Hospital to remember and honor our fallen soldiers in this ever growing war on the poor.

Springfield Hospital is the site of Maryland’s Potter’s field, a mass grave for the unidentified and “unclaimed” cremains of those impoverished Marylanders who were too poor to afford a funeral. According to Maryland law, a family has 72-hours to claim their relatives body and provide for their funerary services. If they cannot afford to claim their loved one, the body is taken by the Anatomy Board and sold in whole or in parts as a cadaver for medical research. Their final resting spot is a mass grave at Springfield Hospital, where a single anonymous plaque marks their contribution to science, but makes no mention of the reality that so many did not consent, did not have a choice.

Since our early days of organizing we have understood the many ways that poverty affects our overall health. Poverty robs us, our families, and our communities of freedom, dignity, and life itself. By honoring and remembering our family and friends, we are claiming that we, the poor and dispossessed, are not anonymous, disposable, and useful only insofar as we produce profit for this system. We are calling out the immorality of poverty in one of the richest states in the richest country in the world and exposing its death-dealing implications.

Join us on Monday, May 27th at 2pm to make visible the life and death stakes of the growing poverty in one of the richest states in the world. Click here to RSVP. 

photo taken of the plaque at Springfield Hospital

JUSTICE JAM ART BUILDS

In preparation for our campaign launch and memorial at Springfield Hospital, we have scheduled a series of Justice Jam Art Builds in each of our regions. Last weekend we hosted our first art build in Carroll County. 

At these Justice Jams we will focus on the meaning of the Right to Health and ask the questions; In what ways has poverty contributed to the deaths and/or poor health of you or your loved ones? What would it mean for Maryland to guarantee the right to health? We are turning our responses into banners, signs, and art that help to make visible the health crisis of poverty. Come join us for our upcoming Justice Jam Art Builds for a chance to tell your right to health story and to help in creating art for the movement. 

Upcoming Justice Jam Art Builds 

BALTIMORE: 

When: Saturday, May 4th from 12pm-5pm

Where: Transfiguration Catholic Community Church 

              775 W Hamburg St, Baltimore, MD 21230

RSVP:https://www.unitedworkers.org/rsvp_may_4th_justice_jam_art_build 

WESTERN-ALLEGANY: 

When: Saturday, May 11th at 4pm

Where: Souls Won 

             130 Virginia Avenue Cumberland, MD 21502

RSVP: https://www.unitedworkers.org/rsvp_for_right_to_health_art_build

Since deciding on our Right to Health campaign at our Statewide Membership Assembly in December, we have been busy strategizing and planning the Spring launch of our new campaign and our Summer organizing drive. Through this 10-week organization-wide process, we have been grounding ourselves in the current moment, reflecting on lessons learned from last year, and creating annual plans for our regional committees and statewide teams. We are using this time to get into step, because we know the fight for our right to health is a protracted fight that will require a mass organization led by the poor in Maryland. 

In the coming weeks, we will have more to share from our strategic planning process. In the meantime, this e-alert will include a reflection from one of our members Mike Hughes on how strategic planning is going so far, a video created by our Media Team recapping our Year of Reconnaissance and the collective process that led to our Right to Health Campaign, and information on the Access to Counsel program. 

Year of Reconnaissance: Deciding on our Right to Health Campaign 

When we began our year-long process of reconnaissance to determine our next campaign, we assumed that we would be zeroing in on a single-issue campaign around housing, healthcare, or public benefits. But a year of collective listening, research, and study against the backdrop of post-pandemic austerity (Expanded Child Tax Credit, SNAP, Medicaid, etc.) underscored the deep interconnections between our basic needs and the ways that poverty is harming our health, the health of our families, and communities. In one of the wealthiest states in the wealthiest nation in the world, 38% of Marylanders are unable to afford their housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and other basic needs. The denial of our basic human rights and the stress that this produces is leading to illness and premature death. As many of you know, in the last year alone, we lost three members to the violence of poverty and crowdsourced to help pay for two memorial and funeral services. This video from the Media Team highlights this process and some of the leaders who are taking up this new Right to Health campaign. 

