澳彩开奖

When an assassin鈥檚 bullet took the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, he was standing up for the rights of sanitation workers in the city.

He was in the midst of planning his Poor People鈥檚 Campaign to bring low-income people from across America to Washington, D.C., for a demonstration to compel the nation to acknowledge the economic inequality that far too many, particularly people of color, experience in a country touted as the land of opportunity.

鈥淧eople ought to come to Washington, sit down if necessary in the middle of the street and say, 鈥榃e are here; we are poor; we don鈥檛 have any money; you have made us this way鈥� and we鈥檝e come to stay until you do something about it,鈥欌�� King is to have said as the campaign was being planned.

The issues he raised 鈥� economic inequality and the systemic racism that fuels it 鈥� are still with us more than half a century later. And now, these chronic inequities have been thrown into stark relief as the United States has been ravaged by a pandemic that has laid bare deep disparities in access to healthcare, and pushed tens of millions of people into unemployment. The nationwide protests against police brutality have simultaneously exposed the systemic racism within our institutions, which threatens not just the lives of people of color, but their economic well-being.

This is why it is so important to the Mass Poor People鈥檚 Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Justice Gathering on June 20. Organizations, such as the 澳彩开奖, are continuing King鈥檚 mission by joining the Poor People鈥檚 Campaign as a mobilizing partner for the event, which will be 鈥渢he largest digital and social media gathering of poor and low-wealth people, moral and religious leaders, advocates, and people of conscience in this nation鈥檚 history.鈥�

The moment for this movement is now.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw staggering sums of money allocated for corporations as people struggling across the country held their breath, hoping lawmakers wouldn鈥檛 balk at a one-time stimulus check and enhanced unemployment benefits, which are set to expire at the end of July. This all-too-familiar story exemplified of America decades earlier: 鈥淭his country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.鈥�

And much like the Memphis sanitation workers, today鈥檚 essential workers often find themselves with few rights as they fight for fair compensation and access to basic necessities. Amid the pandemic, they now must also worry if they鈥檙e sacrificing their health every time they clock in.

The nationwide protests against police brutality are not unrelated, as the racism that infects law enforcement also infects our economic policies. It prevents many people, especially people of color, from earning a living wage in a country with an ever-shrinking social safety net.

For example, a few years ago in Birmingham, Alabama 鈥� a place where King fought for civil rights that has recently seen protests against police brutality, as well as the removal a Confederate monument 鈥� the majority-Black city attempted to raise the minimum wage. The state鈥檚 majority-white Legislature, however, tied Birmingham鈥檚 hands by passing a law banning Alabama cities from doing just that.

As King clearly understood so many years ago, the fight for social justice must include economic justice. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important to the Mass Poor People鈥檚 Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Justice Gathering. Here鈥檚 what you can do:

• RSVP for the event .
• Your organization can participate by sending this to supporters, asking them to for the event.
• Share this promoting the event on your social media with a message about why you are joining. Include the .
• Encourage people to share a selfie with a quote about why they are joining the event.
• You and your organization can include an announcement and call to action for the event in your blog, bulletin or newsletter.

King may no longer be with us, but the march continues. By working together, we can pursue his vision of a United States that lives up to its promise of equal rights, opportunities and justice for all.

Photo by AP Images/Jose Luis Magana