poor people's movement

The last night of discussions on poverty in America—”The Fight of the Poor”—directs attention to groups and communities organizing a movement to end poverty across the country. The segment includes interviews and discussion of the United Workers in Baltimore, The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida, Domestic Workers United in New York, Direct Action Welfare Group in West Virginia and Iraq Veterans Against the War, The Vermont Workers Center, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign.

When we think of King, what do we think about? Bus boycotts, great speaker, leader of the civil rights movement, but we never stop to think who is telling his story. At a young age I was taught that King was a civil rights activists and a civil rights activist only. What I did not know was that King understood that it was not just a colored person problem. It was bigger than that it was a poor person problem. So lets think when King begun to speak out against the Vietnam War. All of a sudden, the media turned on him.

On April 19th, about 40 members of Media Mobilizing Project traveled down to Baltimore to stand with our allies, the United Workers Association (UWA), as they declared Baltimore's inner harbor a Human Rights Zone. This declaration launched UWA's campaign to reclaim dignity and fair treatment for the low-wage workers employed at the Inner Harbor's restaurants and stores. Milena Velis was one of the MMP members who was at the historic Human Rights Zone March.

Head Start had requested $4.3 billion in the stimulus package. What' now being discussed in the Senate is $2.1 billion and even that' being challenged.

We had our first official screening, with the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania featuring media by four amazing organizations working in Philly. We thought this was the best way to highlight the lesser known mission of Dr. King - his passion for economic justice. To set the tone, we watched some footage from Citizen King, a documentary of the final years of his life. The movie is available from the Free Library (there are 33 copies in libraries all over the city) and its amazing so check it out!

Khalif Dobson of Philadelphia Student Union (!!) kicked it off with a powerful speech. We saw a montage of the media produced by MMP and others we're connected to, and then the panel screened 3 pieces and talked about their mission and messaging. Hopefully others will post their statements because there were some wise words by many, and photos too! Here's my intro to the montage...

The mass media played many roles in the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His messages and strategy were judged, and interpretations presented to the wider public on TV, radio and in newspapers. This became the lens through which King' message was known even during his lifetime.

In honor of today's historic inauguration and yesterday being Martin Luther King day, I wanted to share with folks a piece NPR did on the Poor People's Movement.