KENNEBUNK—The First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church will honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday, Jan. 16, during its 14th annual MLK Holiday Breakfast. 

Shortly before he was assassinated, King had started organizing a “Poor People’s Campaign” and it was a multiracial effort—including Americans of African, Asian, European, Latino, and Native American descent.

It was aimed at alleviating poverty regardless of race. All these years later, we find ourselves amid the widest gap ever between the rich and poor.

Following up on King’s largely forgotten campaign, the speaker for this year’s event is Josh Hoxie of the Institute for Policy Studies located in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. 

“The growing gap between the wealthy and the rest of us” is the title of his talk.

“The promise of market economics is supposed to be that as an economy grows, the paychecks of wage earners grow with it,” Hoxie wrote in “Poorer than their Parents,” an article published in U.S. News and World Report. “But according to a new study, this is no longer the case. Who’s hit hardest by the new unequal reality? Young people.”

The Social Justice Committee of First Parish is excited to bring Hoxie to Kennebunk. The breakfast menu, new this year, will include quiche, sausage, veggie slaw, blueberry buckle, fruit, and coffee.

The Rev. Lara Campbell will introduce the program, and the First Parish choir directed by the Rev. Charlie Grindle will sing an African song of peace.

The cost of the program is $15 for adults, $5 for children from 6 to 12, and free for children ages 5 and under. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

Reservations are recommended, call Martha at 985-1411 or send an email to  [email protected] to reserve a seat.

In case of snow, visit www.uukennebunk.org for rescheduling information.

Before joining the Institute for Policy Studies, Hoxie spent four years working for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

Hoxie’s recent report, “The Ever-Growing Gap: Without Change, African-American and Latino Families Won’t Match White Wealth for Centuries” looks at the history of racist public policy that gave rise to today’s deep wealth gap. The report received coverage from over a hundred media outlets and was quoted widely in national discussions.

Hoxie lives and works in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston. 

For more than five decades, the Institute for Policy Studies has worked independently. It combines fresh, bold ideas with effective action.

IPS has provided critical support for the major social movements of our time by producing seminal books, films, and articles; educating key policymakers and the general public; and crafting practical strategies in support of peace, justice, and the environment.