When Democratic presidential candidates kick off a debate Monday in Washington, D.C., a small group of local supporters of the Poor People's Campaign will be there.
In a parking lot in the shadow of the North Buffalo building where Ford once built cars and Trico built windshield wipers, the five people going to the three-day campaign rally in Washington loaded up Sunday to hit the road.
They will be among 60 participants from across the state and 1,000 from across the country remembering Martin Luther King's Poor People's March on Washington, just over a half-century ago.
Coalition for Economic Justice Executive Director Rev. Kirk Laubenstein said his group started in a fight over saving Trico and is still trying to save jobs.
"We've lost New Era. We've lost Ingersoll-Rand. Who knows what's going on over at Tesla, whether or not those jobs will be any good," Laubenstein said. "We've really got to push back in a unified voice and say, We're poor and we're not going to take it any more, and we're not just going to keep handing over money to these big billionaires like Elon Musk and hope that they are going to save us, because we know they aren't."
An area of focus among this small group is health insurance to serve everybody, a major issue in the Democratic primary race and likely to be a major topic in Monday's debate, with heavy hitters like Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris slated to attend along with former Vice President Joe Biden and former cabinet secretary Julian Castro.
Kevonna Neely is participating with the local delegation because of her daughter.
"I want to help try to make a difference and in what's going on today," Neely said. "We have poverty and health care and speaking up for people who can't speak up for themselves. I'm a mother. I have a daughter and with her generation coming up, I just feel like things are getting worse and not getting better, and why not try to join to help make things better in any way we can by going to Washington."
"I'm tired of the investment in the wealthy in our country and the disinvestment in the communities where poor people and people of color are living," said Dennice Barr. "I always say it speaks volumes to a child who lives in a community where the city disinvests because you really don't have to tell them that they are not important because they already know."
