June’s Food Justice Hero: Martin Luther King Jr.
1929 - 1968
civil rights activist l generational leader l peace seeker
Martin Luther King Jr. fought for food injustice as part of his broader vision of social and economic justice for all people. He believed that hunger, poverty and racism were interconnected problems that needed to be addressed together. He also advocated for peace and human rights around the world. Some examples of his actions against food injustice are:
He led a campaign to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi, where many black farmers faced discrimination and exploitation.
He supported a boycott of California table grapes by farm workers who demanded better wages and working conditions.
He organized a Poor People’s Campaign to demand economic reforms and an end to hunger in America.
Martin Luther King Jr. was concerned about the plight of black farmers who faced racial discrimination, economic exploitation and land loss in America. He supported their struggles for land ownership, fair prices, access to credit and markets, and protection from violence. He also recognized their contributions to the civil rights movement as sources of food, shelter, transportation and moral support for activists.
Another way that King influenced black farmers was through his personal connection with them. When he was a teenager, he spent two summers working on a tobacco farm owned by a white family in Simsbury, Connecticut. There he met other black workers who came from the South and shared their stories of oppression and resistance. He also experienced racial integration and equality for the first time in his life. He later said that this experience opened his eyes to social injustice and inspired him to become a minister.
Learn more about food insecurity and what MLK did to combat it.
Learn more about some of the ways he fought for justice everywhere:
Hear from a farmer how MLK impacted him and black farmers in general.
Learn more about MLK’s time working on a tobacco farm and how that inspired him to fight for change:
