Category: Interviews

The grassroots movement known as the Poor People’s Campaign aims to turn the exploited into a giant electoral force.

Truthout
By Nicholas Powers
April 3, 2024

Suppose 53 million low wage workers across the United States seized control of politics. See the hotel maids washing bedsheets and migrants in blood-splattered aprons at meat plants mobilizing for their interests. See baggy-eyed nurses and fast-food staff take part in mass uprisings. Now imagine millions of poor people standing in long lines to vote. America would marvel at this sleeping giant, now awake.

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Voices of Faith: Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
New York Historical Society Interview
August 30, 2023

The eighth annual Diane and Adam E. Max Conference on Women’s History in March explored how women and LGBTQ+ people have transformed not only their own faith but also the religious lives of their communities. Today, we are highlighting one of those voices, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary to discuss how her own personal journey impacted her core philosophies.

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Dr. Liz Theoharis of the Poor People’s Campaign discusses the role of media in suppressing the working class movement—and how stories of people fighting back can be used to inspire others.

The Real News Network
Interview by Maximillian Alvarez
March 28, 2023

In the midst of the largest strike wave in the US in a century, corporate media is more focused on amplifying the bigotry and fearmongering of right-wing politicians and their base than on covering working class movements.

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Interview by Union Theological Seminary
November 2022

“We envision a world without poverty, without racism, without the destruction of the earth. This kind of common good is big, but it is completely possible,” Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis urged. “We have no real scarcity. We just have a scarcity of political will and moral consciousness to do the right thing.” 

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis is a Union alumna and serves as Director of the Kairos Center for Religion, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary, and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

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This Is Hell! Radio Interview
“The War On The Poor”
October 12, 2022

This is Hell! is a longform political interview program broadcast across Chicago on WNUR since 1996.

Theologian, ordained minister, and anti-poverty activist Liz Theoharis is on to discuss her TomDispatch article, “No More Sacrifices: Mercy Makes Good Policy.” 

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Interview by Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Madang podcast
The Christian Century
August 22, 2022

”Here in the 20th episode of Madang, I converse with activist and scholar Liz Theoharis about her new book, We Cry Justice.  

We discuss how she began to co-chair the Poor People’s Campaign, poverty, social justice, basileia, and jubilee. It is an informative discussion on how to read the Bible and get involved in social justice work. This book is challenging and provocative as it provides new ways of reading of the Bible from the perspectives of poor and marginalized people.”

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The Takeaway with Melissa Harris-Perry
WNYC New York Public Radio
July 1, 2022

On June 18, 2022 the Poor People’s Campaign led a mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people from all over the country attended. Ahead of the march, we spoke with the Poor People’s Campaign co-chairs Bishop William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary. 

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Justice Revival
Jun 30, 2022

In a Post-Roe America, how can Christians faithfully stand in solidarity for the rights of the poor?

Learn how the Dobbs v Jackson decision will affect poor and low-income people & our maternal health crisis. Plus, rich biblical insights & timely calls to action!

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Rising Up with Sonali
KPFK / Free Speech TV
June 8, 2022

Bishop William Barber II and Rev. Liz Theoharis, the co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, have written a letter to President Joe Biden requesting a meeting with the White House ahead of their June 18th March on Washington. In the letter, the two leaders reminded Biden that when he addressed their gathering in September 2020, he “promised that ending poverty would be more than an aspiration in your administration.”

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The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
May 31, 2022

As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it.” Join The King Center for Part 3 of our 3-part virtual Beloved Community Talks series on the Triple Evils, as we explore the roots of poverty, its devastating effects on humanity, and pathways to eradicating it.

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