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Fannie Mae's Duty to Serve
Efforts May Be Heading to a
Neighborhood Near You
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8
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Moving the Mid South Forward
A N D M O R E > >
From Dr. King to the Community
Reinvestment Act: How His Dream
Marches On
By Caleb Bobo
I
n 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. found him-
self in Memphis, Tenn., to support the pro-
tests of black public works employees who felt
they were being mistreated by their employer.
While there, King gave a speech titled "I've
Been to the Mountaintop." In it he stressed
the importance of intentional social action on
behalf of the economically disenfranchised and
closed his speech by imploring the audience to
continue fighting, even after he passed away.
e very next day, King was shot while
standing on the balcony of his hotel room
and died shortly thereafter.
Often lost in the suddenness and tragedy of
his death, King's reason for being in Mem-
phis is critical to understanding his life, his
work and, ultimately, his legacy. His advo-
cacy led to the creation of a policy agenda
that sought to protect the rights of all Ameri-
cans. ose rights included equal access to
public accommodations and the ballot box,
but also equal treatment within America's
economic institutions and systems.
Although America struggled to make sense
of King's death, his agenda marched on. Just a
>> continued on Page 3
An Economy of Neighborliness
in the Missouri Ozarks
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "Mountaintop" speech in Memphis one day before his assassination.
Photo © Richard Copley with permission
Click to play full audio of Martin Luther King's
"Mountaintop" speech.
