A group of activists takes to the streets, demanding that the American president and Congress help the poor get jobs, health care and decent homes.
Occupy Wall Street? No, the Poor People’s Campaign, created by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Like Occupy, this campaign focused on economic fairness. The plan was to bring what King called “a multiracial army of the poor” to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
He was assassinated in April 1968, but his followers launched the campaign a month later: Thousands of people camped out for more than a month, making daily visits to different federal agencies to demand economic justice.
Most Americans living in poverty were white, so King focused on class — a concept particularly relevant today.
A new Pew Research Center survey shows that two-thirds of Americans believe strong conflicts exist between rich and poor.
The study found that in the public’s view, conflicts between rich and poor now rank ahead of three other potential group tensions: between immigrants and the native- born, blacks and whites, and young and old.
The wealth gap has been brought to the forefront by Occupy protesters, whose goals are so similar to King’s that many respected civil- rights veterans are standing in solidarity with the groups that sprang up across the country after the initial gathering of protesters in a New York City park.
“When I think of the Poor People’s Campaign, I think of Occupy D.C.,” said Dr. Vincent Harding of Denver, who worked closely with King.
Two months ago, he teamed with such legendary activists as the Rev. James Lawson and Marian Wright Edelman to launch the Council of Elders.
“We were in many places like this before,” said Harding, speaking to Occupy San Francisco in November, according to the website wagingnonviolence .org. “And I know that, in some way, Martin Luther King is here with you.”
In December, a group of African- American pastors launched “Occupy the Dream,” spearheaded by veteran civil-rights leader Benjamin Chavis Jr.
They have joined with Occupy Wall Street to start a campaign for economic justice inspired by King’s legacy, with a National Day of Action planned for today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Groups in 13 cities — though not in Denver — plan an “Occupy the Federal Reserve” action today, the first of a series of protests designed to culminate in a mass gathering in Washington, D.C., April 4-7 during a commemoration of King’s legacy.
In the narrative of King’s life, his struggle for economic justice is often overshadowed.
“A lot of people have forgotten how radical Dr. King was,” said Tanner Spendley, spokesman for Occupy Denver. “One of his biggest things was unemployment.”
Many never learned about King’s crusade for a guaranteed annual income or have forgotten he was assassinated while supporting the working poor — sanitation workers on strike because of low wages and dangerous working conditions.
“Most people can get their minds around (the fact) that King was a civil-rights leader, but it’s harder for them to see how King’s underlying concern was social justice,” said Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. “That came before the race issues.”
King started as a social gospel minister, part of a Christian movement that sought to eliminate problems such as poverty by reforming society around the social teachings of Jesus.
“He wrote a paper in 1948 during his first year in seminary that lays out his mission as a minister,” Carson said. “He said it had to do with slums, unemployment and economic security. He did not mention civil rights.”
When testifying before the U.S. Senate in 1966, King pulled no punches.
“The rising affluence of America has benefited the better-off more than the poor and discriminated,” he said. “Our income record is acceptable only if we wish to tolerate a society in which the richest fifth of the population is 10 times as rich as the poorest fifth.”
Elsewhere, he questioned why 40 million Americans still lived in poverty.
“In my opinion, King was far more dangerous than Malcolm X because he was talking about altering the balance of power in society, and Malcolm was not,” said William King, professor of Afroamerican Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “What King talks about and what Occupy talks about is about raising the same kind of criticism, that ‘the system ain’t fair.’ It was not designed to be fair. It was designed to protect the interests and the already-existing asymmetrical distribution in a society of middle-aged bankers, lawyers, merchants and the occasional agrarian democrat.”
When it comes to poverty, not much has changed since Martin Luther King’s day.
The number of people living in poverty increased to 46.2 million in 2010 from 43.6 million in 2009, the highest poverty level in 17 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A report by the Economic Mobility Project, a nonpartisan effort of the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that income inequality in the U.S. has grown over the past three decades.
From 1979 to 2004, the real after-tax income of the poorest one-fifth of Americans rose by 9 percent, the richest one-fifth of Americans by 69 percent, and the top 1 percent by 176 percent. Between 1978 and 2005, chief-executive pay increased from 35 times to nearly 262 times the average worker’s pay.
Some believe King’s radical ideas about restructuring the economy — including criticism of the military-industrial complex during the Vietnam War — meant that his days were numbered.
“I think that’s what got him assassinated,” said the Rev. Reginald Holmes, former president of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance. “He was talking about how we were spending more money killing people in other countries than on (hungry) people in our country. He was bringing together people from all races around economic justice. He had to be stopped.”
Today, the same debate rages around economic inequality, costs of war, poverty and unemployment.
This past fall, when Vern Howard attended the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., he was captivated by signs that read “Human Needs Above Corporate Greed.”
As chairman of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission, Howard plans to carry the message forward at today’s events.
“We’re going to look at economic justice and talk about how we are going to work with Occupy,” he said.
Spendley of Occupy Denver hopes to forge long-term relationships between the two groups.
“King’s dream was to unite communities from around the country, especially the activists, like unions and workers,” he said. “They want to divide us, but we’re all really just fighting for the same thing: equality and justice for all.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
Honoring the legacy of a visionary
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929, and assassinated April 4, 1968. The pastor and civil-rights leader received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Federal, state and city celebrations are held in January in his honor.
Occupy the Dream
A table called “Occupy the Dream” will be set up at Civic Center at the end of today’s Marade. People can sign up to share their vision of what “occupying the dream” means to them. Occupy Denver will videotape this, then share it online.
A candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. in Civic Center, where people can talk further about how to Occupy the Dream.
Additional reading
Learn more about the Rev. Martin Lu ther King Jr.’s work for economic justice:
“From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice” by Thomas F. Jackson looks at the development of King’s radical economic ideas.
“Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign” by Michael Honey is a comprehensive look at King’s final crusade.
“All Labor Has Dignity,” edited by Michael Honey, is a collection of King’s speeches on labor rights and economic justice.
