Solidarity Day

This episode examines the events and impact of "Solidarity Day" during the Poor People's Campaign in 1968, focusing on efforts against poverty and inequality led by figures like Reverend Ralph Abernathy and the late Martin Luther King Jr.

1. The Poor People's Campaign was a transformative movement aimed at addressing systemic poverty, emphasizing a multiracial coalition.
2. Solidarity Day marked the zenith of the campaign, drawing significant attention to the plight of America's poor.
3. The movement faced significant challenges, including the weather and internal discord, which complicated its efforts.
4. Despite its eventual disbandment, the campaign influenced future anti-poverty legislation and left a lasting legacy.
5. The movement's message and goals have been revived in modern times, reflecting ongoing struggles against economic inequality.

1: Introduction to Solidarity Day

Reverend Ralph Abernathy leads a protest in Washington, D.C., symbolizing the fight against poverty. Reverend Ralph Abernathy: "It's a fight for the soul of our nation."

2: The Formation of Resurrection City

Details the construction and daily life within Resurrection City, emphasizing the community and activism it fostered. Reverend Ralph Abernathy: "This city is a beacon of our struggle."

3: The Impact of the Campaign

Explores legislative changes prompted by the campaign, including improvements to national nutrition and housing policies. Speaker: "These laws are our victory, even in defeat."

1. Engage in community activism to address local issues of inequality.
2. Support policies and legislators that focus on economic reforms and anti-poverty measures.
3. Educate oneself and others about the historical and ongoing struggles against poverty.
4. Participate in or organize local events that promote solidarity and collective action.
5. Advocate for the integration of diverse communities in movements for social change.

June 19, 1968. Over 50,000 people march on Washington D.C. to protest economic injustice in the climax of Martin Luther King and the SCLC’s “Poor People’s Campaign,” an event coined “Solidarity Day.” This episode originally aired in 2023.

People

Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Vice President Hubert Humphrey

Content Warnings:

None

Speaker A
There are more ways than ever to listen to history daily ad free. Listen with wondery in the Wondry app as a member of R@r.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of history daily, plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohistory.com. dot.

Reverend Ralph Abernathy
It'S June 24, 1968, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. In the shadow of the Peace monument, Reverend Ralph Abernathy leads a large crowd in protest. Abernathy is a revered black activist and Baptist minister from Alabama. He and his fellow protesters are members of a radical new anti poverty movement called the Poor People's Campaign. By bringing together poor Americans and shining a light on their suffering, the campaign hopes to spur the government into addressing the nation's economic inequality.

Marching with determination, Abernathy hurls his fist into the air, his face burning with passion. But beneath his resolute demeanor is a growing sense of dread that today might mark the end of their fledgling movement. At the nearby National Mall, over 1000 police officers are encircling and dismantling a 16 acre encampment of tents and wooden shacks called Resurrection City. For the past six weeks, Abernathy and nearly 3000 members of the Poor People's Campaign have made Resurrection city their home, living and demonstrating out of this shantytown. But their requests to extend their camping permit have been denied, and today that permit expires.

As Abernathy watches Resurrection City get evicted, vans from the Metropolitan Police Department pull up alongside the protesters. A line of officers in riot helmets and face shields jump out, and Abernathy and his fellow protesters are apprehended and herded onto a police bus. Through it all, Abernathy remains unfazed. Hes used to getting arrested for his activism, and he never lets it end his fights. So as he climbs into the police bus, he scans the crowd of demonstrators lingering outside and raises his right hand in a peace sign.

As Abernathy drops down into a seat on the bus, reporters flock to his open window. They ask him how he feels about being arrested. Abernathy just shrugs. The only thing he wishes is that the original architect of the campaign and his perennial jail mate, the late Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, could be sitting by his side. As the bus pulls away from the Capitol, Ralph hears a disappointing commotion as police officers and bulldozers tear down their encampment, raising what was once a vibrant community to the ground.

He mourns its loss. But as the bus carries them away and resurrection city becomes just a memory, Abernathy holds onto the hope that their cause will endure.

