SOLIDARITY AND THE SUB-FIFTEEN

Too often celebrations of the birthdate of Martin Luther King, Jr. get reduced to vague calls for racial tolerance, diversity, unity and, of course, participation in a day of service. We get bombarded with high pitched yammers for a rapproachment between the "lions" and the "lambs," between those who have been victimized and those who have done the victimizing. Pleas for peace permeate the polis as editorials, social media posts, out of context quotes, sermons, and the endless chatter of a select group of talking heads feverishly engage in--even if unknowingly-- that half century old project of constructing and merchandising a version of a King that's palatable for mass consumption.

What goes missing in this pasteurized and homogenized version of King is this: meaningful engagement with the economic pre-requisites of the Beloved Community. In our celebrations of King, then, it is imperative to push back mass merchandised King by remembering that the concept of economic rights stood at the center of his call for the immediate and complete elimination of involuntary joblessness and poverty. It's important to remember that, for King, all peoples possesed an inherent dignity, and that a just society ought to arrange its policies in such a way that they protected and promoted that dignity. It's important to remember that, for King, these economic rights included the right to a job at livable wages and the right of workers to unionize. It is important to remember that, ultimately, King's call is a not a plea for "acceptance" or a mere cry for "racial tolerance." When denied, economic rights--as all rights-- are not "asked" for. They are demanded. Rights, including economic rights, are not perks in the pockets of the privileged that they can parcel out as they deem necesseary. They are that which humans qua humans are due; when people fight for rights that have been denied them, they are not supplicants seeking the acceptance and approval of the powerful. They are human beings demanding their due.

And speaking of remembering, it's important to recall that King would be killed in Memphis, fighting for the right of sanitation workers to decent wages and safe working conditions.

All of which brings me to the fight for fifteen.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FIGHTING FOR FIFTEEN

Unless you've been hiding under that proverbial rock, you're probably aware that, as part of his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, President-Elect Biden has signalled his intention to ask Congress to raise the federal minimun wage from the current $7.25 to $15.00 per hour. That's important, and I'll say why in a minute. For the moment, however, it's critical to acknowledge that this is the largely fruit of decade lomg struggle on the part of fast food workers and their allies to fight for one of the very economic pillars that supports King's version of the Beloved Community-- the right to jobs that pay wages consistent with human dignity. Let's not forget that the fight for fifteen is a testimony to the importance of worker power and organizing as routes to the realization of the Beloved Community.

And just in case you're tempted to dismiss the importance of the fight for fifteen, consider this: Somewhere between 40 and 45 percent of workers earn less than $15 per hour. Yeah, you heard that right. More than 4 out of every ten workers are gigging at jobs that pay less than $15 bones on the hour. By the way, that means there's almost 60 million persons who are members of the "sub-15" group. Big numbers.

What's more, Black and Latino folk, as well as women, are dispropprtionately represented amongst the "Sub-15."

Women are 48.3% of the workforce, yet 55% of the "Sub-15."

African-Americans are 12% of the workforce, yet 15% of the "Sub-15."

Latinos, while 16.5% of the workforce, are 20% of the "Sub-15."

More than half of all Black workers are in the "Sub-15."

And: 60% of Latinos clock less than $15 per hour

By the way, the vast majority of these workers are concentrated in such occupations as food preparation and services, personal care services, grounds cleaning and maintenance, health care support, and transportation and moving. They're the persons bringing food to our tables, providing child care for our children, standing behind the cash registers at our favorite fast food joints, packing and moving our stuff when we move, and turning the beds and cleaning the bathrooms at the hotels where we stay.

No matter how you cut it, the fight for fifteen is a fight that's inextricably linked to the broader struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice.

SOLIDARITY AND THE SUB FIFTEEN

The time is long past due for moving beyond the mass merchandised King. The time is long past for relinguishing the relentless pushing of a Martin Luther King, Jr., who is nothing more than a fuzzy and palatable iconic representation of some vapid dream of "racial reconciliation." There are those of us who have long been unable to stomach a "dream" that's drowsy because it has been drained of the concept of economic rights.

If we really want to honor King, if we really want to embrace a King who didn't conflate charity with social justice policies, then we ought to champion and teach about the King who was a fierce advocate for the workers right, including the right to jobs at liveable wages.

We ought to do everything we can to stand in solidarity with the "SUB-FIFTEEN."

Catch you on the flip side,

Doc Greene