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🗓️ 19 June 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
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June 19, 1968. In an event coined “Solidarity Day,” over 50,000 people march on Washington D.C. to protest economic injustice, marking the climax of Martin Luther King’s “Poor People’s Campaign.”
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0:20.5 | It's June 24, 1968, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. |
0:26.0 | In the shadow of the peace monument, Reverend Ralph Abernathy leads a large crowd in protest. |
0:32.1 | Abernathy is a revered black activist and Baptist minister from Alabama. |
0:36.8 | He and his fellow protesters are members of a radical new anti-poverty movement |
0:41.2 | called the Poor People's Campaign. By bringing together poor Americans and shining a light |
0:46.3 | on their suffering, the campaign hopes to spur the government into addressing the nation's |
0:50.8 | economic inequality. Marching with determination, Abernathy hurls his fist into the air, |
0:57.0 | his face burning with passion. But beneath his resolute demeanor is a growing sense of dread |
1:02.5 | that today might mark the end of their fledgling movement. At the nearby national mall, |
1:08.0 | over a thousand police officers are encircling and dismantling a 16-acre encampment of tents |
1:13.7 | and wooden shacks called Resurrection City. For the past six weeks, Abernathy and nearly 3000 |
1:19.8 | members of the Poor People's Campaign have made Resurrection City their home, living and demonstrating |
1:25.2 | out of this shanty town. But their requests to extend their camping permit have been denied, |
1:30.3 | and today that permit expires. As Abernathy watches Resurrection City get evicted, |
1:36.6 | vans from the Metropolitan Police Department pull up alongside the protesters, a line of officers |
1:42.1 | in riot helmets and face shields jump out, an Abernathy and his fellow protesters are apprehended |
1:47.6 | and hurt it onto a police bus. Through it all, Abernathy remains unfazed. He's used to getting |
1:54.1 | arrested for his activism, and he never lets it end his fights. So as he climbs into the police bus, |
2:00.0 | he scans the crowd of demonstrators lingering outside and raises his right hand in a peace sign. |
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