At the end of the 1960s, after years of fighting for the rights of black Americans, several civil rights leaders turned their attention to a related issue, poverty. Through a multiracial coalition coined the poor People's campaign, they sought to shine a light on the hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering in the nations shadows. And in the summer of 1968, they brought their protests to the front door of the federal government in the heart of the nations capital. They staged a six week long demonstration they hoped would force legislators to look poverty in the eye, bringing their campaign to its zenith just five days before Resurrection citys eviction, when 50,000 Americans descended on the National Mall for a rally called Solidarity Day on June 19, 1968.

Speaker A
History Daily is sponsored by Audible one of the best compliments I get from listeners is that they feel like theyre there, you know, witnessing history themselves. It can be a powerful illusion because listening goes hand in hand with imagining. Thats why audible is such a great place to let your imagination soar. When you listen, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. Theres more to imagine when you listen.

A great listen that got my imagination going was David Grand's newest, the Wager, a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder. As an audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their entire catalog, and new members can try audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com historydaily or text history daily to 500 500. That's audible.com historydaily or text history daily to 500 500. History Daily is sponsored by Mint Mobile thought experiment.

You're hungry and there on the street are two vendors. But the two vendors serve exactly the same thing. How do you choose? Well, once you're convinced that they're really identical, same food, same quality, then it's just price, right? If one is less expensive, your decision is made simple.

So why is it that you haven't switched to mint mobile yet? Unlimited talk, text and data identical to other big wireless providers, but for just dollar 15 a month because they sell online, cutting the costs of retail stores and passing those savings to you. That was perfect for resurrecting an old. Phone for my daughter. And I promise you, the emojis she sends her friends are identical to those sent on other, more costly services.

To get this new customer offer and your new three month unlimited wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com historydaily. That's mintmobile.com historydaily. Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month@mintmobile.com. historydaily dollar 45 upfront payment required equivalent to dollar 15 a month new customers on first three month plan only. Speed slower above 40gb on unlimited plans.

Additional taxes, fees and restrictions. Apply Cmint Mobile for details.

Reverend Ralph Abernathy
From Noiser and airship I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is history daily.

History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is June 19, 1968. Solidarity Day caps an american protest against poverty.

It's November 27, 1967, in Frogmore, South Carolina. Beneath a canopy of oak trees, Reverend Martin Luther King Junior bounds toward a white single story building, the site of an ongoing staff retreat for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Also known as the SCLC, this group is one of the nation's leading civil rights organizations, founded by King and several other activists ten years ago. Over its first decade, the SCLC registered thousands of voters, connected hundreds of organizations, and played a major role in the nations biggest protests. But despite all their achievements, the organization still suffers from discord.

Normally, they can find enough common ground to bring them back together. But King worries that unity will soon be even harder to achieve because the SCLC is about to head in a bold new direction. Today, King intends to announce the start of what will be called the Poor People's Campaign. The seeds of this new enterprise were sown over a year ago when King visited Marks, Mississippi, with his friend and closest associate, Reverend Ralph Abernathy. Marks is a tiny town of 2600 people in the heart of the poorest county in the United States.

The residents living conditions deeply upset King. In the streets, children played barefoot, many of them never having had shoes in their entire lives. At a local elementary school, King watched a teacher give a single apple slice and a few stale crackers to each malnourished student. The sight was enough to bring King to tears. He left the town of Marx determined to make America's leaders witness its poverty and deprivation.

So over the coming summer, several senators were brought to Marx, including Robert F. Kennedy, brother to late President John F. Kennedy. The experience made Robert Kennedy and his progressive peers desperate to bring bills to Congress which would address the country's hunger, housing, and unemployment crises. But the nations attention was focused halfway across the world on the Vietnam War in order to lure them back to domestic struggles, Senator Kennedy urged King to demand the governments attention by bringing a mass assembly of poor Americans to Washington.

