Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for economic justice

The following guest post was written for Daily Kos by Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“Let us rise-up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be.”

On April 3, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered these words at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. Part of his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, King called for solidarity and collective action to support the city’s striking sanitation workers. This would be his last speech before his assassination the following day, but as author Michael K. Honey writes in his book “To the Promised Land: Martin Luther King and the Fight for Economic Justice,” the speech encapsulated the ethos of the Civil Rights Movement: “creating hope out of despair, taking action instead of giving in to fear, finding joy and speaking of love rather than succumbing to hate.”

For many struggling with a sense of despair and a fear for the future, commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day does not necessarily feel like a moment of celebration or joy this year. As we reflect on the legacy of this civil rights icon who helped lead one of most transformative movements in U.S. history for racial equality and justice, we are simultaneously ushering in a new phase in Washington in which those with power have pledged to dismantle efforts that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, while the assault on our civil and voting rights persists across the Deep South and throughout the nation.

The obstacles ahead are daunting. In many moments, people will feel tempted to disengage or to become openly antagonistic to those whom they view as their enemies. But it is in these moments that we need to remind ourselves of King’s unfinished goals and the dreams of the larger freedom movement.

As Honey details, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 marking victory for the first phase of the movement, King saw the second phase of the freedom movement as the fight for economic justice. He believed that a multiracial coalition of poor and working-class people could come together to demand better jobs, wages, housing, education and health care. He called for the prioritization of people over profit and for more equitable distribution of wealth and resources, envisioning “a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.” And yet, time and time again, he was confronted with forces who used racism to divide those who were struggling, pitting them against each other in a zero-sum game for economic opportunity.

And now, more than half a century later, the financial insecurity that many are feeling today mirrors the struggles of those demanding change during King’s time. As prices for housing, food, health care, and child care continue to rise, many families feel as though their paychecks aren’t going far enough. Poverty continues to plague communities of color at disproportionate rates, especially in the Deep South. And income and wealth inequality have soared to staggering levels that are only projected to worsen.

Likewise, the tactics of those people thwarting economic justice also mirror the ones of their predecessors. Opportunistic politicians and business leaders scapegoat immigrants and DEI initiatives as threats to the advancement of other workers. These self-promoting people call for struggling communities to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, while embracing economic policies that make it even harder to advance.

For those who feel like today cannot be a celebration, let it instead be a reminder of what King stood for. Facing down campaigns to stain his character and threats to his life, King chose action. He chose to organize, march, boycott and protest for the hope of seeing a more fair and just country for all of those who have been left behind. And he helped to secure the tools that we need to see his vision come to fruition—our votes.

Protecting King’s legacy and achieving the victory for economic justice that eluded him will require everyone who believes in the promise of an inclusive, multiracial democracy to exercise their right to vote. Poverty is a policy choice and we have the power to demand better policies. By building coalitions with others who are vulnerable and helping them understand that prosperity does not have to come at the expense of any community, we can ensure that our voices reverberate through our town halls, our state legislatures and our nation’s capital.  

Join the Southern Poverty Law Center in this march toward economic justice and racial equality. It will be challenging and we will encounter setbacks. But as King said to his audience at Mason Temple, “whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can’t ride your back unless it is bent.” Let’s stand together to defend all of our rights.