By Ed Prince, Executive Direction, WA. St. Commission on African American Affairs
Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his leadership in the civil rights movement, advocating for racial equality and justice. However, towards the end of his life, King expanded his vision to include economic justice. He understood that addressing racial discrimination without tackling economic inequality would leave many of the problems facing marginalized communities unresolved. His Poor People’s Campaign sought to bring attention to systemic poverty and the barriers that kept millions of Americans, regardless of race, trapped in economic hardship.
The Poor People’s Campaign, launched in 1968, was an ambitious initiative that aimed to unite people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds to demand better economic opportunities, fair wages, affordable housing, and access to quality education. King believed poverty was not just an individual problem but a structural issue rooted in an unjust economic system. He often spoke about the “triple evils” of racism, poverty, and militarism, which he said were interconnected and needed to be addressed simultaneously.
At the heart of the campaign was a recognition that poverty disproportionately affected Black Americans but also cut across racial and geographic lines. King hoped to unite poor communities nationwide—Black, white, Latino, and Native American—to push for systemic change. One of the campaign’s key actions was a planned march on Washington, where participants would demand that the federal government adopt policies to alleviate poverty. Tragically, King was assassinated before he could see the campaign through.
More than five decades later, many of the issues King sought to address persist. In the United States today, income inequality has reached historic levels. The wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans continues to widen, with many families struggling to make ends meet despite working full-time jobs. Housing affordability is a growing crisis, with millions of Americans spending a significant portion of their income on rent. Meanwhile, access to quality education and healthcare remains unequal, often determined by zip code and socioeconomic status.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and exacerbated these inequalities, disproportionately impacting low-income and minority communities. Essential workers, many of whom are paid low wages, kept the country running during the crisis but faced significant health risks without adequate protections or benefits. At the same time, many large corporations and wealthy individuals saw their wealth grow exponentially during the pandemic, fueling debates about economic fairness.
King’s vision for economic justice resonates today because it emphasized collective action and systemic change. He believed in addressing root causes rather than treating symptoms. His call for living wages, fair labor practices, and access to basic necessities remains relevant as movements advocating for a higher minimum wage, affordable housing, and healthcare reform gain momentum.
The lessons of the Poor People’s Campaign remind us that economic justice is a shared responsibility. King’s dream of a society where poverty is no longer accepted as inevitable challenges us to confront uncomfortable truths about inequality and to work toward a fairer economic system. While the specifics of the struggle have evolved, the core message—that justice must include economic fairness—remains as urgent today as it was in King’s time.
Source: Seattle Medium