Now, inside one of Frogmores public halls, King introduces his idea to the SCLC staff. The emergency we now face is economic, and it is a desperate and worsening situation for the 35 million poor people in America and our society. It's murder psychologically to deprive a man of a job or an income. You are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist. To combat this emergency, King proposes that the SCLC start a multiracial coalition focused on highlighting the plight of Americas poor and calling for legislative action.

He calls it the poor peoples campaign. And by the summer of 1968, King envisions bringing thousands of Americans from across the country to Washington, DC, where they will illegally occupy the National Mall until their demands are met. King expects this will bring mass arrests, but he hopes the photos of those arrests will spread through the news like wildfire, bringing the face of poverty into the homes of millions of Americans and stirring the public sympathy. But many of his colleagues balk at the plan. Some advocate fiercely against openly courting mass arrest.

Others dismiss King's vision and argue that the SCLC has a moral obligation to maintain their focus on civil rights for black Americans, where they still have so far to go. But kings determination and persuasiveness triumph. A week later, he holds a press conference to publicly announce the Poor Peoples campaign and their non negotiable demands, which include anti poverty funds, full employment, and the annual construction of 500,000 affordable residences. By March 31, plans for the occupation of the National Mall are in full swing. In the towering national cathedral in Washington, DC, King announces that the mass pilgrimage to the nations capital will begin in Marks, Mississippi, the same small town where he had been so moved.

Witnessing people live with so little. But just days later, tragedy strikes. On April 4, 1968, while supporting a workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee, King is shot and killed. The assassination of Martin Luther King will be a brutal blow to the poor people's campaign and the fight for civil rights. With the nation in mourning, riots flooding the streets and the SCLC's leadership in disarray, it will be up to one of King's contemporaries to pave a new path forward.

Speaker A
History Daily is sponsored by Greenlight. This is the last week of school for my daughter, and she has grown up so much. It's been fun to watch. Like the excitement of the new Taylor Swift album, a new infatuation with Skincare. You know what?

Actually, along with that, a surprisingly sharp consumer sense. She seeks out product reviews, compares prices, tries to find sales, and manages her own purchases with Greenlight because she wouldn't really know the value of a dollar unless she earned it herself. She saves it herself and she spends it herself. We use Greenlight, a debit card and money app made for families, you can send your kids instant money transfers, get real time notifications of spending, manage chores, and automate allowance. Meanwhile, your kids build financial literacy and independence by learning to earn, save, and spend wisely.

Even at Sephora, millions of parents and kids are learning about money on greenlight, the easy, convenient way to raise financially smart kids. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free@greenlight.com. historydaily thats greenlight.com historydaily to try greenlight for free greenlight.com historydaily when it comes. To protecting what matters most, your home and the people you love, its probably not the best time to test out the latest trending fad. Go with whats tried and true.

Speaker D
No one does it better than a leader of the home security category. ADT ADT systems now feature Google Nest products to help keep your home safer and smarter. Check in on your home and manage your security system from virtually anywhere. Their latest technology features everything from motion sensors to Google Nest cams and Nest doorbells. With no long term contracts for self setup systems, you can get intelligent alerts customized to your daily routine with tailored packages or build your own options.

ADT makes it easy to install their smart home security system. Leave it up to the ADT pros or do it yourself. No heavy duty tools needed. Protecting your home shouldn't be complicated, and ADT makes finding that peace of mind simple. When the most trusted name in home security adds the intelligence of Google, you've got a home with no worries.

Go to adt.com today or call 1800 ADT asaP. Google and Nest Cam are trademarks of Google LLC. ADT brilliantly safe.

Reverend Ralph Abernathy
It'S April 29, 1968, at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC. From his seat at a conference table, Reverend Ralph Abernathy leans into a microphone and reads out a five page statement of demands from the poor people's campaign to the us government after the murder of Martin Luther King a few short weeks ago, Abernathy called together 100 leaders from poor, black, indigenous, mexican american, puerto rican, and white communities. He requested them to join him here in Washington to confront the federal government with facts from their personal struggles with poverty. And over the next few days, Abernathy and the other leaders from the campaign planned to visit various government agencies to read the demands curated by their so called committee of 100. These demands are as diverse as their coalition and include affordable housing, land rights for indigenous communities, and inspired by King and Abernathy's trip to marks, Mississippi, free school lunches for poor children.

