Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy: An Economic Justice Imperative

Abstract

As the 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Speaker and as a participant in the 2004 - 2005 Seventh Annual Public Interest Law Speakers Series, entitled "Access to Justice: The Social Responsibility of Lawyers," the author explores how Dr. King's legacy demands that lawyers work to abolish poverty and homelessness. Relying on her experiences as a Professor of Clinical Law at The George Washington University Law School, as the former Editor-in-Chief of the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, and as a member of the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, the author argues a need to change the public policy focus and that poverty should be addressed as a human rights issue. In the way that Dr. King was an advocate for economic justice, lawyers should advance the interest of low-income people. By embracing economic justice as a cause, lawyers are able to pursue legal reforms and practices that promote economic justice.

Keywords: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Public Interest Law, poverty, homelessness, housing, low-income, economic justice, human rights, civil rights, legal reforms, community economic development, economic reforms, law and policy, activist lawyers, George Washington University Law School

JEL Classification: A12, A14, D63, K19, 015