let us be dissatisfied: on poverty and dr. king's vision for economic justice

a call to action to an organized force within the local labor movement to fight for the eradication of poverty and the implementation of a universal basic income.

Today, August 28th, 2025, marks the 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his infamous "I Have a Dream" speech, which helped actualize the potential of that organizing moment in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In honor of this anniversary, I’m sharing a keynote speech I delivered at the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists’ Martin Luther King Breakfast. My keynote serves as a call to action to an organized force within the local labor movement to fight for the eradication of poverty and the implementation of a universal basic income.

It's worth mentioning that although a guaranteed basic income is an effective tool in fighting against poverty, reparations and a just transition from the system of racialized capitalism toward a solidarity economy would do more toward the eradication of poverty in the US than any UBI program could. But alas, the work of transforming the world is imaginative in the same way that it is practical, and as systems collapse all around us, we’re called to be both The Sword and the Shield. Although I’ve identified as an anti-capitalist my entire adult life, I am always in an iterative process of unlearning and relearning what's possible, and I am not in the business of bemoining interventions that bring immediate material benefit to Black people’s lives. We don't sacrifice our people to our theory.

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Good morning, esteemed members of the Coalition of Black Trade Unions, elected officials, friends, family, and everyone joining us here today to celebrate and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. From the inception of this nation when democracy was founded on racial exploitation, Black workers have courageously safeguarded and empowered their communities through agitation, collective action, and faith. The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the longest-standing Black labor organization in history, is a central thread in the tapestry of this enduring legacy. And today, Black labor still leads.

In fact, Black labor has always powered the fight for democracy. From freed workers turning the tide during the Civil War, Operation Bread Basket securing millions of dollars in new jobs for Black workers, and most recently, the predominantly Black, unionized health care workers at Kaiser Permanente leading that sector’s largest strike. Black labor has historically, to great success, fought against what Dr. King called the triple evils of racism, militarism, and poverty in this country and right here in Boston. Despite our collective best efforts, in the heart of this vibrant City, a shadow lingers—a shadow cast by historical injustices and systemic inequities that continue to affect the lives of the Black community. If we are to continue our journey on the path Dr. King's transformative vision paved for us, these struggles will demand our collective attention and our divine dissatisfaction.

Poverty, one of our most insidious adversaries, has persisted as an apocalyptic condition in our communities for generations. Despite the City of Boston's relatively high median income, the bottom 20% of Boston households have an average annual income of just $14,900, which is well below the federal poverty line for a family of two. The childhood poverty rate—here, in one of the wealthiest cities in the country—is at almost 30%.

Now, I want us to linger here for a moment. What exactly is poverty?

Poverty is 140,000 Bostonians grappling with the emptiness of hunger.

Poverty is 140,000 Bostonians navigating the landscape of unstable housing.

Poverty is 140,000 Bostonians caught in a web of underemployment where their aspirations are stifled, and the promise of fulfilling work is elusive.

But poverty transcends mere financial scarcity. Poverty is associated with various health risks, including elevated heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, infant mortality, mental illness, and asthma, to name a few—all conditions where Black people are overrepresented. Poverty exacerbates violent crime, and it impedes educational attainment long before children enter the classroom. When we neglect to address these harsh realities, we relegate families to fighting these battles alone.

In my neighborhood, we were victorious in the fight against a highway, but the invisible highway of gentrification and displacement still traverses every neighborhood in our City. In the third most gentrified City in America, families struggling to cover the high cost of rent amid an ongoing housing crisis are displaced and uprooted to surrounding cities. Even in instances where Black families have ascended into the middle class and prepared themselves to purchase a home, mortgage lenders denied loans to Black applicants at three times the rate of white applicants.

When we part the veil and examine the conditions in our communities, the links between racism and poverty become undeniable, but what of militarism? How does our nation's dedication to war create waves of inequity in Black communities? Dr. King urged us to recognize the interconnectedness of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism, stressing that eliminating one requires addressing them all.

In 1974, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists led the way in its anti-apartheid work, becoming the first American labor organization to pass a resolution calling for an economic boycott of South Africa¹. It is evident that not only are Dr. King’s sentiments relevant today, but they are also historically aligned with CBTU and its mission. As billions of our tax dollars contribute to the genocide of the Palestinian people, our government neglects essential services like food, housing, and universal healthcare. While it invests in bombing the poorest Muslim country in the world, it consistently falls short in addressing urgent needs, such as canceling student debt, and our attempts to address poverty to make crucial investments in our communities are met with the excuse that the associated costs are too burdensome to take on. There is no end to racism, and there is no eradication of poverty without relinquishing our country’s deep need to control, colonize, and carnage.

The question for us now is, where do we go from here, and who is coming with us?

