Poor People’s Campaign: We Have a ‘Right to Health and a Healthy Planet’ (Live Blog)

Editor’s note: Truthdig has launched a reader-funded project to document the Poor People’s Campaign. Please help us provide firsthand accounts of this activism by making a donation.

The fourth week of the Poor People’s Campaign kicks off in Lansing, Mich.,  where the theme of the week is “The Right to Health and a Healthy Planet: Ecological Devastation and Health Care.”

For the previous three weeks of the Poor People’s Campaign, Truthdig reported from the front lines as thousands of activists and civil rights advocates gathered in Washington, D.C., (Week 1), Chicago (Week 2) and North Carolina (Week 3) in an effort to relaunch Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight against poverty, war and income inequality. May 14 was the first of 40 days of action planned across the nation. The campaign’s goals include federal and state living-wage laws, an end to anti-union and anti-workers’ rights efforts, welfare programs for the poor, equity in education, Medicaid expansion and accessible housing.

See Truthdig’s multimedia coverage of the actions for Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3. Read Truthdig photojournalist Michael Nigro’s piece about the movement and view his audio photo essays for Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3.

With funding support from our readers, Nigro is reporting live in Lansing from the first day of action this week. Scroll down to see Truthdig’s live multimedia updates.

11:38 a.m. PDT: Protesters join in song in front of the Michigan state Capitol:

“Somebody’s poisoned the water, and it’s gone on far too long. Somebody’s hurting our children, and it’s gone on far too long. Somebody’s hurting our elders, and it’s gone on far too long. Somebody’s hurting our earth, and it’s gone on far too long. Somebody’s hurting our people, and it’s gone on far too long. And we won’t be silent anymore.”

11:30 a.m. PDT: The live stream has begun. Truthdig correspondent Michael Nigro is documenting what’s happening on the ground in Lansing.

11:20 a.m. PDT: About 450 people are marching to the Michigan state Capitol to make their voices heard and share a universal message: Water is a human right.

11:13 a.m. PDT: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder brought his water. That’s a good thing he’s staying hydrated. Word on the street is that it gets hot where he’s going.

11:06 a.m. PDT: Truthdig correspondent will be live streaming video from the Lansing Capitol building in five minutes. You can follow the stream at Truthdig’s Facebook page.

10:01 a.m. PDT: This morning, state police gave the Poor People’s Campaign notice that it would limit Capitol access to two people at a time. That means that if any other protesters want to enter the building, the two already inside have to leave. In previous weeks, they’ve allowed dozens of protesters to rally in the rotunda—even allowing protesters to sleep in the Capitol building overnight with no consequences.

In response to the state of Kentucky trying to silence poor people, clergy and advocates who are part of the Poor People’s Campaign, the Rev. Dr. William Barber, campaign co-chair, issued the following statement:

The state of Kentucky is trying to change the rules to prevent people from speaking out—in violation of its own Constitution. The rules that need to be changed are not the ones that allow for peaceful, nonviolent protest, but the ones that rob the poor of the right to healthcare and allow billion-dollar companies to pollute our water and environment. Politicians in Kentucky are afraid to hear a true critique of their policies, but we will not be silenced by their descent into authoritarianism.

Here is an excerpt of the Kentucky Constitution that was reference in the statement: “The right of assembling together in a peaceable manner for their common good, and of applying to those invested with the power of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance.”

9:57 a.m. PDT: In addition to Lansing, protest actions will be taking place across the United States today in other cities, including Frankfurt (Ky.), Sacramento (Calif.) and Washington. D.C.

9:33 a.m. PDT: The Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, will lead hundreds of poor people, clergy and advocates in protest today at the Michigan State Capitol to highlight the state’s ongoing water crisis.