Poor People's Campaign
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In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. The campaign culminated in a march on 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 in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be -- until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an "insurrection." Dr. King was assassinated prior to the completion of the campaign.
King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America's cities. He saw a crying 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."
On April 3, 1968, King prophetically told a euphoric 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. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
A recent issue of Time Magazine explained that MLK empathized more and more with all people suffering from poverty in the late 1960's. 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?" [1]
