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R.I. rally honors fighter for justice

Published Jan 9, 2010 8:16 AM

Sixty Rhode Islanders turned out at the State House to show their support for Henry Shelton, the 79-year-old founder and leader of The George Wiley Center who has been hospitalized with a stroke. Shelton created the organization in 1981 but has been fighting for economic justice for 50 years, marching in the 1960s with Dr. Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez.

Photo: Dale

In October Henry had received the John Brown Award from the RI Peoples Assembly for his tireless work for economic justice.

Shelton and the Wiley Center have put their main focus on winning a law governing utilities that will prevent shutoffs for people with low incomes. The Wiley Center demands that low-income households have their utility costs capped at 8 percent of their income.

Wiley Center volunteers say that utility companies shut off more than 30,000 gas and electric customers last year and another 5,000 could lose service this winter.

The George Wiley Center has also embraced the call of the RI Unemployed Council for a Works Progress Administration-style jobs program and is calling for a pilot program to be undertaken in Rhode Island immediately.