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Okay, so we're going deep today. Yeah, deep into some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideas. Yeah

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Specifically on like economic empowerment. All right

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So it's 1968. Okay. We're in Memphis and the Sanitation Workers strike is in full swing

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And Dr. King is right there with him and what's so interesting about this is that he's combining his like

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Real commitment to non-violence. Yeah with this push for economic action. He's pushing for this strategic

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targeted action right that hits people that hits where it hurts in the wallet

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Yeah, the pocketbook right and he gets very specific. Yeah about what he wants people to do right?

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He calls for a boycott. Yeah of some really big companies huge companies like coca-cola

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Silta's milk Wonder Bread Hearts Bread. Yeah, these weren't just random choices. No away, you know, you think about it

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Why those these companies were probably

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Major employers in Memphis at the time, right? They held a lot of economic sway in the city

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So he was trying to disrupt the whole system

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He's aiming to disrupt the city's entire economic engine to get them to listen to and force those in power

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Yes to listen to the demand of workers of these striking workers right?

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It's so interesting how he understood that economic power could be just as effective as protest and marching

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Yeah, right. It's a different kind of leverage, but he doesn't stop there. No, he also wants black communities to move their money

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Yeah to institutions like trestate bank and black owned insurance companies. That's right. So is this all part of his idea of

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This is what you call economic withdrawal, right? I can explain that a bit more. Yeah, so it's about

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Building economic power from within right? Yeah by shifting their money right to these black owned businesses

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Yeah, black institutions he envisioned creating a whole parallel economy

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Wow that could actually support and empower black communities. So it lessens their dependence on the very systems that are perpetuating inequality

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It's interesting because we see that happening now. Yeah, like the whole by black movement

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Absolutely is very much in line with that vision. It's a direct line from that from what dr. King was talking about then

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So he was really laying the groundwork. He was laying the groundwork for sustained action, right?

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Because you know boycotts powerful as they are are temporary. Yeah, but building strong independent economic institutions

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That's the key the long-term change long-term empowerment and

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You know that makes it so tragic. Yeah that he was assassinated the very next day

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It's just one day after calling for this boycott, right?

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It makes you wonder what would have happened

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What could have been achieved if he had lived if he had lived to see this through it's a question that you know

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We'll never know the answer

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We'll never know the answer

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But we can see how his thinking is connected to so many of the movements that are happening today that are happening today

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And that's what makes this deep dive so

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Interesting. Yeah, it's not just history. It's like it's a roadmap to understanding how

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Economic power can be used for social change to kind of wrap things up. Yeah, dr. King's approach to economic empowerment

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Was really multifaceted. Absolutely

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He wanted to disrupt the status quo with the boycott with the boycott. Yeah, but he also wanted to create something new build up

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Black economic institutions right from the ground up and that's the challenge that he leaves for us for all of us

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How can we how can we apply?

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His vision of economic empowerment to the problems we face today. It's a big question, right? Yeah

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What systems need to be challenged right what structures need to be built? Yeah, that's something worth thinking about definitely worth pondering

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All right. Thanks for listening everybody. Thanks for joining us. This has been a fascinating deep dive. It really has until next time

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See then