Poor People's Campaign
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In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice, specifically for sanitation workers to receive a $9 per hour minimum wage rather than $1.70. The campaign led to a worker's strike and a march in Washington, D.C. demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. The march originated in Marks, Mississippi. From there, Dr. King crisscrossed the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would descend on Washington – engaging, if need be, in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol—until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an "insurrection". Prior to the completion of the campaign, Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
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[edit] Background
King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America's cities. He saw a need to confront a Congress that had demonstrated its "hostility to the poor": appropriating "military funds with alacrity and generosity", but providing "poverty funds with miserliness."
King told a crowd:
It really doesn't matter what happens now.... some began to... talk about the threats that were out – what would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers.... Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place, but I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
—April 3, 1968 [1]
A 2006 issue of Time magazine explained that King empathized more and more with all people suffering from poverty in the late 1960s. As a result, he started trying to help not just Blacks but all disadvantaged Americans. When asked why he wanted to help whites from places like the Appalachian mountains, King answered: "Are they poor?"[2]
The 1968 Poor People’s Campaign did not focus on just poor black people but addressed all poor people of every minority. Poor Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, American Indians, and even poor whites were included in the campaign. King labeled the Poor People’s Campaign the “second phase,” of the civil rights struggle. The “first phase” focused on the segregation problems. Both phases were addressed in a non-violent manner. The SCLC and Dr. King (before his assassination) planned for the Poor People’s Campaign to be the largest, most widespread civil-rights movement. They set goals high, such as aiming for 1500 protesters to lobby in Washington D.C. to Congress for an “economic bill of rights” (EBoR). Under the EBoR the Poor People’s Campaign asked for a $30 billion anti-poverty package that would include an increase in housing for the poor and a guaranteed annual income for the poor people across the nation. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated, but the campaign continued. Not long after, on May 12, 1968, the demonstrators showed up in Washington D.C. to start the Poor People’s Campaign. For the next two weeks protestors campaigned at various federal agencies pushing for the EBoR, which would benefit all poor people across the country. The campaign came to an end in mid-June and the EBoR was never passed.[3]
[edit] Resurrection City
In May 1968, the Poor People's Campaign launched their demonstration on Washington, D.C. where 50,000 people created a shanty town called Resurrection City. African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics and the poor slept, ate and demonstrated in the capital.[4] The demonstration site was closed down by authorities on June 25 of that same year.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Weekend America: Resurrection City
- March commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Poor People's Campaign
- Memphis Civil Rights Digital Archive
- "Poor People's Campaign", King Encyclopedia
- Class Resurrection: The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 and Resurrection City
- John Blake. King's final crusade: The radical push for a new America. CNN, 2008-04-01.
