August 23rd
40 years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream speech" at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Five years later, working to build the "Poor People's Campaign," he was assassinated. Looking at the gains of the civil rights movement, concerned that our future was being wasted in Vietnam, King believed that the time had come "to move from a movement of civil rights to a movement of human rights."

As he worked to build a "non-violent, multi-racial army of the poor," the government moved to assassinate King. In the 1999 trial, the courts established that King's assassination had been a coordinated effort involving local and federal law enforcement, and military intelligence.

After his death, civil rights leaders continued with the Poor People's Campaign, leading a mule train from Marks, MS to Washington, DC. They established "Resurrection City," a tent city on the National Mall. Without King's leadership, however, the Campaign fell into disunity.

Bushville
Today, the March finally entered Washington, DC. Leaders of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign from around the country came into DC for this final push.

The marchers joined the rally commemorating the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Preparations were being made for "Bushville," on the same site of "Resurrection City" 35 years ago.

The marchers struggled to keep their spirits up as police harrassed them at the Bushville site, and it seemed likely there would not be time for us to speak at the However, a sister from "By Any Means Necessary" stepped forward to demand the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign be given an opportunity to speak.

After leaving the rally, construction began in earnest. Despite strenuous efforts to the contrary, it became clear the permit would not be extended beyond the 12:00 deadline. Reasons ranged from national security concerns to a conflict with an upcoming NFL/Britney Spears concert (Bushville was nowhere near the concert preparation area).

As midnight came, those willing to risk arrest gathered together in the tents, supported by many more in and around Bushville. But arrests were not forthcoming at 12:01am.

No arrests were made, but throughout the night police continuously harassed those at Bushville and in nearby cars, preventing anyone from falling asleep.

Morning came, and everyone was exhausted from the constant harassment. Still unified, the marchers refused to abandon Bushville, and the voices it represented - from Marks, MS to Clincho, VA, and at every other stop along the march, the untold stories of economic human rights violations were given voice by our tents, banners, signs and presence.

Before afternoon, the police made a decision to demolish Bushville and arrest anyone refusing to leave. Seventeen people remained, and were arrested by police. All were given expensive citations and released a few hours later.

Events will continue throughout the week in Washington, DC. Watch for more updates, including the response to the destruction of Bushville.

Looking Ahead
Since King's assassination in 1968, economic conditions for most Americans have gotten progressively worse. Homelessness and joblessness have reached heights not seen since the great depression. In this last year alone, over 70 million people have lived without health insurance - and millions more have difficulty getting medication and basic care. At the same time, our economy has generated historically unprecedented amounts of wealth. Even more so now than in King's time, issues of economic human rights are not problems of scarcity, but crises of morality and political will.

When the Republican National Convention 2000 was held in Philadelphia, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign led over 10,000 people in a march to ensure those struggling to get by were not totally invisible. After two years of George W. Bush, our country's future has been ransomed to the admittedly imperial ambitions of a radical few, many of them with personal ties to big oil companies (Bush, Cheney, Rice, Evans, etc.). The administration's FTAA plans would eliminate thousands of jobs, undermine labor rights and further erode environmental protections in North, South and Central America. Thousands of low-income families were specifically left out of a child tax credit others benefited from. For these and other acts, religious leaders across the spectrum have condemned the Bush administration.

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is led by those directly affected by these policies. Throughout this next week, events will take place looking closer at these economic human rights violations, and the work being done to address them. Looking beyond this week, the Campaign will be marching on the Republican National Convention in 2004.