Today in Labor History May 13, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign raised Resurrection City, in Washington, D.C. The tent shanty town, part of the campaign to gain economic justice for poor people, existed for six weeks. The Poor People’s Campaign was originally organized by Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). However, Ralph Abernathy took over leadership after King’s assassination. It developed from the realization that civil rights gains had not improved material conditions for African Americans. However, the Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial movement that included white, Asian Hispanic and Indigenous Americans. Some of the Campaign’s leaders included Chicano leaders Corky Gonzales and Reies Tijerina. Other participants included Appalachian miners. The FBI and military intelligence spied on the camp and wiretapped the campaign. Some of the spies posed as journalists, or as black militants.
