Welcome!


Welcome to your Honors American Studies blog. We will use this tool throughout the course to discuss current events and reflect upon class discussion.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Poor People's Campaign of 1968

Hello Group!

First of all, make sure your Wiki is up and running for Monday. We will be checking it during class. Second, please comment on this post with regard to the following:

1. Give a brief summary of your event that encapsulates your understanding. This should be in your own words.

2. Provide FIVE quotations (voices) that you think will be valuable additions to your script. Provide each quote and then explain who the speaker is and why the quote is relevant.

8 comments:

  1. 1) Mr. President, as you may know, from 1965 and 1966, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King JR brought his brilliant organizing insights to what many people called the slums of Chicago to confront the evils of a number of slum lords.
    -Poor Peoples Campaign Organization letter to President Obama relevant to show that the poor people's campaign ideas are still being applied today.

    2)What the campaign is trying to do is exert the same kind of pressure on Congress as special interests have been exerting for nearly 200 years. If that is blackmail, then the Congress ought to be used to it.
    -Newspaper Article from May 21,1968
    important to show how people viewed the campaign and what people thought the motives were for it.

    3)On March 5, King announced that the Poor
    People's Campaign would begin on April 22,
    and a week later I sent another inemorandum
    to the mayor. It resulted from a meeting with
    members of the Medical Committee for Human
    Rights and raised such questions as, will the tent city be permitted?
    -Health Report from 1968 on the Poor Peoples Campaign
    to show that the campaign could potentially have been a health risk and to show that it wasn't a simple easy campaign.

    4)"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
    -MLKjr. from Eyes on the Prize


    5)On page 2 of the brochure MLK gives a little blurb I liked but it wouldn't let me copy and paste it.

    http://afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/documents/1968%20PPC%20Brochure.pdf
    To show that Martin Luther King Jr. believed so strongly in the poor people's campaign and was sending out brochures to get his ideas across.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1) "The Poor People's march... was not intended and not designed to become a continuing lobby for the poor. And it would be a betrayal of its high purpose to let it devolve into a public nuisance, a televised eyesore, an argument for those who would denigrate the efforts of the poor."
    -from the Louisville Courier Journal June 25, 1968.
    -A reason that the Poor March ended http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/15_poor.html

    2)"During the campaign, SCLC officials and scores of others will call on Congressmen and government officials to discuss their demands that poverty be eased and racism ended..."
    -From The Chicago Defender April 27 1968
    -Shows what the Poor Peoples Campaign is all about

    3)"We are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power."
    -MLK jr.
    -from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/15_poor.html
    -Important because he is the leader and his opinion of what the solution is, is very relevant and useful for our script.

    4) "At Miss Wright's urging, King worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to form the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. They planned a march on Washington, D.C. to call for an economic bill of rights for the poor while demonstrations took place around the country."
    -this quote introduces Marian Wright and also introduces the Poor March which was an important event for the Poor Peoples Campaign.
    -http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/our-history/poor-peoples-campaign.html

    5)"We come with an appeal to open the doors of America to the almost 50 million Americans who have not been given a fair share of America's wealth and opportunity, and we will stay until we get it," Abernathy said as he led the way for demonstrators.
    -just after MLK died and Abernathy and others stepped up to keep the campaign moving forward
    -http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91626373

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Summary: In the beginning of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. helped to plan the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington D.C. This took place on May 12, 1968. Before this date came, King was assassinated, but the march still happened with thousands of participants. The purpose was to help poor people get jobs, health care, and adequate homes. People marched through the capital and visited many federal agencies to get Congress to pass anti-poverty legislation. People then camped out for six weeks in Resurrection City in protest. No legislation ended up being passed.


