ABOUT THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN

Dr. Martin Luther King’Jr’s vision of the Poor People’s Campaign and his plans for civil disobedience was described in Readers’ Digest as an “insurrection”.

On April 4th 1968, Dr. King was assassinated while in Memphis Tennessee to support striking sanitation workers.

Five weeks later, in the aftermath of riots in over 100 American cities with over 40 deaths and over 1000 people seriously injured, the Poor People’s Campaign descended on Washington, D.C. Some participants arrived by mule train.

The campaign was a change in direction in the civil rights movement to an economic movement that crossed racial and regional lines, included union support, and was directly supported by the anti-Vietnam war movement.

Resurrection City, a shantytown of A-shaped shacks, was built on the National Mall to house the poor and create a visual statement about their plight. Participants lobbied members of congress, held demonstrations, educational events and carried out direct actions – sit ins, draft card burnings, blocking traffic. Many participants were arrested.

QUOTES BY MARTIN LUTHER KING

“We intend to channelize the smoldering rage and frustration … We also look for participation by representatives of the millions of non-Negro poor: Indians, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Appalachian whites, and others. And we shall welcome assistance from all Americans of good will.”

Martin Luther King Jr.
Announcing the Poor People’s Campaign, Dec. 4, 1967

“And so we have decided to go to Washington and use any means of legitimate, nonviolent protest necessary to move our nation and our government on a new course of social, economic, and political reform.…”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Announcing the Poor People’s Campaign, Dec. 4, 1968

“I would say that this will be a move that will be consciously designed to develop massive dislocation. I think this is absolutely necessary at this point. It will be massive dislocation without destroying life or property and we’ve found through our experience that timid supplications for justice will not solve the problem.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Announcing the Poor People’s Campaign, Dec. 4, 1967

“We’ve got to massively confront the power structure. So this is a move to dramatize the situation, channelize the very legitimate and understandable rage of the ghetto and we know we can’t do it with something weak. It has to be something strong, dramatic, and attention-getting.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Announcing the Poor People’s Campaign, Dec. 4, 1967