Rally in Raleigh brings attention to poverty, pushes lawmakers for change

Hundreds of voting rights supporters gathered outside of the state capitol, hoping to call attention to voter suppression and efforts to fight poverty.

Some streets around Bicentennial Plaza were blocked off for a rally organized by The Poor People's Campaign to demand changes that will help reduce poverty.

Many in the crowd said they want to see changes in the laws that can help people out of poverty.

And they tell WRAL News this rally was just a starting point.

Monday, those in the crowd heard from speaker after speaker. They were given stats that 4.6 million people are living in poverty in our state.

Some showed up asking for a living wage, others wanted to bring attention to affordable housing. Leslie Boyd arrived with a picture frame of her son.

“I’m out here because of Michael. This was my first reason for getting involved with the Poor Peoples Campaign,” said Boyd.

Her son Michael passed away from colon cancer. She shared he had a medical condition that made him likely for the disease, but she says he couldn’t afford regular colonoscopies and he eventually got the disease.

“He got almost a million dollars between chemo surgeries and he still died. It was ten times more expensive if they give him colonoscopies for the rest of his life,” said Boyd.

The goal is to pressure state lawmakers to make changes that will improve the quality of life for those living in poverty.

The rally was part of a ten city tour that will include rallies and marches.

Organizers with the Poor People’s Campaign said there is one big way to tackle poverty in our state.

“No one can sit out midterm elections. We are all in this together," said Ana with Poor People's Campaign. "The importance of this is that people realize there are so many issues.”

Organizers said the rally is part of a national movement leading up to a larger event, Moral Monday, held in June in Washington, D.C.

“I hope today gets people fired up to got to Washington in June and say enough,“ said Boyd.

A similar rally was held at the same time in Wisconsin.