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Reflection of King's Last Campaign

Economic Justice: Reflections on Dr. King's Last Campaign
By prize-winning journalist, biographer, and cultural historian Wil Haygood

Wednesday, April 4
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Lunch will be available starting at 11:30 a.m.

Philip H. Corboy Law Center
25 E. Pearson Street
Power Rogers & Smith Ceremonial Courtroom, 10th Floor
Chicago, IL

The year leading up to his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. focused his energy on the Poor People’s Campaign. In speaking to striking sanitation workers in Memphis shortly before he was killed, King said, “Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?”

On the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, Wil Haygood will address Dr. King’s work for economic justice, with attention to his final campaign in Memphis.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wil Haygood is the author of seven books including the New York Times bestsellers Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America and The Butler: A Witness to History. His writing has chronicled America’s civil rights journey through the lives and times of Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr., Sugar Ray Robinson and Eugene Allen, the real-life inspiration for Lee Daniels’ internationally acclaimed film, The Butler. Haygood was a long-time national and foreign correspondent for the Washington Post and Boston Globe, covering events such as Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years, the ascent of President Obama, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and his own experience as the hostage of Somali rebels. While at the Globe, he was honored as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. A storyteller for our times, Haygood has earned high praise for connecting the civil rights movement and its iconic heroes with current events and enduring struggles.

RSVP
cdundy@luc.edu