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Martin Luther King Jr. Fortieth Anniversary

Rev, James Lawson Jr.

At a symposium commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. James Lawson Jr. urged UCLA students and Los Angeles activists to demand justice and stand up for an America without government-sanctioned violence and economic oppression. The event also featured Faith Culbreath, president of Security Officers United in LA (SOULA 2006) and Rev. Eric Lee, CEO of the L.A. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was sponsored by the UCLA Labor Center’s minor in labor and workplace studies; the Black Graduate Student Association; and the Departments of Chicano Studies, History, Sociology, and World Arts and Cultures.

Lawson reminded the diverse crowd of more than 125 attendees that African Americans and people of color in this country remain in poverty because American society continues to relegate people of color to jobs with low wages and inhumane working conditions. “In ’68 we wore signs that read ‘I AM A MAN,’ and that phrase is still true today. As human beings, we are entitled to dignity and respect.”

Lawson’s discussion followed presentations by Culbreadth and Lee, who led an effort in 2007 that organized four thousand security officers into a union, nearly doubling the entry-level wage for L.A. security officers. Though the security officers reached a historic contract agreement, the workers continue to organize other nonunion companies. Much like the Memphis sanitation strike during which Rev. King was assassinated and that brought community and workers together, Culbreadth said the responsibility and the power to attack poverty in Los Angeles was in the UCLA auditorium.

Lee also urged students to connect their movements to the broader social-justice movements outside the boarders of UCLA. “The struggle for access to UCLA and the struggle for access to good quality jobs are linked,” said Lee, one of several African American community leaders who last year urged the UCLA administration to improve diversity among UCLA students and institute fair enrollment practices. “It’s all about improving the community and the development of a fair and just society. That is the lesson of King.”