January 22, 2020
Page 9
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Unifying Working People of All Ages
Learning from
King’s last
campaign
otism demands the ending of the
war,” King said, “and the open-
ing of a bloodless war to final
victory over racism and
poverty.” Assassinated
in Memphis on April 4,
1968 while organizing
by J essiCah p ierre
black sanitation workers,
As we celebrate the
King never made it to
legacy of Martin Lu-
the Poor People’s March,
ther King Jr., it’s natural
but thousands did protest
to remember his cou-
in Washington to honor
rageous advocacy for
racial equity. But before he was King’s memory and to pursue his
assassinated, King had also begun
to broaden his efforts to unify the
around economic justice.
That’s worth remembering to-
day.
In December 1967, King, the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, and other conveners
laid out their vision for the first
Poor People’s Campaign. Seeing
how poverty cut across race and
geography, these leaders built the
campaign into a multiracial ef-
fort including African Americans,
white Americans, Asian Amer-
icans, Hispanic Americans, and vision.
That vision remains to be real-
Native Americans aimed at allevi-
ized. Today, 140 million Ameri-
ating poverty for all.
The goal was to lead a massive cans — over 40 percent of us —
protest in Washington D.C. de- remain poor or low-income. As
manding that Congress prioritize a in King’s day, black and brown
massive anti-poverty package that Americans are especially impact-
included, among other things, a ed, but so are millions of poor
commitment to full employment, whites.
Our country may be polarized
a guaranteed annual income, and
more low-income housing. And by party. But the truth is, we have
they wanted to pay for it by ending more in common to fight for than
what divides us.
the Vietnam War.
A December survey by the Cen-
“We believe the highest patri-
ter for American Progress found
that 52 percent of American voters
across party lines reported experi-
encing a serious economic prob-
lem in the past year. This tracks
with other research, including the
Federal Reserve Board’s finding
that 40 percent of Americans don’t
have the money to cover a $400
emergency.
The same CAP survey shows
that strong majorities — including
9 in 10 Democrats, 7 in 10 inde-
That vision remains to be
realized. Today, 140 million
Americans — over 40 percent of
us — remain poor or low-income.
As in King’s day, black and brown
Americans are especially impacted,
but so are millions of poor whites.
pendents, and 6 in 10 Republicans
— support government action to
“reduce poverty by ensuring that
all families have access to basic
living standards like health care,
food, and housing if their wages
are too low or they can’t make
ends meet.”
Even at a time of stark partisan
polarization, a majority of Amer-
icans support policies like rais-
ing the minimum wage — while
opposing things like the Trump
administration’s draconian cuts
to federal nutrition assistance pro-
grams.
King and the Poor People’s
Campaign promoted a vision of
unity. But it wasn’t a unity that
avoided conflict — it was one
where poor and low-income over-
came their divisions to fight for
economic justice together.
To revive that vision, a new
Poor People’s Campaign has
emerged to confront the interlock-
ing evils of systemic racism, pov-
erty, ecological devastation, and
militarism — and what they’re
calling “the distorted moral nar-
rative of religious nationalism.”
Over the past two years, this cam-
paign has organized communities
from all over the country to build
lasting power for poor and impact-
ed people.
“Poor and low-wealth people
are seeing the need to galvanize
themselves around an agenda, not
a party, not a person, but an agen-
da,” said Rev. William Barber,
one of the new campaign’s lead-
ers. “What happens if a movement
is able to help people see how
they’re being played against each
other? You could reset the entire
political calculus.”
As we head deeper into a divi-
sive election season — and as we
remember Dr. King — it’s worth
remembering that our real enemy
is injustice, not each other.
Jessicah Pierre is the inequali-
ty media specialist at the Institute
for Policy Studies. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.
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