QUIT PLAYIN: A New Campaign?

America needs one for and by the people

By: Vincent Hall

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism,” and that the issues of poverty and injustice require a restructuring of the whole society and a radical redistribution of wealth and power!”
– MLK

On November 27, 1967, during a five-day retreat in Frogmore, South Carolina, Dr. Martin Luther King and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference came together. Their purpose in convening was to plan a Poor People’s Campaign.

There are hundreds of reasons to grieve the demise of Dr. King, but this campaign stands out. Dr. King wanted the masses of poor people and those willing to advocate for them to “pull up on D.C.”

Nowadays, King, his Negro followers, and them “liberal White sympathizers” would probably be arrested. Cesar Chavez would likely be deported or sent to “Alligator Alcatraz!”

Donald Trump’s militarization of the National Guard, paired with what my White friend calls the “Peckerwood Posse” aka ICE, would surely have been an obstacle.

But Dr. King never let the perils of freedom fighting overcome the dream of first-class citizenship. He set forth with a mind to lift the poor.

“We ought to come in mule carts, in old trucks, any kind of transportation people can get their hands on. People ought to come to Washington, sit down if necessary, in the middle of the street and say, ‘We are here; we are poor; we don’t have any money; you have made us this way…and we’ve come to stay until you do something about it.’”

Dr. King wanted a 30-billion-dollar package passed through Congress almost 60 years ago.

Today, that number is close to half a trillion. And it could easily be done through strategic military spending cuts, budget reduction outlays, a single payer health system, and a tax hike on Donald Trump and the billionaires and decamillionaires he runs with.

If there was a need in MLK’s era for an intense, committed fight on behalf of people experiencing poverty, the need for one today is much greater.

We complain about poor schools, but generally, the schools that perform the worst are populated by the poorest children.

How can you be prepared for school when you can’t afford supplies, have not had a restful sleep, have poor nutritional choices, and are short at least one parent, and in many cases, both?

We talk about the poor as if they were fashioned to survive with low pay and limited resources perpetually. Ask yourself how you would make it with just two children, rent, food, clothing, transportation costs, and the other essentials on a minimum wage job with a gross weekly pay of $400 per week?

Meanwhile, and unlike the poor children of MLK’s era, our children are inundated with marketing promotions and material prosperity, or at least the appearance of prosperity, which says in no uncertain terms that they are somehow less than the norm.

The working poor and especially poor children need access to the internet, schools that are prepared to provide “catch-up academics,” and upgraded efforts by the police to safeguard neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods that are saturated with violent crimes, drug activity, and robbery. Don’t forget the poor among our senior citizens.

Donald Trump has fused militarism, racism, and an obvious neglect for the poor that will only create more poverty, prejudice, and crime.

Where’s our campaign?

A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.