Historical Feature1 min read
Week 36: Poverty Since MLK
Historical Feature
Poverty Since MLK
Today, a report called “Healing Our Divided Society” released by the Eisenhower Foundation suggests that infrastructure spending to create jobs and programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit have helped lift families out of poverty. The report also calls for increases in the minimum wage, pay equity for women, and providing more work permits and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. We must also examine solutions to inclusive economic growth on the local and state level in areas where federal aid is not provided.
- “The Poverty Report: Memphis Since MLK,” by Dr. Elena Delavega. National Civil Rights Museum with University of Memphis Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. February 27, 2018.
- The Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disobedience, March 1, 1968. The Eisenhower Foundation.
- “Fifty years after the Kerner Commission, a new report cites some of the same concerns about race and poverty,” by Vanessa Williams. The Washington Post. February 26, 2018.
LET’S GO!
Combatting Poverty
- Read Fred Harris’ and Alan Curtis’ Healing Our Divided Society: Investing in America Fifty Years after the Kerner Report which provides solutions to the racial and economic divide in America today.
- Watch the recorded panel discussion at the National Civil Rights Museum’s Poverty Forum to hear ideas that can impact cities like Memphis.
- Read the “Top 10 Solutions to Cut Poverty and Grow the Middle Class” posted by the Center for American Progress.
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SHARE YOUR STORY
Are you working towards decreasing the economic and racial divide in your community? How are you combatting poverty? Tell us how you are making a difference. Share your story.
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