For Immediate Release: February 13, 2020
Contact: Heather Cabral | 202-550-6880 | heather@westendstrategy.com
Erin Williams | 202-748-0699 | ewilliams@faithinaction.org
Today, the group meets with Tom Steyer at 2:30 p.m. PST and tomorrow with Mayor Pete Buttigetig at 10 a.m. PST by video. Both will be livestreamed on the Faith in Action Facebook page.
Las Vegas, Nev. – The opening day of Faith in Action’s (FIA) inaugural 2020 National Faith Forum began with a discussion centered on FIA’s work tied to the 2020 census and the November election cycle. Kelsey Dallas, national religion reporter for Deseret News, moderated a conversation between executive director Rev. Alvin Herring and interim campaigns director and executive director of the Faith in Action Fund Andrea Marta that explored how to increase the role of faith in the public square.
“Dr. King once said a budget is a moral document. The #2020Census should be a moral operation. Our efforts will help people understand why the census is important, get counted and be seen,” said Rev. Herring to an audience of more than 200 faith leaders from across the country. “We believe in an unseen God. He’s challenged us to labor with one another, to hold each others hands, hold each others hearts, and hold each other tears. Because justice is what faith looks like in public.”
Added Marta, “This is not about a single election cycle for us, this is about building strong independent organizations. In 2016 we flipped the formula on its head to turn out voters of color. We began to use techniques that our ancestors passed on, relational voter engagement, and rooted it in the issues instead of candidates. In 2021 whoever is elected, from the city councilman, to the governors, to the president – that they must reckon with the people of faith in this room.”
You can watch the full livestream of their conversation by clicking here to visit the Faith in Action Facebook Page.
After the conversation, Rev. Herring delivered a powerful opening message that described the role of faith in creating a solidarity movement across our country, and addressed why Faith in Action is doing this work in particular.
“We live to serve the racially profiled, the unjustly accused, the presently detained, the socially rejected, the holders and bearers of our shame,” said Herring. “We are called to organize around our values and the moral principles and spiritual guidelines of our faiths; to develop a covenant with ourselves, each other and this nation that we will do what is right, what is just, and what is equitable; to show up in an election and bring a million revolutionary voters along with us into the voting booths all across the country; and to get counted in this Census and make sure that everyone in our communities is organized to show up get counted too.”
You can watch the full livestream of Rev. Herring’s message by clicking here to visit the Faith in Action Facebook Page.
Today at 2:30 p.m PT, democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer will join the Faith Forum for a candidate discussion led by Richard Morales, policy and program director of LA RED, FIA’s immigrant rights campaign. The conversation will be livestreamed from the Faith in Action Facebook page, and live tweeted from the Faith in Action National account, using the #FaithForum2020 hashtag.
On Friday, February 14, democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg will join the Faith Forum via live video for a candidate conversation, led by Brittany White, decarceration campaign manager of LIVE FREE, FIA’s campaign focused on ending mass incarceration and gun violence.
For coverage information, photos or to schedule an interview, please contact Heather Cabral at 202-550-6880 and heather@westendstrategy.com, or Erin Williams at 202-748-0699 and ewilliams@faithinaction.org.
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Faith in Action, formerly known as PICO National Network, is the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in the United States. The nonpartisan organization works with 1,000 religious congregations in more than 200 cities and towns through its 46 local and state federations. For more information, visit www.faithinaction.org.
Faith in Action is a 501c(3). Faith in Action and its affiliates are non-partisan and are not aligned explicitly or implicitly with any candidate or party. We do not endorse or support candidates for office.
