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The Poor People's Campaign: the little-known protest MLK was planning when he died
Vox
Ask any American over the age of seven what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, and chances are you’ll hear something about how the color of your skin shouldn’t determine the way you’re treated.
That’s a fair answer, and it does represent one element of the iconic civil rights leader’s vision. But it’s odd that, when we talk about King, we’re so much less likely to conjure up the belief that arguably dominated his entire worldview, and especially characterized his final months: that people shouldn’t have to live in poverty, and that every single American is entitled to a solid income and a decent place to live.
After all, in December 1967, just four months before he was assassinated, King announced to the press that the Poor People’s Campaign was coming to Washington, DC, that April.
The goal: to demand that President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress take action to help poor people get employment, health care, and decent housing. The tactic: marching through the US Capitol and demonstrating at federal agencies to convince Congress to pass major anti-poverty legislation. The unique approach: The participants would physically stay there, living on the National Mall in an encampment dubbed Resurrection City, until they saw results.