During the second panel in today’s national symposium on “Jobs, Justice and the American Dream,” panelists made it clear that now is the time for a massive effort by progressives to come together at all levels to build a movement that reclaims the moral vision that King had and to force needed social change in our nation.  They agreed that Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of social justice is not limited to African Americans and poor people. It encompasses all people who are oppressed or denied their human rights, including working people who are either immigrants, middle class, lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender (LBGT) or young.

On Aug. 26, two days before the official dedication of the historic Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., the AFL-CIO and The King Center will host a national symposium to explore how far we have come in fulfilling King’s dream of a nation of economic equality and justice for all people.