Right to Counsel 

Maryland continues to have one of the highest eviction filings in the country. More than 400,000 failure to pay rent cases were filed in 2023. Our neighbors in Pennsylvania and Virginia combined do not have such a high number of cases. 

United Workers is working with the Access to Counsel and Evictions Program statewide to get tenants legal representation. Under a law passed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic the state is funding additional legal support to renters. If you have questions about your legal rights, difficulty getting your landlord to honor your lease agreement or otherwise have concerns about needed repairs to your residence -

• Please call 2-1-1 and ask to do the Access to Counsel intake. Once that is completed legal services in your region will contact you. 
• If your landlord has threatened you with eviction please call 2-1-1 and do the intake. It is much better to get legal counsel prior to going to court. 

And if you have any questions please contact United Workers.

Member Reflection

What Does Systemic Change Look Like?

Written By: Mike Hughes, United Workers Member from Hagerstown, MD

In the Jewish scriptures in the book of Isaiah there is a passage that talks about not despising the beginning of small things, where God says, "See I am doing a new thing here -- do you not perceive it?" As if to ask, would you recognize the beginning of systemic change if you saw it? What does systemic change look like? 

In his book "It's Not Enough to Be Angry" Willie Baptist talks about the need for organizers to study, to strategize, to be smarter and more nimble than their larger and better funded opponents -- that no dumb force has ever defeated a smart force in the history of the world…… READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

What Does Systemic Change Look Like?

And would you know it if you saw it?

In the Jewish scriptures in the book of Isaiah there is a passage that talks about not despising the beginning of small things, where God says, "See I am doing a new thing here -- do you not perceive it?" As if to ask, would you recognize the beginning of systemic change if you saw it? What does systemic change look like? 

In his book "It's Not Enough to Be Angry" Willie Baptist talks about the need for organizers to study, to strategize, to be smarter and more nimble than their larger and better funded opponents -- that no dumb force has ever defeated a smart force in the history of the world.

Over the last two days, I've seen the culmination of United Workers' efforts after the year of reconnaissance, annual assembly, and the gathering of various committees to map out plans for the coming year. United Workers met to present those plans, to lay out their vision for 2024 and beyond, and you know what? In the opinion of this participant, it might actually work! If somebody was going to do what we're trying to do, which is, you know, nothing major -- to end poverty -- I can't think of a better way to do it. 

This is coming from someone who has been trying to get out of United Workers since I joined. Mind you, that's not a reflection on them. I grew up with chronic abuse and I'm wary of joining any organization like this. My name is Mike Hughes from Western Maryland. I'm autistic and my wife has heart failure and we have struggled to pay our bills for the last 20 years. Over that same time, I've watched America turn more and more into a white Christian nationalist hellscape, all while the poor and working class fight for scraps. Their poverty is a chain around their necks, pulling them into an early grave. And if they live in Baltimore and their family can't afford to collect their body, that grave will be in a potter's field. Whatever's left of them, that is, after their bodies have literally been sold for parts (no, I'm not making that up.) 

It's a shame but not a surprise and somebody has to do something about it. What would that look like? Do we march in the streets? Sure that has its place. I mean, that's why I'm here in United Workers, coming here by way of the Poor People's Campaign, after seeing Reverend Barber on TV during the George Floyd uprising.

Marches and rallies make an impact but there has to be follow-up and, more importantly, there has to be infrastructure. There have to be people in place who you can call, who will listen to your story and give you friendship and hope and a place to release your economic and societal trauma -- a place to take that fireball of hurt and frustration and transform it into positive life-giving energy, or can we even dare to say: true power. Because when the masses of the poor and working class realize who they really are, everything is going to change.

