Content area
Full Text
Abstract
In 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. expanded the scope of Civil Rights activism by (re)defining the problem of social inequality to include all those in the United States who were poor, regardless of their race or ethnicity. Building on the success of the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington, a similar event was planned to publicize the extent of poverty in America. In addition to the Poor People's March on Washington, the lived experience of the poor was dramatized by the thousands who converged on the national mall to live in makeshift tents in Resurrection City during May and June, 1968. This paper examines the Poor People's Campaign and the way in which the goals of the campaign, which moved from vague rhetoric to specific demands, threatened the security of established societal norms and may have contributed to the failure of the movement to accomplish its goals.
In the mid 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. expanded the scope of his Civil Rights activism by redefining the problem of social inequality to include all those in the United States who were poor, regardless of their race or ethnicity. An even similar to the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington was planned by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to publicize the extent of poverty in America. In addition to a single-day Solidarity March in Washington, the lived experience of the poor was dramatized by the thousands of poor people who converged on the national mall to live in makeshift housing known as Resurrection City for six weeks during May and June, 1968. Both the encampment and the march were part of The Poor Peoples Campaign (POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN).
This paper examines the life cycle of POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN by applying the theories of Down, Hahn and Stone. The POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN began in late 1967 with strong public and media support and enthusiastic participants. When it ended in June 1968, the public and the media had lost interest and the participants were discouraged. Martin Luther King, Jr. had deliberately articulated goals that were vague but that required a revolutionary change to the economic and social system in America. After King's death, the next generation of SCLC leaders were not as committed to his revolutionary...