Poor People's Army (PPA/PPEHRC)

The Poor People’s Army (PPA), also known as the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC), is a nonviolent army based in the U.S. and its colonies. Our headquarters are in Philadelphia. We are a 3.5 decades old movement that came out of the welfare rights and anti poverty movements of the 60s 70s and 80s, and we were founded and are led by poor people, homeless people, people at the bottom that want the power to control our own destinies. We want to see a cooperative society where everyone gets what they need. We live in a world where it is possible for every human being to have the basic necessities of life and live a comfortable life. We know that rich people and corporations will not willingly share the wealth and resources the world has to offer. The rich undemocratically hoard the wealth, the world’s abundant resources, and the incredible productive powers that could allow for all humans to flourish.

The PPA/PPEHRC is building a movement that unites the poor across color lines. Poverty afflicts people of all colors. Daily more and more of us are downsized and impoverished, even at a faster rate under the Trump administration. We share a common interest in uniting against the prevailing conditions and around our vision of a society where we all have the right to health care, housing, living wage jobs, and access to quality primary, secondary, and higher education.

We are committed to uniting the poor as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty everywhere and forever. We work to accomplish this aim through the promotion of economic human rights, named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Articles 23, 25, and 26. These articles state our right to such provisions as housing, health care, a living wage job, and education. The founding creed of the United States of America, which asserts our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, inspired the formulation of these human rights, but yet has only granted the use of these privileges only to those who can afford it, not to the masses who live in the United States and our colonies, for example Puerto Rico and Samoan American Islands.

PPA/PPEHRC works to cultivate informed leadership through trainings and other programs. We also facilitate the exchange of knowledge between the poor and their allies across the U.S. and the globe and work in coalition with other groups that overlap with our mission and projects. Since poverty intersects with all oppressions, issues, and communities, we are building relationships with the anti-war movement, Black Lives Matter, union workers, the movement for climate justice, and anti-violence youth movements. We envision a future where we all participate in the development of our communities – a prerequisite to build power and community.