As Melissa Harris-Perry suggests, this is where Dr. King moves beyond mere racial 'segregation' and begins to look for ways to 'integrate' education, employment and housing as fundamental human 'rights' within the framework of a more democratically controlled economic system. These aren't new ideas now, and they weren't new when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated them 40 years ago.
In fact, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt insisted in 1944 that these measures and more should be included in a "Second Bill of Rights, under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all, regardless of station, or race or creed.
"Among these are:
"The right to a useful and remunerative job,
"The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation,
"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living.
"The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom; freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.
"The right of every family to a decent home.
"The right to adequate medical care, and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.
"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accidents and unemployment.
"The right to a good education.
"All of these rights spell security, and after this war is won, we must be prepared to move forward in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. For unless there is security here at home, there cannot be lasting peace in the world." [6]
These principles were also nothing new to a Catholic Priest named, Don Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta. By transforming theories into practice and integrating education with employment, it might seem Arizmendi was strides ahead of both Dr. King and FDR. It's important to note that Don Jose Maria addressed problems at the community level, while Dr. King and FDR were trying to influence a whole nation. But it's also important to note that the ideas of Don Jose Maria have captured global attention in modern times. His real-world approach to community development is widely recognized as perhaps the most viable way to put legs on Dr. King's dream and on FDR's second bill of rights.
In 1941, Don Jose Maria founded a technical school, in the community of Mondragon in the Basque region of Spain. In 1956, five of his students founded a worker-cooperative called, Ulgor. To facilitate cooperative expansion, they created a new, cooperative bank in 1959, called the 'Caja Laboral Popular'. This sparked the creation of many other mutually supportive community development agencies, and eventually resulted in the world's largest and most successful worker-cooperative complex.
Now, in a time of global recession, when surrounding Spain suffers the highest unemployment rate in the industrialized world, [7] the unemployment rate in Mondragon remains consistently zero. [10] Moreover, in late 2009, the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC) formed a collaboration with the United Steelworkers union of North America to create new jobs in the so-called 'rust belt' of the United States and Canada. According to Carl Davidson:
"The vision behind the agreement is job creation, but with a new twist. Since government efforts were being stifled by the greed of financial speculators and private capital was more interested in cheap labor abroad, unions will take matters into their own hands, find willing partners, and create jobs themselves, but in sustainable businesses owned by the workers."
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