When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, he was preparing to lead The Poor People’s Campaign. The purpose of the campaign was to bring thousands of poor people of all races to Washington, DC to set up a camp on the National Mall and demand that the nation address the injustice of poverty in the richest nation on Earth. Although the campaign took place, it did not reach its potential largely due to the tragic and untimely death of Dr. King. Fifty years later, there is a new version of The Poor People’s Campaign. Over the course of forty days in May and June, thousands of people participated in direct action and advocacy in states around the country and in Washington, DC. This initial stage of the campaign culminated on Saturday with a massive rally on the National Mall and a march to the Capitol. I had the privilege of participating in several campaign events in DC including Saturday’s rally and march. Moving forward the campaign will continue to mobilize people around the country to raise consciousness about the ongoing and deepening injustice of poverty in our nation and to advocate for systemic change. This is a spiritual movement that is committed to non-violence and embodying God’s desire for justice and equality across the social, economic, and racial barriers that increasingly separate people in our country. Here are a few pictures I took at Saturday’s rally and march followed by a short video about the campaign. In whatever ways you can individually and in your faith community, I urge you to join the campaign as an expression of your commitment to live the way of Jesus as he proclaimed in Luke 4: 16-19
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
