Coretta Scott King’s Words On the Violence Of Poverty Still Ring True Today

Marinate on Corretta Scott King’s words—words she bravely shared in a speech on Solidarity Day, the traditional “Juneteenth” celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, just months after her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. After he husband died, she took up the mantle on his Poor People’s Campaign, and that speech, those very specific words, were meant to really train the nation’s lens on the economic violence committed by that status quo against the poor and minorities. A Facebook friend tagged the quote, designed in the above graphic by the website Deep Green Resistance, on her page, and I just had to share it, particularly after a week in which MyBrownBaby’s own Nick Chiles did such a fantastic job calling attention to the plight of the poor and its impact on children in his posts, “Univ of Texas Prof Says Single Moms to Blame for Black Student Failure,” and  “Study Confirms: Our Childhoods Were Easier Than Our Kids’ Childhoods.” The last packed a wallop so serious that it found its way to the floor of the House of Representatives, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referenced it in a conversation on childhood poverty!

We are so very proud of Nick for his words and grateful that MyBrownBaby is being recognized as a forum where serious discussion can be had on the plight of children—brown babies in particular. Honestly, Coretta’s words sear with truth—all these years later.