Guest editorial

Most people recognize Martin Luther King, Jr., as a civil rights leader who fought for equal rights for black Americans. Many, however, are not as aware of his fight for economic justice for the working poor.

When King went to Memphis, TN, on 3 April 1968 – one day before his assassination – he focused on protesting the economic injustices against black garbage collectors, who received significantly lower wages than whites. [To put this in context, the minimum wage was $1.25. I know because during the summer of 1968 I worked for this hourly wage at a peanut company in south Georgia. The blacks...