DAVENPORT, Iowa, Jan. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grassroots leaders from a faith-based organizing network confirm that three presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders  and former Reps. Joe Walsh and John Delaney, will participate in "The People's Caucus: Vote Truth to Power" on January 12, 2020, 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Holzworth Performing Arts Center, Davenport North High School, 626 West 53rd Street, Davenport, IA 52806.  Doors open at 11:00 a.m.

This event is organized and hosted by Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa and Lane Evans Legacy Project.  Gamaliel Board Chair, Rev. Dr. John Welch, will moderate the discussion with candidates around issues like criminal justice reform, education equity, immigration reform, the climate crisis and more.

"We are delighted to be partnering with the Gamaliel Network for this first of a kind People's Caucus," said Doyle Evans, Co-Chair of the Lane Evans Legacy Project. "Lane Evans always stood up for an inclusive people-focused politics, and that's what this forum is about—making sure the voices of all the people are heard by the candidates."

"The voices of ordinary people have been ignored far too long," said Rev. Norma Patterson, President, Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa. "Presidential candidates need to hear that we have very real concerns about how the racist and inhumane policies and rhetoric of the last three years will continue impact our families and communities and the structures of society, and we need to hear honest answers about how they will respond if elected."

Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa is a bi-state affiliate of the 15-state Gamaliel Network, a faith-based, multi-ethnic, multi-racial grassroots organization whose mission is to build a diverse corps of grassroots leaders committed to transforming the systems and structures that perpetuate racial and economic inequity and train them to effectively participate in the political, environmental, social, and economic decisions affecting their lives.

The Lane Evans Legacy Project aims to inspire a renewed commitment to values-based political leadership. The career and legacy of the late Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL) offers an example of authentic leadership that united people across lines of race, faith and party and spanned the urban-rural divide.  Lane's leadership inspired and helped Vietnam Veterans nationwide and is fondly remembered today by his constituents without regard to their partisan identifications.

Contacts:  Cynthia Jarrold, cjarrold@gamaliel.org /913-219-3198 
Porter McNeil, pmcneil10@mchsi.com /309-236-1484

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SOURCE Gamaliel of Illinois and Iowa