Patriotic Millionaires, a group seeking to fix what it calls a rigged economy in the U.S., is moving forward with a local recruitment effort on the heels of multiple meetings held recently in Mount Airy.
The non-partisan organization launched a grassroots movement called the Great Economy Project as part of that goal, which was pitched to residents in this area during sessions held in March and April at Old North State Winery downtown.
Patriotic Millionaires supports changes including a higher minimum wage and other worker issues, closing tax loopholes, implementing a progressive tax system and decreasing the influence of money in politics through campaign finance reform.
The Great Economy Project involves making a case to working people — America’s most powerful constituency group — for the need to demand an economy that puts more money into their pockets and allows families to thrive regardless of what political party rules.
One of its goals is building core groups of both Republicans and Democrats in communities such as Mount Airy — hard-hit by industry closings in recent years — for a cohort movement to better elicit change at all levels of government.
Erica Payne, Patriotic Millionaires’ founder, disclosed this week that this is occurring locally in the wake of the recent meetings.
“We are thrilled with the effort in Mount Airy,” added Payne, who is based in Washington, D.C. “We have about 30 people who have signed up to be in the cohort, about an even mix of Republicans and Democrats.”
That response from those individuals has provided a solid foundation going forward, according to Payne.
“The next step is an organizing dinner with them where we talk about ways they can engage their neighbors and community,” she mentioned this week.
“That will happen in the next couple of weeks.”
Patriotic Millionaires is pursuing similar tactics in other parts of North Carolina, which it considers the worst place to work in America, based on a study by a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice.
“We are also scouting locations for our next two efforts in North Carolina,” Payne advised, after the success reaped by the economic-reform program in Mount Airy.
The Patriotic Millionaires official also said that a local screening is planned of a documentary about the pilot program for the Great Economy Project which occurred in Whiteville in 2022.
Titled “Red Whiteville and Blue,” it has been making the rounds at film festivals around the state, where the documentary is being well-received, according to Payne.
It was directed by D.L. Anderson, an independent filmmaker based in Durham.
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