The Poor People’s Campaign Marches On

Monday, Dec. 4, marks the 56th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign, initiated in 1968 by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in collaboration with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to unite poor people in a movement against pervasive and structural injustices.

Five years ago, Bishop William J. Barber II and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis revitalized the movement with a contemporary Poor People’s Campaign that aimed to uphold MLK’s vision and lead a broad movement against the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, the war economy and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. (In June 2023, the campaign published a series of fact sheets that illuminate their persistence and current scope.)

“The facts show that poverty is devastating, deadly, and cannot be denied as a major domestic problem that’s creating an impoverished democracy,” Barber said after the poverty report was released. “We are determined to push it to the forefront of Americans’ public policy agenda of change. We can’t and we won’t be silent about this crisis anymore.”

In January 2023, the Poor People’s Campaign observed MLK’s birthday with a video message to President Joe Biden and Congress, urging them to meet with the campaign and address the systemic policy failures that fundamentally contradict the principles MLK espoused.

“When prophets are killed or assassinated, our job is to pick up the baton and continue the work,” said Barber in the message. “Sadly, many will go to King events today and claim to honor the prophet. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle will go while even today, they are standing diametrically opposed to the things he fought for: addressing systemic poverty, addressing racism, ensuring voter protection, just immigration policy, just treatment of indigenous people, health care for all, and dealing with the war economy and militarism.”

The movement has mobilized thousands of grassroot events across the U.S. in recent years. Many of them attended a Poor People’s Campaign rally in Washington D.C. in June 2023, where they demanded politicians address the “death sentence” of poverty.

Truthdig contributor Michael Nigro did a series of photo essays on the Campaign in 2016, documenting their solidarity with McDonald’s workers fighting for living wages, as well as their protests against war, militarism and gun violence.

The group continues to advocate for policy change, including the implementation of a wealth tax targeting billionaires, increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, reducing the military budget by 10 percent, enacting Medicare for All, and reallocating funds from the military and border control to address pressing needs in renewable energy, affordable housing, clean water, and public health.