Put the People First
Put the People First is based in Knoxville Tennessee. It is associated with Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Put the People First prayin
Put the People First January 17 2015 ·
- selfie on the way to #Nashville for the #PutThePeopleFirst pray-in and Action! #enoughisenoughhaslam #knoxville #tninauguration
— with Holly Rainey, Paul Attea, Elizabeth Owen, Anna Masson, Anne Barnett.
May 1 Put the People First rally
Put the People First, Knoxville Thursday 1 May 2014. Organized by : Karly Safar.
- Gov. Haslam and his elite allies, have abandoned everyday people in Tennessee. Our coalition's response is simple: put the people first! We want living wage jobs, good public schools, and a good democracy that encourages participation!
- Join us for a May Day parade and BBQ celebration by and for the people! Meet us in Market Square at 6pm and we'll march to Vine Middle School on MLK Blvd and end at Harriet Tubman Park for a BBQ and celebration!
Endorsers include:
United Campus Workers | Knoxville NAACP | Knox County Education Association | Seeed Knox | SOCM | Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee | Knox County Democrats.
Those giving notice of intention to attend on Wherevent included: Kristin Baksa, Christina Louise Belge, Lee Dunham Sessions, Kathryn Davis, Elizabeth Wright, Jenn Wallis, Jess Welch, Anne Barnett, Suz Seaton, Kaitlin Malick, Sol Msr, Linda Haney, Brittany Bender, Erica Davis, Christina Catherine Gore, Megan Clifton, Kim Webber, Vivian Swayne, Miriya Bollenbacher, Jennie Spanos, Shelagh Leutwiler, Taimi Olsen, Donna Maxwell, Janet Miles, Nicky Primo Allen, Natalie McGee, Leslie Principe, Tonya Hill, Tanya T. Coats, Cassie Watters, Kassie Ernst, Diana Moyer, Bonnie Swinford, Rose Attea, Maggie Gardner Tankersley, Jane Johnson Skinner, Amelia Taylor, Melanie Barron, Kristi Larkin Havens, Camillee Dyin'ices Perrett, Anna Masson, Jessica Pittman, Angie Max, Jonnie R. Hagan, Genny Petschulat, Laura Megan Stewart, Nickie Hackenbrack, Casey Self, Shamika Cook, Viviane Manigat Jackson, Xylina Marshall, Courtney Anderson, Leslie Anderson Pignataro, Sally Buice, Amelia Parker, Sistufara Muhammad, Amber Matthews, Janine Al-Aseer, Judith Petree, Deborah Bahr, Joy Coffey, Rebecca Stefanescu, Donna Laxson, Kate Elgammal, Karen Principe, Holly Smarr, Natasha Carina, Melissa Slayton, Elizabeth Owen, Megan Brockett, Robert Naylor, Mark Mohundro, Alex Falk, Conrad Charleston, Ben Wright, Cameron Brooks, Jim Wallace, Andrew Beamer, Andre Canty, Isaac Brandt, Adam Alsamadisi, Alex Fields, Ben Allen, Ryan Brown, Axel Ringe, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Prince Abed Oduro, James Gullett, James R. Golden, Bob Hutton, Gerry Moll, Alexander Thumler, Young Rome, Brad Wright, Elias Attea, Josh Smyser, Sam Petschulat, Jordan Welsh, Donald Fritz, Josh Stovall, David Alex Hayes, Ed Borum, Shaun Scenard, William Isom, Alejandro Guizar, Alex Pulsipher, Thomas Wayne Walker, John Mayer, Micheal Freeman, Angel Ibarra, Donte Samoa, Robert Boyd, Tom Torres, Rodolfo Urquieta, Andrew Sexton, Dustin Moore, Kacper Fryderyk Grass, Matt Ellison, Richard Murray, Maurice L. Clark, Sr., Justin Marcel Leduc, Lee Owen, Zach Blume, Mitch Thompson, Ramez Elgammal, Brandon Ray Darr, Tres Daugherty. [1]
Minimum wage
Anne Barnett, Karly Safar, Starr Simpson, Kevin Collins, Courtney Wilson, Jerelene Clark, and Vivian Shipe were among Put the People First activists demanding a higher minimum wage Monday, Sept. 1, 2014, at University Commons. The Labor Day demonstration targeted Publix and Walmart at University Commons. [2]
One local group set out to put the focus on labor, Labor Day 2014.
"Put the People First" spent the afternoon Monday marching up and down Cumberland Avenue, calling out businesses they say treat workers unfairly.
"Can't survive on $7.25," they chanted.
Put the People First hosted a cookout and march Monday leaving Tyson Park and heading to the strip to protest businesses they say aren't paying workers well enough.
"It's the difference between scraping by and actually living," said United Campus Workers member Josh Smyser.
Several groups were included in the afternoon protest, many of which are pushing for a $15 an hour minimum wage, double the state's current $7.25 an hour.
"Working one sometimes two sometimes three jobs because you're paid minimum wage which is not enough to live on for one person let alone if you've got a family to take care of," explained protest organizer Karly Safar.
Multiple groups made up the protest; one of which is asking for signatures to improve the state of mental health care in Knoxville.
"Everyone has a testimony. Their child, their husband, their spouse - mental illness is the elephant in the room, it's the skeleton in the closet that people don't want to talk about, but it's all around us. I haven't had anyone turn me down and by tomorrow night we'll have over 1,000 signatures," said Vivian Shipe.
Protesters say the march was a success, giving them a chance to put a face on a problem many Americans are dealing with.
"You rely on public assistance to scrape out a living, which is not really living," explained Smyser.
"A fair wage is what it takes to live modestly, have a car, pay your rent and raise your children. We're a long way from that," said marcher Todd Shelton.[3]