Mike Hughes, United Workers Member from Hagerstown, MD

Fog. So thick, like I could reach of my car window and grab a handful. Driving through the woods, up the side of a mountain in the dark. My headlights create an otherworldly glow, shining into the mist. Essentially driving blind, I track the GPS on my phone to see the direction of the road, whether I will stay on the path or tumble into the trees below, until I arrive at the Skycroft Conference Center in Middletown, MD.

This was the journey that I and many others took in early December to attend United Workers' Annual Assembly, including representatives from partner organizations from across the country: the Poor People's Campaign, the National Union of the Homeless, the Vermont Workers Center, Put People First, and the Non-violent Medicaid Army, among others. We came together to advance the interests of the 140 million poor and dispossessed Americans of the working class who are not represented by either of our nation's political parties.

The Culmination of a Year of Reconnaissance

Going into enemy territory to assess their adversary's strengths and vulnerabilities, United Workers has been engaged in its Year of Reconnaissance, reaching out to both urban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. Doing a lot of listening to find out what the real issues are, to find out what's really going on, along with singing and sharing meals, getting a taste of what hope feels like when we come together across lines of division.

What were some of the issues that emerged? Housing. Healthcare. Food. Safety. Interlocking needs which quickly become interlocking crisis' when one of them goes unmet. When you don't have stable housing, you can't take care of yourself, damaging your health, both mental and physical, leaving you prey to food insecurity and threats to your physical safety. When one fails, they all fail, like sitting on a chair with a wobbly leg. We tumble to the ground before we even realize what happened.

Given the nature of these interlocking threats, the membership of United Workers chose to fight for health as a human right. Not just healthcare. But health. Which includes housing, healthcare, nutritious food, and safety, among other issues. They decided that only by adopting this broad framework can our needs be adequately addressed. That being deprived of any one of them is being deprived of all of them.

The Right to Health as a Unifying Vision

Something strange happened while I was driving through that fog. I couldn't see the sky or the trees moving past me, or even the edges of the road. It looked like I was standing still. But I could feel the car moving. This disconnect between my eyes and what I could feel made me feel sick almost instantly.

Living in this country, we're told that everyone is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That each of us possesses certain inalienable rights. For no other reason than that we exist. Yet when we look at our country, that's not what we see. We see the rights of a minuscule few prioritized over the rights of the dispossessed many. The ruling class asserts its will as a matter of brute fact, like a pebble sitting on the beach, declaring its lordship over the sand. 

It's a disconnect. What we're being told and what we see don't match. And there's a part of us that feels sick because of it. Like something is off, but we can't explain it. That's why we have ventured into the foggy darkness to find each other. Those of us who see. To affirm each other, to strengthen each other, to heal each other. Because against all hope, we dare to hope. With a faith that boldly declares that the sun still shines. We will not despair. We will not give up or be divided. We stand united to fight for Health as a Human Right. For everyone.

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Byline: Mike Hughes lives in Western MD with his strange and wonderful family. He enjoys religion and philosophy, crime dramas, sci-fi, Playstation, and anything Superman related. He came to United Workers after the George Floyd uprising. He and his wife both live with ongoing disability and have struggled due to low wages and inadequate payments from Social Security disability insurance.

What do the poor in Western Maryland have in common with the poor in Baltimore? Seemingly separated by race and culture, taught by the media to fear each other, how could they possibly have common cause? It turns out, both struggle to pay for housing. Both endure unfair labor practices. Both are unable to pay for basic healthcare. Both live with the persistent ache that their whole life could fall apart with no warning.

On June 10 in Western Maryland, United Workers held a membership orientation at Hager Park, near downtown Hagerstown. There, we brought together voices, both urban and rural, that rarely hear from each other. What emerged was a profound unity. Not a unity based on political affiliation or race, gender, or orientation, but a unity based on the shared experience of being poor in America.

This unity of purpose came with an unexpected benefit. The benefit of joy. The joy that comes when the burden of shame is lifted, the shame of being poor and being told that it’s our fault. Together, those who gathered learned that systemic poverty doesn’t care if they are white or black, trans or straight, young or old. Because systemic poverty consumes everyone in its path.

