KING’S DREAM OF ‘POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN’ TO GO ON

WHEN he was killed 50 years ago, the Rev Martin Luther King Jr was working on a campaign to unite poor people of diverse backgrounds to demand better homes, jobs and education.

Now, civil rights leaders are reviving the Poor People’s Campaign with 40 days of marches, sit-ins and other peaceful protests.

Organisers of the rekindled campaign discussed their plans yesterday in Memphis on the eve of the anniversary of King’s death.

Starting on May 14, clergy, union members and other activists will take part in the events in about 30 states, targeting Congress and state legislatures. Then, on June 23, organisers plan a large rally in Washington – similar to what King had envisioned.

The original Poor People’s Campaign was carried out in 1968 after King’s death by other civil rights leaders.

The civil rights leader was standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel when he was shot on April 4, 1968. He died at a hospital at age 39.

Picture: AFP Martin Luther King III, son of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, listens during a ceremony at Mason Temple, Church of God in Christ to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tennessee.