Now, Abernathy recounts these requests to a crowd that includes journalists, government officials, dozens of poor farmers, and the man in charge of enacting federal laws on food, farming, and rural economic development, the secretary of agriculture. After Abernathy reads the final words of his statement imploring the department to stop ignoring the poor, he retreats to a corner of the room while the poor farmers head to the microphone. As the first farmer begins to speak, Abernathy watches the crowd with a keen eye. He wants to make sure everything goes perfectly, because today is an important step toward their larger, fulfilling Doctor King's vision to build resurrection city, an encampment along the National Mall where thousands of poor Americans can come to galvanize the nation against poverty. But Abernathy has made some notable changes to his predecessor's plans.

After King's murder, riots exploded in over 200 cities, and within a week of his death, dozens of protesters died, thousands were injured, and tens of thousands were arrested. In order to reassert their movements, devotion to nonviolence and distance themselves from the fury of these riots, Abernathy has decided to make a fundamental alteration to King's original strategy. While his friend and mentor envisioned an illegal occupation, Abernathy has opted to go through proper channels and obtain all necessary permits. But to pull this off, he needs to get some of the government on his side. Abernathy shifts his gaze towards the secretary of agriculture, whose support he hopes will reestablish the legitimacy of the poor people's campaign and ease the administrative hurdles for resurrection city.

As the last farmer leaves the microphone, the secretary rises and offers Abernathy his hand, deeply moved by the farmers words. A camera bulb flashes, and the two men shake hands, giving Abernathy the front page endorsement he needs. Two weeks later, Abernathy and a small group of activists gather at the National Mall, where Abernathy symbolically drives a stake into the earth and resurrection city is born. Construction begins immediately. A frame plywood shacks are erected to house protesters, as well as several large tents for services such as childcare, dining, medical care, and schooling.

Within days, the encampment teems with hundreds of residents. During the day, groups of activists organize demonstrations and meetings with government agencies. At night, sounds of music and poetry emanate from from the camp. Yet life at Resurrection City is anything but easy. Relentless heavy rain thrashes the encampment for days at a time, and a flood of muddy swamp waters stands inches deep within the makeshift homes.

Agitated by the camps brutal conditions. A small group of young men begin drunkenly harassing, assaulting, and stealing from their neighbors eventually, Abernathy and the leaders of Resurrection City evict the troublemakers and send them back to their home states, but not before their behavior has made headlines and scared away many potential new arrivals. An additional setback comes just days later, when yet another assassination shocks the country. On June 5, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a key ally in their fight against poverty and discrimination, is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

His death hangs heavily over Resurrection City, the second prominent advocate for their movement to be murdered in just a handful of weeks. Three days later, Abernathy will stand at the edge of the camp, watching Kennedy's funeral procession pass en route to Arlington National Cemetery. As his coffin passes and a voice behind him breaks out into song, Abernathy will commit himself to transforming his grief into resolve once again. And soon after, he will begin planning the campaign's biggest demonstration yet, an event that will bring over 50,000 Americans to Washington and amplify their demands for radical action against poverty.

Speaker E
When you're ready to pop the question, the last thing you want to do is second guess the ring. At blue nile.com comma, you can design a one of a kind ring with the ease and convenience of shopping online. Choose your diamond and setting. When you found the one, you'll get it delivered right to your door. Go to bluenile.com and use promo code audio to get $50 off your purchase of dollar 500 or more.

That's code audioloonial.com for $50 off your purchase. Bluenile.com code audio get in the car, kids. We're going to T Mobile. I thought we were going to grandma's. Nope, we're switching to T Mobile.