Our challenge is to balance a global understanding of the issues with actively pursuing concrete actions within the sphere of transformation accessible to us—whether within ourselves, our communities, or our unions. To walk in Dr. King's vision for economic justice is to be perpetually dissatisfied and recognize that this is multi-generational work that might not be ours to finish, but is not ours to abandon.

So, where do we go from here? What can the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists do today, in our City, in our unions, to continue Dr. King's legacy of economic justice?

ANCHOR IN YOUR VALUES

Over time, each generation has contributed to the shared vision of eradicating poverty, whether it be the Black Panthers running the neighborhood breakfast program or Dr. King advocating for a Universal Basic Income. What resonates across generations and all interventions is the set of values that anchors our people and our work. In line with the Black radical tradition, solidarity has always been that value. Solidarity stands as a cornerstone of shared purpose, transcending individual interests by acknowledging the interconnectedness of our global community. It is an invitation to take responsibility for our neighbors, to care about other people's children, and to recognize that our well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of others. I know this keynote address is meant to be focused on Dr. King, but I want to bring the words of our sister, Toni Morrison, into the mix. “When you get those jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained in,” She said, “just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”

If we heed Dr. King and sister Morisson's words, we must live in deep solidarity with those suffering, putting those closest to the pain closest to the power. Our Black elected officials, union members, and nonprofit leaders must ensure that people like Ms. Johnson from Mildred Hailey, the brother driving the taxi cab on Blue Hill Avenue, and the single mother in a shelter can all be active participants in transforming their communities, for they too are dissatisfied.

Solidarity has shaped our commitment to justice. As we navigate the present, we must reflect on what these values look like in practice. It requires a renewed dedication to fostering a community where empathy thrives, opportunities are accessible to all, and the chains of poverty are finally broken. By embracing and embodying these enduring values, we can pave the way for a future where the cycle of poverty is replaced by one of empowerment and shared prosperity.

BUILD POWER

Dr. King defined power as the ability to achieve our purpose and the strength required to bring about social, political, and economic change.

Every trade union has Black workers whose interests, both at work and in their communities, are represented by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Find them, organize them, and build a vision for your City together. Living by the value of solidarity means fighting for the well-being of your neighbors. Therefore, you must insist, in no unclear terms, that the work of elevating Black communities is the work of the labor movement, whether it looks like neighborhood investments or support for policies and leaders that are reflective of and committed to the Black community. Black trade unionist can build power within their respective organizations to ensure that the rising tide of the labor movement lifts all boats.

Cultivating power within your unions involves building and harnessing collective strength, anchored by what Dr. King called “a strong, demanding love.” We often see love positioned in opposition to power, but Dr. King called us to this realization: that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Our power is our love for our people. Our love drives our dissatisfaction. Solidarity is love.

FIGHT FOR UBI

In his 1967 book, Where Do We Go From Here?, Dr. King spoke candidly about the solution to poverty, “The solution to poverty,” King wrote, “is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” almost 60 years later, Guaranteed Income programs have taken hold, in every continent and in over 50 cities nationwide. It is the responsibility of any city, state, or federal government to meet the basic needs of its constituents; a guaranteed basic income program for residents living in poverty can economically stabilize our neighbors, lift them out of poverty, and improve living standards and quality of life.

Now, we’ve heard every excuse. They’ll tell us it's not practical, reinforce classist notions about poor people, question whether the resources are being spent on what they’ve decided are the right things, and imply that a guaranteed basic income would harm the economy and make people not want to work, but here is the truth: programs in Cambridge, Chelsea, and the State of Alaska have demonstrated that implementing programs based on guaranteed basic income can relieve economic stress for low-income households. The Chelsea program resulted in recipients spending 75% of the $2.1 million on food. In contrast, the Alaska Project showed that dividends did not affect employment, but instead increased part-time work by 17%. The guaranteed basic income program had a general equilibrium effect on the local economy.

Even a small pilot guaranteed basic income program can bring a family out of debt, enable a single mother to afford childcare while pursuing her degree, and give a retiree more time to spend with their grandchildren.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called for a guaranteed income as the simplest and most effective solution to poverty. Let's resolve to honor Dr. King's legacy by adopting policies that address the root of the problem, taking a public stance in support of a guaranteed basic income, and lobbying your elected officials at the state and municipal levels to show their commitment to poor and working-class families in the City of Boston. It is not only an investment in our people; it's an opportunity to put our money where our values are and affirm to the people of this City that the cost of poverty is an unacceptable one to pay.

Today, we can celebrate Dr. King's legacy of love, but our work doesn’t end there. We're still in the unfinished symphony of our journey and can continue building power, bringing the world we deserve to be, if we commit to being divinely and perpetually dissatisfied.

1. C. (2015). "AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL" ILWU Local 10 and the Fight against Apartheid. Journal of Civil and Human Rights. https://doi.org/10.5406/jcivihumarigh.1.2.0158