The Poor People’s Campaign was a march on Washington D.C. to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States that began on this day in 1968, just one month after the assassination of one of its key organizers, MLK Jr.

The protest was also organized by Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy in the wake of King’s assassination.

After presenting an organized set of demands to Congress and executive agencies, participants set up a 3,000-person protest camp on the Washington Mall, where they stayed for six weeks in the spring of 1968.

Among those demands was a proposal for an “economic bill of rights” that included a commitment to full employment, a guaranteed annual income measure, and more low-income housing for poor Americans of all races.

"I think it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights…

When we see that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power, then we see that for the last twelve years we have been in a reform movement…

That after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill, we moved into a new era, which must be an era of revolution…"

-MLK Jr., in a 1967 planning meeting

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  • Hohsia [any]@hexbear.net
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    3 days ago

    Aww shit. One of my really good friends is now in a happy relationship and my brain is being a fuckass about it. Why can’t I just be happy instead of resentful over the fact that I’m now the last unpartnered person in my minimal circle

    • CrawlMarks [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      Nah, snoop dog was eight about the importance of maintaining emotional intimacy with your social group despite the drive to atomize when romantic entanglements become a factor.

    • Wakmrow [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      Divorce yourself from the self. They are you and you are they. The joy is shared. We hold nothing but joy for joyous events.

      • Hohsia [any]@hexbear.net
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        3 days ago

        How do you mean? There is certainly a part of me that feels a strong sense of resentment towards something that is the result of happenstance. I’ve always found it hard to be happy for people who fall into fortune

        • Wakmrow [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          2 days ago

          Sorry I was a bit drunk when I typed that. But it is my true sentiment. Often times good things happen to good people and we wish the good things happened to us. It is wrenching for sure. But I find a lot of joy in people having joy in their lives.

          If it’s really difficult for you, consider taking some space. If it’s too difficult to come back, you can take a lot of space. For me, if someone I care about gets a promotion I thought I deserved or comes into money or meets their person, I remind myself that I love them. And I will not be the type of person who doesn’t celebrate my friend’s good fortune. Even if it takes me some time to harden myself against that jealousy.

          • Hohsia [any]@hexbear.net
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            2 days ago

            I really appreciate this perspective. It seems like sometimes it’s an easy one to have and at other times oh so difficult :/ I do love my very few friends, it’s just that it’s hard to bring at back to the full picture when it feels like I have nothing in my own life that compares ya know?

            • Wakmrow [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              2 days ago

              I know. But if you want something in your life, that’s for you to do. Not your friends to do for you. So you can’t be upset at them for doing the things.

      • dualmindblade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        3 days ago

        Divorce yourself from the self.

        Yes, it is then and only then that one comes to realize what a toxic piece of shit they really are.

        (sorry it’s good advice actually, I can’t help it)