Speaker F
We're getting four 5g smartphones, and T Mobile is covering the cost. Can I get one with a bigger screen for video games? Can I get a pink one? Can we get the deal where we get four lines for $25 per line a month? Wait, does that mean I get a bigger allowance?

Whoa. That's a lot of questions, but yes, yes, absolutely and probably not. It's better over here. Get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins at T Mobile. All on America's largest 5G network.

Speaker H
Minimum four lines for $25 each per month with auto pay using debit or bank account $5 more per line without auto pay. Up to $830 off each phone via 24 monthly bill credits, plus taxes and fees for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling account to continue bill credits or credit stop imbalance on a required finance agreement due $35 per line connection charge applies. Ctmobile.com dot.

Reverend Ralph Abernathy
It'S June 19, 1968, two weeks after Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, Reverend Ralph Abernathy walks among a crowd of thousands gathered at the foot of the Washington monument. In the morning heat, a group of young men from an autoworkers union pass out handmade protest signs. Next to them, a catholic nun waves a flag honoring the late Martin Luther King junior, and a native american man in feathered headdress holds his own sign advocating for indigenous rights. Today is solidarity Day, and true to its name, the rally has drawn a remarkably diverse crowd of over 50,000 Americans to Washington, DC.

They are the epitome of Abernathy and Martin Luther King's vision of a unified force, with Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs raising their voices together to fight inequality. As they march toward the Lincoln Memorial, sounds of native american drums, african american spirituals and protest chants mingle together. The day's speakers include civil rights luminaries and political leaders such as Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. It's a blisteringly hot day, but the crowd remains steadfast. Thousands of protesters slip into the Lincoln memorial's reflecting pool, defying its no swimming signs to cool off.

And as the rally comes to an end, the crowd links arms in the water and raises their voices in song. From the stage. Abernathy watches on with a smile, moved to see King's vision embodied by so many diverse communities demonstrating together. But the success of Solidarity Day does not last. Four days later, a group of young people at the edge of Resurrection city begin to pelt police with rocks.

The officers respond by firing tear gas, and news of the violence is all the ammunition the National Park Service needs to deny the poor people's campaign a permanent permit extension. The next day, Resurrection citys 2500 residents move out of their makeshift shelters and disperse back across the nation. Abernathy leads a group of stragglers in protest at Capitol Hill, seeking mass arrest as one final high profile act by the people of Resurrection City. But as the encampment falls without any significant legislative change to show for it, many are already calling the movement a failure. Despite its disappointing final chapter, the causes of the poor people's campaign will endure within a year.

The seeds are sown at the Department of Agriculture for Federal programs, which by the 1990s will provide food and nutritional resources to nearly 8 million infants, children and pregnant women in 1970, Congress will also approve a $243 million program to expand and revamp school lunches, going some way to addressing the heartbreakingly meager meal in Marks, Mississippi, that sparked Abernathy and King's campaign. But as the years pass, tens of millions of Americans will continue to live in poverty, and decades on, the poor people's campaign will be revived by another generation under new leadership. The movement will be resurrected in 2018, calling once again for greater equality and continuing the fight against poverty that brought thousands of Americans to together in protest 50 years earlier, on June 19, 1968.

Next on History Daily June 20, 1945 in a top secret operation, the us secretary of state agrees to transfer nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun to America from Noiser and Airship. This is history daily. Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio Editing by Mohammad Shazib Sound Design by Molly Bach Music by Lindsay Graham this episode is written and researched by Montgomery Sutton. Executive producers are Alexandra Curry Buckner for airship and Pascal Hughes for r.

Speaker G
It'S better over here. You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected. We've invested billions to light up America's largest 5g network, from big cities to small towns across the country, including right here in your town. And great coverage is just the beginning. Right now, when you switch to T Mobile, you can keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800 per line.

That's right, you keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800 per line. With a network and savings like this, there's never been a better time to switch to T Mobile. It's better over better over here. Stop by your local T Mobile store today or use our savings calculator to see how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and at and T at t mobile.com AcrossAmerica.

Speaker H
Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service port in 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.