Today is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's assassination and the birthday of the late Dr. Maya Angelou. On her birthday, Ms. Angelou sent flowers every year to her dear friend, the late Coretta Scott King to mark the occasion. She often spoke of the sorrow she felt when April 4th came each year. In 1967, at a retreat, Dr. King stated the following:
"I think it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights…[W]hen we see that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power, then we see that for the last twelve years we have been in a reform movement…That after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill, we moved into a new era, which must be an era of revolution…In short, we have moved into an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society."
His plan that was abruptly ended with his untimely death intended to bring poor people together to demand better jobs, housing, education, and overall quality of life. Each year, organizations around the country commemorate this movement by continuing the work. Today, in Philadelphia, the MLK Dare Coalition - led by POWER, and co-organized by unions and caucuses are having a one day action to mark his legacy and the importance of this campaign. A campaign that has barely moved past what life looked like for the poor in 1968.
We live in communities that barely have access to fresh water or affordable housing. Many American citizens exist underwater, barely surviving paycheck to paycheck with negative savings. So we must ask ourselves if a day of memory is enough? Is a rally enough? Are book talks enough? Is a thorough understanding of economics, race, class, and history enough? I say, no. each time the work reaches a tipping point, a new law is created to make sure that progress loses footing or someone who can really make change happen is killed or incarcerated on trumped up charges. Because racism and white supremacy are elusive and powerful entities that will do anything to maintain its power and influence.
Now we must all ask ourselves why. Why is poverty so vitally important that it seems close to impossible to eradicate? Why do we need those who will always have less in the same space where others have plenty? I tell you that it is on purpose. 1968 should not look and feel like 2018. Labor unions are losing against larger corporations who will continue to pay minimum or low wages. And will simply replace workers if they will not comply (modern day slavery). Teachers, which make up the largest union in the country continue to work several side jobs in order to make ends meet with two or more degrees. And yet, we continue to tell our children that if they work hard and follow the rules they will be granted a golden ticket. Not if they are Black or Brown, and especially if they are poor.
After King's death 50,000 people stood in solidarity to hear the proposal laid out by Bayard Rustin titled, “Economic Bill of Rights” for Solidarity Day that called for the federal government to:
- Recommit to the Full Employment Act of 1946 and legislate the immediate creation of at least one million socially useful career jobs in public service
- Adopt the pending housing and urban development act of 1968
- Repeal the 90th Congress’s punitive welfare restrictions in the 1967 Social Security Act
- Extend to all farm workers the right–guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act–to organize agricultural labor unions
- Restore budget cuts for bilingual education, Head Start, summer jobs, Economic Opportunity Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Acts
Does this sound familiar? It should. It was written in the Second Bill of Rights penned by President Franklin Roosevelt after the Great Depression and in 1968 after the Civil rights Movement, and in 2018, Philadelphia County is the poorest out of the top ten cities with over 50% of its residents living at or below the poverty level. These basic, common sense rights are being asked for today in teacher walk outs across the country as if it's brand new. And it clearly is a hamster wheel of exhausting resistance to maintain the status quo and increase the divide between those who have and those who never had.
I offer no solutions because history provides the blue print.It is always up to us to actually provide help to our fellow person. Because there is no march, rally or speech that can save us from ourselves. So be inspired today as you hold up signs and banners, but continue to ask why change never happens and continue to teach our youth the truth without conjecture. If we want to actually live and not just exist we have to be willing and ready to fight. And we have to always reach a hand across and provide assistance to friends, families, and strangers because we only and have always only had each other.
Before his death Dr. King said,
"That social transformation was not inevitable, arising solely out of the historic conditions, but rather needed the commitment, consciousness, capacity and connectedness of the “new and unsettling force” to build a credible and powerful campaign."
