On the eve of our national celebration of Dr. King’s birthday, the 20th Annual Empowerment Congress Summit was held in Los Angeles. This summit was founded on the principle that elected officials are most effective when constituents enthusiastically engage in the governmental decision-making process and that the Congress should provide opportunities for all of us to educate, engage, and empower each other. There has been no more compelling a time than today for each of us to individually and through collective action come together in securing freedom and equality for all. Faced with the Republican-waged war on women’s reproductive health choices, on social security and Medicare programs and on American workers, NOW is the time to stop their efforts in creating even greater income inequality.
Dr. King, in his April 16, 1963 letter from a Birmingham jail wrote, “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”
All of us who stand for the empowerment of women, against gender inequality and injustice are part of a social justice community, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. The same is true for all of us who stand for the empowerment of all in our community and against economic injustice. At a speech given to the AFL-CIO Fourth Constitutional Convention in Miami Beach, Florida on Dec. 11, 1961, Dr. King made another prophetic observation saying, “This will be the day when we shall bring into full realization the dream of American democracy—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.”
As he discussed poverty, Dr. King highlighted the problem of underemployment and the need for a living wage, noting that millions of people in this country are poverty stricken — not because they are not working but because they receive wages so low that they cannot live on those wages. We face that same challenge today where people working every single day are paid part-time wages for full-time work. While we often gauge economic progress by discussing the unemployment rate (which currently stands at 8.5%), there is a dramatic underemployment rate (18.3%) and women - specifically young women of color between the ages of 18 and 29 - disproportionally make up that number.
The truth is, when workers are unable to make a fair wage, they are unable to provide for their families. When parents cannot provide for their families, children are raised in poverty. Dr. King realized in 1968 that fair wages or “full-time pay for full-time work” were needed to break the cycle of poverty. This fact is still true today.
As we honor his legacy, we hope you will reflect on the important message within Dr. King's profound speeches and make a personal commitment to join us as we work towards a more equitable financial system, whereby everyone who works hard and plays by the rules, succeeds at the same level. And that pay is determinant on the job performed rather than by the gender of the individual performing the job.
At California NOW, we are focused this year on ensuring that gender equity is implemented as part of every state government decision and that the 18.7 million women and girls in our state are assured that gender analysis is included in developing legislative policies. Even though there has been great progress since Dr. King’s powerful “I Have a Dream” speech, there is still much work to do before we can say that there is true equality in our society. We hope we can count on your help to move us closer to his dream.
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