Cheria Honkala is a left-of-center activist who has been active since the early 1990s, advocating for wealth redistribution to fund government-controlled health care as well as socialized housing, child-care, and food programs. She was the running mate of Green Party candidate Jill Stein during the 2012 presidential election. ^{1 2}

Honkala led Kensington Welfare Rights Union where she helped homeless people and families find vacant homes in which to squat. When officials came to reclaim the properties, Honkala organized activists to resist authorities’ access to the property and publicly politicize the evictions. ³ Since then, she has led numerous protests and campaigns against evictions, focusing on insufficient government-provided housing and government funding of welfare programs. ⁴

Political Activism

Cheri Honkala has been an activist since the early 1990s, leading campaigns and advocating for wealth redistribution to fund welfare programs, including public housing, government-controlled health care, government food programs, and government-provided childcare services. Honkala has sat on the boards of the Alliance of Native Americans, Annie Smart Leadership Development Project, Pennsylvanians for Choice, Reproductive Health Technologies Project, and Urban-Rural Mission. ⁵

Honkala organized protests at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Republican National Conventions where activists set up mock homeless encampments. The protests criticized Republicans’ welfare policy in response to housing and poverty. The activists demanded for government funding of housing and more generous welfare programs. ^{6 7 8}

Kensington Welfare Rights Union

Honkala was a leading activist who helped form the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) in 1991. It is a Philadelphia-based activist organization that campaigned for government funded public housing, healthcare, childcare, education, and food programs, arguing that they are rights outlined by international and natural law that the government is obligated to provide. ⁹

KWRU helped homeless and recently evicted individuals find shelter in abandoned houses, which it reports had led to “confrontations” with law enforcement that included organizing activists to prevent authorities from reclaiming a property. In an interview, Honkala likened KWRU’s work of helping people and families squat to helping enslaved people escape captivity. Citing KWRU’s activities, Honkala criticized the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for squandering its resources by not making them available to potentially eligible recipients. ¹⁰

Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign

In 1997, Honkala created Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign in response to President Bill Clinton’s welfare reform legislation. ¹¹ The campaign is a national organization that advocates for wealth redistribution to the degree necessary to “end” poverty in America. ¹² Honkala serves as the national coordinator for the campaign and engages in speaking events across the world advocating for social welfare programs. ¹³

Political Campaigns

In 2011, Cheri Honkala ran for Sheriff of Philadelphia as a member of the Green Party and campaigned on the promise that she would not enforce any evictions. In an interview, she argued it should be illegal to evict people from their homes and claimed that she sought to represent poor people as opposed to corporations and banks. ¹⁴

Honkala was chosen as the Green Party nominee for Vice President in the 2012 presidential election alongside presidential candidate Jill Stein. ¹⁵

In 2017, Honkala was the Green Party special election candidate for District 197 of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Her campaign submitted the paperwork required to be listed on the ballot one day late and ran as a write-in candidate, losing the election but gaining 10.6 percent of the votes. ¹⁶

1. “Cheri Honkala a Speaker with a Powerful Message about Ending Poverty in America.” Cheri Honkala. Accessed August 1, 2022. http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/speakers/cheri.html.
2. “Cheri Honkala.” www.gp.org. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.gp.org/cheri_honkala_sb.
3. Feemster, Ron. “Economic Rights Are Human Rights.” Shelterforce, May 1, 2004. https://shelterforce.org/2004/05/01/economic-rights-are-human-rights/.
4. “Cheri Honkala.” www.gp.org. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.gp.org/cheri_honkala_sb.
5.  “Cheri Honkala a Speaker with a Powerful Message about Ending Poverty in America.” Cheri Honkala. Accessed August 1, 2022. http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/speakers/cheri.html.
6. Kachka, Boris. “Cheri Honkala Leads the Protests against Geroge W. Bush – Nymag.” New York Magazine. New York Magazine, August 20, 2004. https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/rnc/9674/.
7. Brewer, John. “Republican National Convention Protesters / Charges Stand in Encampment at Park.” Twin Cities. Twin Cities, November 13, 2015. https://www.twincities.com/2008/11/24/republican-national-convention-protesters-charges-stand-in-encampment-at-park/.
8. “Cheri Honkala a Speaker with a Powerful Message about Ending Poverty in America.” Cheri Honkala. Accessed August 1, 2022. http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/speakers/cheri.html.
9. Feemster, Ron. “Economic Rights Are Human Rights.” Shelterforce, May 1, 2004. https://shelterforce.org/2004/05/01/economic-rights-are-human-rights/.
10. Feemster, Ron. “Economic Rights Are Human Rights.” Shelterforce, May 1, 2004. https://shelterforce.org/2004/05/01/economic-rights-are-human-rights/.
11. “Cheri Honkala: Once an Outlaw, Now an Enforcer?” Philadelphia Weekly, November 17, 2011. https://philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cheri-honkala-once-an-outlaw-now-an-enforcer.html.
12. “Poor People’s Army: Join Our Army!” Poor Peoples Army. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/.
13. “Cheri Honkala a Speaker with a Powerful Message about Ending Poverty in America.” Cheri Honkala. Accessed August 1, 2022. http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/speakers/cheri.html.
14. “Cheri Honkala: Once an Outlaw, Now an Enforcer?” Philadelphia Weekly, November 17, 2011. https://philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cheri-honkala-once-an-outlaw-now-an-enforcer.html.
15. “Cheri Honkala.” www.gp.org. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.gp.org/cheri_honkala_sb.
16. “Cheri Honkala.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Cheri_Honkala.