Bill Text: IL HR0779 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes the Poor People's Campaign of 1968.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-01-29 - Resolution Adopted [HR0779 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HR0779-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Income inequality has risen significantly since
the early 1970s, after several decades of stability; while it
has risen among most developed countries, it is highest in the
United States; income inequality continues to hurt the growth
of both the State and country; and
WHEREAS, The Poor People's Campaign was a 1968 effort to
gain economic justice for poor people in the United States; it
was organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference and carried out in the wake of
Dr. King's assassination; and
WHEREAS, The Poor People's Campaign demanded economic and
human rights for poor Americans of a diverse background;
organizers presented a set of demands to the United States
Congress and executive agencies; participants set up a
3000-person tent city on the Washington Mall, "Resurrection
City", where they stayed for 6 weeks; and
WHEREAS, The Poor People's Campaign was motivated by a
desire for economic justice - the idea that all people should
have what they need to live; the campaign would help the poor
by dramatizing their needs and united all races under the
commonality of hardship and presenting a plan to start a

HR0779 - 2 - LRB098 19466 MST 54634 r
solution; and
WHEREAS, In addition to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the
Poor People's Campaign included such leaders as Rev. James
Bevel, Stanley Levison, Ralph Abernathy, Bernard Lafayette,
Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, Reies Tijerina, Stoney Cooks, Hosea
Williams, Rev. Fred C. Benette, Andrew Young, Walter Fauntroy,
and Rev. Jesse Jackson, "Mayor" of Resurrection City; and
WHEREAS, The Poor People's Campaign was designed to put the
plight of America's poor into stark images that those in power
in the United States could witness; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we recognize the Poor People's Campaign of 1968 and continue to
work towards the original goal of the campaign - to gain
economic justice for poor.