The Chicano

2019 ◽  
pp. 219-248
Author(s):  
Lorena Oropeza
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Chicano Movement ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor People's Campaign ◽  
Martin Luther King

The massive news coverage of the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid catapulted Reies López Tijerina to the national civil rights stage almost instantly but only briefly. In the wake of the raid, Chicano movement participants felt empowered by his insistence that Spanish-speakers had a historic claim to the American Southwest. Soon he enjoyed invitations from Martin Luther King, Jr. to participate in the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. For a short while, he also benefited from the advice of Maria Varela, a veteran civil rights activist. Yet in D.C. during the Poor People’s Campaign, the glare of publicity also exposed his autocratic tendencies and massive ego. Thrilled by the post-raid attention, Tijerina’s aspirations only grew. He eagerly spoke of moving beyond the land-rights agenda of the the Alianza Federal de Mercedes, the organization he had led since 1963.

scholarly journals «An idea unleashed in history»: Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the campaign to end poverty in America

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Robert Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Freedom Schools ◽  
Poor People's Campaign ◽  
To Come ◽  
Martin Luther King

As well as being a civil rights advocate, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr consistently called for human rights for all. He opposed poverty, racism, imperialism and political disfranchisement as part of an analysis, which viewed inequality not only in American but also in global terms. In order to address poverty and related human rights issues, King proposed a Poor People’s Campaign (PPC). In May 1968, only weeks after King’s assassination, the PPC saw thousands of poor people travel to Washington DC to protest against poverty. The demonstrators occupied sacred space in the nation’s capital by building a temporary community, known as Resurrection City. During preparations for the PPC and in Washington, the activists drew on a rich legacy of adult education from previous civil rights campaigns. The approaches adopted by PPC participants were innovative and represented alternatives to conventional educational practices. These included Freedom Schools, a Poor People’s University, workshops, marches and demonstrations, which assisted the protesters to come together in coalition to challenge dominant hegemonic narratives concerning the causes, nature and scope of poverty. Although ultimately unsuccessful in its aspiration to end economic injustice in America, the PPC undoubtedly laid the seeds for future anti-poverty activism. The article draws on primary source documents and oral testimonies from five archives.

Claiming Martin Luther King, Jr. for the right: The Martin Luther King Day holiday in the Reagan era

2021 ◽  
pp. 175069802199593
Author(s):  
Francesca Polletta ◽  
Alex Maresca
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
General Abstract ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reagan Era ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
Roll Back

The article traces how American conservatives laid claim to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. We focus on a key moment in that process, when Republicans in the early 1980s battled other Republicans to establish King’s birthday as a federal holiday and thereby distinguish a conservative position on racial inequality from that associated with southern opposition to civil rights. The victory was consequential, aiding the New Right’s efforts to roll back gains on affirmative action and other race-conscious policies. We use the case to explore the conditions in which political actors are able to lay claim to venerated historical figures who actually had very different beliefs and commitments. The prior popularization of the figure makes it politically advantageous to identify with his or her legacy but also makes it possible to do so credibly. As they are popularized, the figure’s beliefs are made general, abstract, and often vague in a way that lends them to appropriation by those on the other side of partisan lines. Such appropriation is further aided by access to a communicative infrastructure of foundations, think tanks, and media outlets that allows political actors to secure an audience for their reinterpretation of the past.

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