Less than a month before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King was busy planning his "Poor People's Campaign." Even after all the success of his campaign for civil rights, he understood that millions of Americans -- and minority communities in particular -- could not achieve true equality unless hardworking families, regardless of their race or religion, had access to food, shelter, and higher wages.
At his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Dr. King spoke of the urgent need to go "all out to bridge the social and economic gulf between the 'haves' and 'have not's' of the world" by tackling poverty.
Today, while we celebrate Dr. King's legacy, we need also to look at ourselves in the mirror. Have we really done enough to fulfill his vision of meeting the most basic needs of Americans?
The simple answer is no.
On the issue that most preoccupied Dr. King in the months before his death -- poverty -- his vision is far from complete, and in many ways has drifted farther away. The poverty rate in New York's 13th Congressional District is 30 percent, double the national average. And the trend line is headed in the wrong direction. A decade ago, the average poverty rate was under 25 percent. Further, rents continue to rise dramatically -- there's been a 90 percent increase in Harlem and over 55 percent in the Bronx in that same period.
These are the statistics, but they have real-world consequences. Take the challenge of food insecurity. Nearly 160,000 of our neighbors are hungry. They may go to bed at night uncertain where their next meal is coming from. And for the 1 in 5 children who live in food insecure homes, their only healthy meal option is school lunch. In NY-13, nearly 90 percent of public school students receive free or reduced lunch -- and that number has not budged in decades.
Meanwhile, local grocery stores, which residents rely upon for affordable, healthy options, have continued to close, reducing access even further and forcing families to rely on more expensive, less healthy food from bodegas and delis.
What can be done? A lot. We need catalyzing ideas rather than reactive protest rallies. We need to concentrate resources by launching food and nutrition zones in at-risk areas. We need to bring together local stakeholders, including large corporations, small businesses, community organizations and schools to scale micro-food banks to fill the shortfall in donated food. We need leadership that will get ahead of the curve -- and proactively focus on the interests of families, rather than special interests.
It has been nearly 50 years since Dr. King's death. His primary concern was for those who go to bed hungry every night and for those who worry about shelter.
As we reflect upon the life and legacy of Dr. King, let's together commit to realize his ambitions for the poor, his hopes for the average American. We can do better, together.