1968 MLK Poor People's Campaign activist shares stories
243 views · Published 17 August 2018 · 4:59 · Indexed 22 September 2026
Channel: Awakened Lounge · 2018 · Nonprofits & Activism
As Martin Luther King Jr.'s Poor People's Campaign is being rebooted, Wornie Reed, an original campaign activist and director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech says although, "the Poor People's Campaign [of 1968] fell short of its goal to win significant anti-poverty legislation. It did, however, mark a change of the civil rights movement from advocating a platform of only racial equality to one that incorporated interracial class issues and economic goals." He supports the new campaign and adds "importantly, the new Poor People's Campaign is addressing several issues beyond poverty." Reed was involved with the 1968 Campaign working to drum up support in northern New Jersey bringing people to Washington DC. After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated he regularly visited DC to support the activities at Resurrection City, the hastily constructed shantytown that held thousands of protesting residents. He was also among the men and women laying in the street across Independence Avenue on Solidarity Day 1968. He experienced being dragged away 3 times by police.
