The following is an excerpt from a four-part series published in the South Seattle Emerald. Read the full series at SouthSeattleEmerald.com.

In 1967, after fighting against Jim Crow segregation and winning many civil rights victories for Black and Brown Americans, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America.

The Poor People’s Campaign marks Dr. King’s philosophical shift from civil rights to human rights — demanding a new consciousness amid the threat of war, poverty, racial discrimination, and white supremacy. This inclusive fusion movement would unite all races through their commonality of struggle, to create solutions that would revolutionize American values.

In June 1968, an assembly of poor impacted communities were to gather in Washington, D.C., for the inaugural Poor People’s Campaign March. However, in April 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Poor People’s Campaign was continued under the leadership of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Fifty years later, in 2018, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival continued Dr. King’s legacy. Now, branches in over 30 U.S. states are active participants in this national call for a moral revival — including Washington.

Read the full article and the full series at The South Seattle Emerald.