The Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KRWU) is a progressive

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

, political action, and advocacy group of, by, and for the

poor Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

and

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

operating out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The group was founded by six women, Alexis Baptist, Sandy Brennan, Diane Coyett,

Cheri Honkala Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been ...

, Louis Mayberry, and Debra Witzman, and formed in Philadelphia's

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

neighborhood in April 1991. KWRU is a part of the national organization the

Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) is a coalition of grassroots organizations, community groups, and non-profit organizations in the United States of America committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the basis for a ...

, 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. KWRU is also a member of the steering committee of the

A.N.S.W.E.R. Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), also known as International A.N.S.W.E.R. and the ANSWER Coalition, is a United States–based protest umbrella group consisting of many antiwar and civil rights organizations. Formed in the wake of th ...

coalition. KWRU was written about in the 1997 book ''Myth of the Welfare Queen'' by

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

-winning journalist

David Zucchino David Zucchino is an American journalist and author. Career Zucchino was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the Feature Writing category in 1989 for his series ''Being Black in South Africa'', written for '' The Philadelphia Inquirer''. In 2020, Zucch ...

Group activities

KWRU often used direct action tactics such as

tent cities A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...

and housing takeover to provide housing and dramatize the plight of the homeless. 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.

Group activities

References

Further reading