We invite the larger community to "travel" with us in the exploration of these very important issues through an online journal reflection on the day's events posted throughout our travels. This blog is available at http://povertyinitiative2008.blogspot.com/.

This course will explore the reality of poverty in Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta, offering tools for overcoming and eliminating poverty. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign launched by Martin Luther King Jr. in December 1967, we will travel to Marks, Mississippi, where the campaign began, other towns and cities in Mississippi, as well as Tennessee and Alabama to learn from community and religious leaders involved in a growing movement to end poverty.

Throughout the course learn about theories of poverty and race, the history of organizing in Appalachia and the South, the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the Poor People’s Campaign, the issues of welfare reform,health care, and living wage jobs, etc.

Experience will include poverty reality tours, Bible studies, video-showings, and dialogue with leaders of local and national poor people’s organizations and religious congregations engaged in mission work and community organizing. Significant time will be spent discussing the theological implications of building a movement led by poor people to end poverty and exploring the unique role of religious communities in this effort. 

Students will also have the opportunity to get involved in an on-going project to study and celebrate the theoretical and theological framework put out by Martin Luther King Jr. in the last three years of his life.

Course Syllabus (download as pdf here)

Course Readings
Adams, Jane, “Confederate Lane: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the Mississippi Delta.”

Austin, Sharon Wright and Richard T. Middleton IV, “The Case of Tunica County,” in Racial Politics of Casino Gaming in the Delta.

Baptist, Willie and Noelle Damico, “Building a New Freedom Church of the Poor.” in Crosscurrents

“Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Launching of the Poor People’s Campaign and Organization of the Poor People’s Army.” May 2007. 

“Excerpted Summary Statement by William Pepper, on Government involvement in the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.”

hooks, bell.  “White Poverty: The Politics of Invisibility,” in Where We Stand, Class Matters.”

Robert T. Chase , “Class Resurrection: The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 and Resurrection City.”

King Readings for Textual Reflection
King, Martin Luther. “Beyond Vietnam” <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm>.

---. “I See the Promised Land” in A Testament of Hope. 

---. "Nonviolence and Social Change” in “The Trumpet of Conscience” in A Testament of Hope.

---. "Where Do We Go From Here" in A Testament of Hope

Other Readings for Textual Reflection
Borg, Marcus and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem.

Organizations Readings
Caruso, Chris.  “Turning the Tide of Neoliberalism: A Briefing Paper on the Defense of Head Start.” 17 May 2006. 

Lakes, Susan.  “Columbia Officials Support Group’s Plan.”  Hattieburg American.  13 March 2007. 

“Strategic Significance of Head Start”

Wilder, Phil.  “A Draft Summary on Polly Greenberg’s Thoughts on the Origins and Founding Core Principles of Head Start.”  26 April 2007.