With our focus on developing leaders from the ranks of the poor, we shared our Theory of Change — identifying the root problem, then asking who can change it and how. It is here that we find the crucial point: only by uniting across differences can the poor become “a new and unsettling force,” to stop being afraid and start being involved.

This involvement involves planning, strategy, and, most importantly, reconnaissance or fact-finding to determine our enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. That enemy is poverty in all its forms. We laid out our plan to accomplish this “Year of Reconnaissance” in 2023 through collective listening, collective research, collective study, and collective decision-making. Because only collectively can such an enemy as poverty be defeated, with the poor of Baltimore and Western Maryland standing together.

Written by: Mike Hughes, United Workers member

Here are some more reflections on the New Member Orientation from our members across the state

I was so struck by the enthusiasm and efficiency of the clearly dedicated Baltimore organizing team! It was obvious from the response of the diverse crowd of new members from across the state that so many of us are hungering for an end to the inequality and inhumane treatment of the poor. I am so proud to join this organization and to be a part of this movement! - Janet Kay, United Workers member from Allegheny County

Hearing the views of other members from around the state made me feel very optimistic and excited about the next steps in building this movement to end poverty. People shared their stories of struggle and seemed excited to be connected to this organization and the movement.  - Randolph Ford, United Workers member from Baltimore City

The main thing that stood out to me was meeting and engaging with different people from around the state. It made me see that poverty has no color or race. We all are living in poverty and we must unite together as a class across different barriers of division in order to make a change. - Nadiyah Patterson, United Workers member from Baltimore City

UPCOMING EVENTS: JUSTICE JAM BBQ’s! 

We are continuing our series of Justice Jams across the state, but we’re taking it outside! Join us for these special Summer BBQ Justice Jams as we continue to share our stories and information about how we can file appeals to food stamp cuts, prepare ourselves for Medicaid cuts, and unite in the fight for our basic human rights!

Cumberland Justice Jam BBQ 

• WHEN: Saturday, July 29th, 4-6pm 

• WHERE: 311 E. 3rd St, Cumberland, MD - Also known as Smith Park

• RSVP here

• Contact info: Call or text Janet at 301-514-5551

Baltimore Justice Jam BBQ

• WHEN: Saturday, August 5th, 4-7pm 

• WHERE: 625 N Carey St, Baltimore, MD 21217-2410

• RSVP here

• Contact info: Terrel Askew- 443-509-3328, Michael Coleman- 445-560-2810

Westminster Justice Jam BBQ

• WHEN: Saturday, August 26th, 4-6pm

• WHERE: Westminster City Park Pavilion

• RSVP here

• Contact info: (443) 340-5403 or (443) 605-9146

A couple of months ago, the federal government declared the COVID-19 pandemic officially over, signaling the end of an era of federal emergency response. And yet even before this official marker, we have witnessed a steady roll-back of the protections and programs that temporarily provided some measure of relief to poor and working class people during this crisis. We saw the eviction moratorium lifted and Emergency Rental Assistance funds exhausted. We saw Congress fail to preserve the Expanded Child Tax Credit, a program that helped to cut child poverty nearly in half. Now, we are facing the devastating cuts to SNAP (often referred to as food stamps) and Medicaid. An estimated 100,000 Marylanders will lose their healthcare. If that wasn’t enough, the recent debt limit deal imposes new work requirements on people up to 54 years old receiving SNAP and TANF benefits. 

This Spring our statewide outreach has focused on these cuts as members began receiving letters in the mail that their food stamps were being slashed, in many cases from hundreds of dollars a month to less than $30. We asked who and how are people being affected by these cuts, but also why? Why in a country where 119 billion pounds of food is wasted each year is anyone struggling to eat? 

As long-time member and great-grandmother Marie Diggins shared, “When I first got SNAP benefits I was homeless. But now that I have a place to live my expenses have gone up since the pandemic—gas and electric, water. The $153 I currently get is really not enough to live on. I skip meals because I'm not getting enough in SNAP benefits. I have skipped breakfasts. I don't bother with breakfast anymore.” She continued, “I don't think this is right. It is really stingy. The government has the funds to make sure people have enough to eat.”

