Davis Hammett and OShara Meesha Hayes Close Out the Rally!

Davis Hammett and OShara Meesha Hayes, main organizers of the Kansas People's Agenda events at the Capitol on January 10, close out the rally.   We all then dispersed to lobby our legislators with the mandate to tell them our stories!  The gathering was dubbed the "People's State of the State" and was designed to fill in the blanks left by the Governor's State of the State Address the day before.    

"We Are Family, and We Care!"--Kansas People's Agenda, January 10, 2018

This young lady--Ashanti Spears--is one of the dynamic organizers of the Kansas People's Agenda. She gave the next-to-last speech at the People's State of the State in the Capitol on January 10, 2018.

She emphasized that collective action can be hard work. It requires listening with humility; accepting our own fallibility; coexisting with discomfort; reaching out to others; leaving our little enclaves; lifting up those who are hardest hit and most marginalized.

Young Pastor Is Initial Speaker at Kansas People's Agenda Rally, January 10, 2018

Rev. Jermaine Pennington, of Wichita, was the opening speaker at the Kansas People's Agenda rally at the Capitol on January 10, 2018. The rally was dubbed the "People's State of the State," following as it did on the Governor's State of the State address the night before. This clip did not catch several important parts of the pastor's speech: It started after the pastor had already set the scene--a low-moment for Martin Luther King, Jr., and his fellow organizers as they met to plan the first Poor People's Campaign. Also, toward the end, as the pastor describes what the "soccer ball" means today, the clip misses the first item: HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!!

Tom Giessel, Kansas Farmers Union, at the "People's State of the State" Rally, Jan. 10, 2018

Tom Giessel of the Kansas Farmers Union spoke at the "People's State of the State" rally at the Capitol on January 10, 2018.   The rally was sponsored by Kansas People's Agenda and followed on the Governor's State of the State address the night before.   The focus of the rally was the real experiences of real people in Kansas.   Many common themes emerged linking urban and rural communities!

Kansas People's Agenda: State of the State Rally, Jan. 10, 2018

US Army veteran Charles Baker of Junction City, Kansas helped to organize a union for the custodians in the area's public schools.   The custodians banded together to protest wage cuts and to demand working conditions that included respect and dignity.   Now a shop steward, Baker spoke on January 10, 2018, at the "People's State of the State," a rally help in the Capitol rotunda the day after the Governor's "State of the State" address.   The rally was sponsored by the Kansas People's Agenda and included a number of powerful speakers, singers, and poets.