We raise our voices in solidarity with the global call for ‘an end to racism, economic exploitation and militarism in our lifetime’ and its efforts to share and promote Dr. Martin Luther King’s Economic Bill of Rights, first declared in 1968, and re-envisioned for today. The time to act is now and in doing so, we support this mandate, launched on the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination.
THE MANDATE – Dr. King: An end to poverty, racism and militarism in this 21st Century
- MLK Global is launched to mark 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King
- It seeks to renew Dr. King’s call for an end to economic exploitation, racism and militarism – this time, as an international demand and that must be achieved in our lifetime.
- Linked to this, MLK Global wants to spread awareness of Dr. King’s Economic Bill of Rights, why it still speaks to today and how, by globalising his Economic Bill of Rights for the international solidarity movements, we can address his triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism.
DR.KING’S Economic Bill Of Rights for today
People across the global south and economically marginalized people in the north are increasingly aware of the need to organize, advocate and agitate and advance a vision of economic equality such as Dr. King proposed. MLK Global will advocate internationally for the recognition and take-up of MLK’s original Economic Bill of Rights, revisited for today. It offers a universal, international framework within which to address King’s ‘triple evils’; his desire for a profound re-shaping of capitalist society, the rejection of all forms of racism and the urgent need to rein in militarism.
Today, an Economic Bill of Rights and the realization of a Beloved Community is at the essence of Dr. King’s prophetic, Urgency of Now. The “radical redistribution of power” is a moral imperative if we are to ever truly fulfil the Dr. King’s vision.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”
“We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power… this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… ‘
“These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. We in the West must support these revolutions. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind.”
4 April 1967, Riverside Church, Beyond Vietnam speech
More Links
The Economic Bill of Rights for today
Economic Exploitation, Racism and Miltarism 1968/2018
MLK Global is a project developed by Tipping Point North South. TPNS is a UK based non-profit organisation that supports and initiates creative, campaign-driven projects that advance the global social justice agenda.
Download ‘MLK Global Statement’ [PDF].
MLK Global 