Raise Up holds march to support the fight for $15
More than 50 activists met in Great Shiplock Park last Wednesday where speakers Helen Alli, a congressional candidate running against the incumbent David Brat (R-Glen Allen,) rallied for a living wage and a strong voter turnout for the primary election on June 13.
“If we don’t get it, shut it down,” protesters chanted.
The rally was held the 49th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination by Raise Up, an activist group fighting for higher minimum wage and union rights, Fight for $15 and Black Lives Matter to discuss how economic and racial inequality intersect.
“I think it’s a crime to not pay someone a living wage,” Alli said. “Every day we watch news and we talk about all of the crime in our communities but we’re not talking about why these crimes could be possibly happening and that people without being paid a living wage have no way of taking care of their families without doing crimes.”
Supporter Zack White marched as a member of Democratic Socialists of America’s new Richmond chapter. He said they also have plans to start a Young Democratic Socialists chapter at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Minimum wage is on our platform,” White said. “We reject capitalism and fight for working people so we’re showing solidarity for their movement and hopefully building relationships with them for the future.”
Event organizer Jill Mcelgunn got involved with Raise Up as a child care worker unable to pay back her student loans. She said the three groups decided to hold the march on the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination to shine light on his Poor People’s campaign, an effort to gain economic justice for disadvantaged Americans.
“We are largely out today to talk about what (Martin Luther King Jr.) was doing when he died, which was the Poor People’s campaign and how these fights are connected,” Mcelgunn said. “We can’t have racial justice without economic justice and vice versa.”
Raise Up leader Priscilla Evans said the event was also intended to call on state legislators.
The group also rallied in support for Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s proposed amendment to the state budget (HB 1500) that would allow him to expand Medicaid, an optional provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. House Republicans unanimously voted on April 5 to block the expansion for fear that if Virginia expands Medicaid, the state will get stuck with the bills in the future. The expansion would have enabled coverage for 400,000 Virginians who don’t currently qualify for Medicaid but can’t afford health insurance.
SaraRose Martin
Staff Writer
