On May 12, 1968, over 2,500 activists from Mississippi arrived by bus in Washington, D.C. for a gathering of mass protest that was planned to be long-term at the National Mall. An architect named John Wiebenson secured five acres around the Reflecting pool in Washington in order to build a small independent city with its own stores, hospital and city hall. This town of protest at our nation’s capitol came to be known as “Resurrection City.” It was part of the Poor People’s Campaign for civil rights.
Resurrection City was built and maintained in a rainstorm. In the first 19 days of the protest, the city was filled with water. The goal of the Resurrection City protestors was to bring awareness of the lack of freedom and jobs for blacks, a civil right yet to be of widespread practice, despite the laws passed in 1964.
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