Kensington Welfare Rights Union
The Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KRWU) is a progressive social justice, political action, and advocacy group of, by, and for the poor and homeless operating out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] The group was founded by six women, Alexis Baptist, Sandy Brennan, Diane Coyett, Cheri Honkala, Louis Mayberry, and Debra Witzman, and formed in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood in April 1991.[2]
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| Housing and justice |
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KWRU is a part of the national organization the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, a coalition of grassroots organizations, community groups, and non-profit organizations committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty.[1] KWRU is also a member of the steering committee of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition.[3]
KWRU was written about in the 1997 book Myth of the Welfare Queen by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino.[4]
Group activities
KWRU often used direct action tactics such as tent cities and housing takeover to provide housing and dramatize the plight of the homeless.[5] In 1994 KWRU organized the takeover of 12 vacant HUD owned homes in Philadelphia to try to call attention to HUD's failed housing policies.[6]
References
- Bricker-Jenkins, Mary; Young, Carrie; Honkala, Cheri (2007). "Using economic human rights in the movement to end poverty: the Kensington Welfare Rights union and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights campaign". In Reichert, Elisabeth (ed.). Challenges in human rights: a social work perspective. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 122–137. ISBN 9780231137201. OCLC 76864302.
- Salvatierra, Alexia; Heltzel, Peter Goodwin (2014). Faith-rooted organizing: mobilizing the church in service to the world. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780830836611. OCLC 861966476.
- Bowers, John Waite; Ochs, Donovan J.; Jensen, Richard J.; Schulz, David P. (2010). The rhetoric of agitation and control (3rd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. p. 154. ISBN 9781577666141. OCLC 406133470.
- Lippmann, Laura (13 April 1997). "Welfare mythology: buried charlatan [review of Myth of the Welfare Queen by David Zucchino]". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- Jha, Sandya Rani (2017). "The power of keeping it simple: humans deserve housing". Transforming communities: how people like you are healing their neighborhoods. Saint Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press. pp. 48–60. ISBN 9780827237155. OCLC 988276950.
- Maryniak, Paul (24 September 1994). "Homeless families evicted: squatters booted from HUD houses". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
Further reading
- Mazelis, Joan Maya (2017). Surviving poverty: creating sustainable ties among the poor. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9781479873593. OCLC 946161360. A sociological study of KWRU.
- Zoelle, Diana; Josephson, Jyl J. (2005). "Making democratic space for poor people: the Kensington Welfare Rights Union". In Leatherman, Janie; Webber, Julie A. (eds.). Charting transnational democracy: beyond global arrogance. Houndmills, UK; New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 55–74. doi:10.1057/9781403981080_3. ISBN 1403969523. OCLC 57311708.
- Zucchino, David (1997). Myth of the welfare queen: a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist's portrait of women on the line. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0684819147. OCLC 36446930.