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October 11, 2008 11:34:56 PM CDT

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MLK Son: We Need Cabinet Post for Poverty

Posted Apr 4, 08 7:28 AM CDT in Politics,  US 

(Newser) – The son of Martin Luther King says the nation can best commemorate the 40th anniversary of his father's assassination by taking concrete action to fight poverty. In an essay in the  Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Martin Luther King III called on the presidential candidates to commit to creating a Cabinet position, one that will "transcend the ceremonial." The poverty rate is 12%, same as 1968, and it now affects 36 million Americans.

"The challenge that consumed my father toward the end of his life has remained comfortably entrenched within the realm of rhetoric and not action," King wrote. He said a national office could use a new agency in New York City as a model and coordinate public, private, and civic efforts. He closed with his father's warning: "There is no such thing as a conscientious objector in the war on poverty."

Source Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Martin Luther King Jr., second right, and aides Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson Jr., from left, and Ralph Abernathy in this April 3, 1968 file photo. King was shot dead on the balcony April 4, 1968.   (AP Photo)
Congressional leaders and Martin Luther King III sing "We Shall Overcome" a day before the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Marting Luther King III greets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., after she spoke about his father's legacy, Thursday, April 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Martin Luther King III, son of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., speaks during an interview in Atlanta, in this Dec. 8, 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/John Bazemore, file)
The son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King III, speaks at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Monday Aug. 27, 2007.   (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
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