Let's not Forget Martin Luther King, Jr., was Preaching Economic Justice too

By HSG on Tue, 01/16/2018 - 9:42am |

Link fixed.

URL:

https://theundefeated.com/features/lets-not-forget-martin-luther-king-jr-was-preaching-economic-justice-too/

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"In the last months of his life, King was consumed with plans for a multiracial Poor People’s Campaign."

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The full name of the 1963 March on Washington is the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The march organizers had 10 demands for Washington. No. 7: “A massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers – Negro and white – on meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages.”

No. 8: “A national minimum wage that will give all Americans a decent standard of living. (Government surveys show that anything less than $2.00 an hour fails to do this.)”

It’s no mistake that these demands were racially inclusive. And it’s no accident that today, neither demand has been met, economic gains have been funneled almost entirely to the rich and the middle class is shrinking.

by HSG on Tue, 01/16/2018 - 9:45am

Yes, there's been a lot written about how King's life and legacy have been smoothed over to obscure the extent of his radicalism.

by AmericanDreamer on Tue, 01/16/2018 - 9:58am

This one is not out until April: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-65126-3/

I very much liked Going Down Jericho Road by this author.

by AmericanDreamer on Tue, 01/16/2018 - 4:38pm

Thanks for the link

by rmrd0000 on Tue, 01/16/2018 - 4:52pm

This one, due out next month, may also be on point to your post:

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980754

by AmericanDreamer on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 1:38pm

Thanks. When King is actually quoted, there is pushback. Reverend William Barber is trying to rekindle some of King’s fire. Given Trump in office and Republicans engaged in coverup, we have to better than we are right now.

by rmrd0000 on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 3:50pm

The speech below accurately describes the present and the past. The emphasis on despair and discouragement shows how little we have traveled even as we have gone a long way.

"Racism is an ontological affirmation"

by moat on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 7:35pm

Thanks for sharing. He also said we must find a way out of no way. No matter how discouraged he felt, he never quit.

by AmericanDreamer on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 11:31pm

Let's not Forget Martin Luther King, Jr., was Preaching Economic Justice too

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