    • “Poverty exists and is there to be seen by anyone who wishes to see it. The problem, however, is that all too few, including members of the Congress, wish to see the problem...” George Sigel, M.D. (Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post) April 26, 1968.
    The speaker here is George Sigel. He was a medical doctor who was writing to the editor of a newspaper about the fact that people ignore poverty.
    • “The Poor People's Campaign may serve the useful purpose of forcing citizens to look at a problem they choose to ignore. If people honestly cared about the poverty problem, there would be no need for such a campaign...” –George Sigel, M.D. (Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post) April 26, 1968
    The speaker here is George Sigel. He was a medical doctor who wrote about how he thinks the campaign is needed to have people open their eyes to the problem of poverty in the country.
    • "Resurrection City is populated by the poor. The poor are sick, dirty and unorganized at home. They are here too." –Rev. Andrew Young (The Chicago Defender: Poor People’s March a Giant Step) June 22-28, 1968
    Rev. Andrew Young was a black American politician. He was a friend of Martin Luther King, Junior. This shows the conditions of poor people in America at the time period and what people thought of them.
    • “The Poor People's march... was not intended and not designed to become a continuing lobby for the poor. And it would be a betrayal of its high purpose to let it devolve into a public nuisance, a televised eyesore, an argument for those who would denigrate the efforts of the poor.” (The Louisville Courier Journal: Time to End Poor March) June 25, 1968
    The speaker was a writer for The Louisville Courier Journal. This is saying for the campaign to be effective it can not bother people because then people will become annoyed by the poor people.
    • "It didn't cost the nation one penny to integrate lunch counters…It didn't cost the nation one penny to guarantee the right to vote…now, we are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars -- and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power." –Martin Luther King, Jr. (Judgment Days) 1968
    The speaker here is Martin Luther King, Jr. who was one of the main planners of the campaign. He is showing the importance of this topic and the amount of work and changes needed to be made to fulfill the needs of the poor.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Summary: The poor people's campaign was brought fourth by Martin Luther King J.R. to help resolve the low class lifestyle of black people in America. The overall goal of the campaign was to increase jobs, domestic lifestyle, and income. Unfortunately, King was assassinated during this period, which put a strain on it. The issue accomplished a little, however complete satisfaction was not fulfilled. This issue is still going on today.


    1.)"The beginning of a new co-operation, understanding, and a determination by poor people of all colors and backgrounds to assert and win their right to a decent life and respect for their culture and dignity."
    -Martin Luther King J.R.
    Martin Luther King J.R. was the one who planned the campaign to begin with.

    2.) "a multiracial army of the poor"

    3.)“We are developing leaders from the ranks of the poor to create solutions ourselves and build a sustainable system.”
    -Khalilah Collins of Women in Transition, a PPEHRC member group in Louisville, Kentucky

    4.)"Let us therefore continue our triumphant march to the realization of the American dream. Let us march on segregated housing until every ghetto or social and economic depression dissolves, and Negroes and whites live side by side in decent, safe, and sanitary housing."
    ('Our God Is Marching On!' speech in Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965)

    5.)"It is time for all people of conscience to call upon America to return to her true home of brotherhood and peaceful pursuits. We cannot remain silent as our nation engages in one of history's most cruel and senseless wars. During these days of human travail, we must encourage creative dissenters. We need them because the thunder of their fearless voices will be the only sound stronger than the blasts of bombs and the clamor of war hysteria. Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace."
    -(submitted by Eric Ares, Community Organizer)

    ReplyDelete
  8. The poor people’s campaign was designed by Martin Luther King Jr. to help poor people improve their life styles. Although he was assassinated, his work lived on and the march still occurred with thousands of participants. Although no legislation was passed the legacy of King’s work still lives on today.

    “We come with an appeal to open the doors of America to the almost 50 million Americans who have not been given a fair share of America's wealth and opportunity, and we will stay until we get it…"
    ~reasoning for campaign
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91626373

    “the riot is the language of the unheard... America has failed to hear... that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met."
    Martin Luther King Jr
    ~reasoning for campaign
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/15_poor.html

    “Issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power."
    Martin Luther King Jr
    ~King’s thoughts on the need to campaign
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/15_poor.html

    “Success would restore it. If we fail, I feel firmly that violence will increase”
    Campaigner’s wife
    ~need to continue after King’s death
    http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=82hkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x3wNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3528,991866&dq=poor+people's+campaign&hl=en

    “The poor have been left out of American political and economic life mainly because they have never had the resources to play the game.”
    James K Glassmen
    http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/5/21/trouble-in-the-poor-peoples-campaign/#

    ReplyDelete