On April 29, 1968, the Poor People’s Campaign officially began when Dr. Ralph Abernathy, who succeeded Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led a diverse delegation to Capitol Hill. Representing poor whites, African Americans, Native Americans, and Spanish-speaking Americans, the group met with congressional leaders and cabinet officials to demand economic justice, jobs, and fair housing. This marked a major step in the multiracial campaign Dr. King had envisioned before his assassination, calling attention to the structural poverty affecting millions of Americans—regardless of race.
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