The cruelty of these unnecessary cuts is underscored by the reality that they are coming at a time when food pantries and other emergency food providers are seeing an unprecedented demand, due to inflation generally and the rising prices of groceries specifically. We have seen the growing numbers at our food pantry outreach in Baltimore, Cumberland, and Westminster. We invited people to join us at our last round of Justice Jams to discuss the SNAP cuts and what we can do to fight back. 

At our last Justice Jam in Cumberland, the library room where we met was packed 30 deep. Members from Baltimore traveled to hear how people in a rural Appalachian community were being impacted by these cuts. We talked about our rights and how to file for an appeal, but more importantly it served as a space to share our struggles and break our isolation. We discussed the interconnections between issues and what we need and deserve. People demanded jobs that paid a living wage and decried the terrible housing conditions in the community. One man who we have gotten to know over the past year finally shared his story, explaining that his minimum wage job was made worse by the great expenses he was made to pay for his employer-based healthcare.   

After the meeting, Sidney Bond, a Media Team member from Baltimore, interviewed people further about how the SNAP cuts are impacting them. Allegheny County resident Sean Everhart explained his situation, “During the pandemic our food stamps were increased to $275 a month. With the rising costs of everything else, for 3 years we were accustomed to living off of that amount. Then I got a letter that our food stamps were being cut from $275 to $27 a month. Now food hasn't gotten any cheaper and all of our bills are going up. It’s not even worth the hassle and headache of going down to social services just for $27 a month. I’m on social security disability, I have a fixed income that doesn’t change.” Then he asked a question we are all asking, “How are we supposed to live off of $27 a month?”

One answer is that we’re literally not living off these crumbs. We’re dying. As recent research has revealed, poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. These are life and death questions. How are we supposed to live off of $27 a month? Another answer is that we’re not supposed to live like this. We believe that our basic human needs are human rights. As Ms. Marie asserted, “This should be an obligation to make sure in the United States we have what we need to live.” 

Have you experienced cuts to your food stamp benefits? If so, and you would like to learn more about your rights to an appeal contact Michael Coleman at 443-560-2810 or [email protected].

Project of Survival

Activities are continuing at the Hope Garden as we prepare for planting and harvesting. The Hope Garden is an essential project of survival especially now during this time when benefit cuts have left many households in dire need of support. We have regular build days every Thursday from 4pm-7pm. During build days we build raised garden beds, plant produce, share our stories and plan for the grow season. Come out and join us! For more information contact Michael Coleman at [email protected] or call (443) 560-2810.

Memorial - Ascended Leader

 Ms. Rosemarie was kind, gentle, and thoughtful. She began to question why she struggled so much in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. She would attend Justice Jams, base building meetings, and our Membership Assembly last December. When we lose leaders like her in this fight, it is a loss to the entire movement family. Though we mourn and miss her we will also remember and celebrate her memory. Rest in Power Sister Rosemarie. 

After spending several months organizing in Carroll County we were able to host our first Justice Jam in Westminster. Several United Workers leaders from Baltimore joined together with some of our Westminster leaders to welcome other residents of the county to talk about the issues of poverty they see in their community and may be experiencing themselves. Discussions center around readings from Kairos Center’s We Cry Justice book. People began to relate to each other on shared trauma around housing and homelessness, food insecurity, and access to health care. The group recognized how we live in the land of plenty and despite that, there are so many people with nothing or very little.

Here are pictures from the day and a quote from United Workers’ leader, Sidney Bond.

" I did not think there was an issue with homelessness in that part Maryland. I was shocked to see the homeless encampment out there and it reminded me a lot of many parts of Baltimore, like where the homeless community would sleep under Rt 83. It showed me that homelessness and poverty is not just in the city but a problem across the state." - Sidney Bond (pictured in the middle)