We are now 40 years removed from the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. yet what have we learned?  Beyond his most noted ideals of racial equality and non-violent protest, Dr. King had a vision of social equality as well, a world free of poverty.  A vision which as of 40 years later has taken very few steps forward.

Two noted African American economists are marking the anniversary with a new economic report, Beyond the Mountaintop:King’s Prescription for Poverty, challenging the nation to adopt King’s decades old vision of economic justice through renewed policies.

Dr. Steven Pitts, labor specialist with the University of California- Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, and Dr. William Spriggs, Chair of the Howard University Department of Economics are behind the brief and urge the nation to reduce poverty by embracing three priority areas

1. stronger anti-discrimination laws and enforcement
2. elimination of barriers to unionization
3. An effective minimum wage

These basic ideals were advocated by Dr. King to extend black advancement beyond the scope of safety net programs which STILL exist today.  Hello No Child Left Behind, Hello Affirmative Action. 
Under Dr. King’s aggressively campaign between 1964 and 1969, the United States achieved the largest decline in poverty since the Second World War.  But since his death his ecconomic ideals have all but become lost.  Today, millions of Americans are strapped by an economic downturn fueled by the housing market crisis and rising food and gas prices.  Joblessness is increasing at an alarming rate. The policy brief actually shows that, adjusting for inflation, the minimum wage was actually higher in 1968 than it is today. AMAZING.

The policy brief, supported by the San Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation, will be distributed to the Bush administration, members of Congress, African American civic, civil rights and service organizations as
well as heads of Fortune 100 corporations.  Make sure to do YOUR PART and make sure your government representatives are made aware of the brief and push for its inaction.