Economic Democracy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Black Church Tradition

Abstract

Is the concept of a “moral arc” to the economy that bends toward justice implicit in the thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Can a source for this concept be found in the economic justice campaigns of the Black Church? A moral arc to the economy that bends toward justice informs King's concept of economic democracy, which frames his campaigns for economic justice. Throughout King's writings from 1957 to 1968, he explores the economic plight of African Americans and advocates for economic remedies to the subordination of African Americans within most sectors of the American economy and the exclusion of…