Editing Quitman County, Mississippi (section)

===Poor People's Campaign===
{{Main|Poor People's Campaign}}
[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] originally wanted the [[Poor People's Campaign]] to start in Quitman County because of the intense and visible economic disparity there. On March 18, 1968, King visited the town of [[Marks, Mississippi]]. He watched a teacher feeding black schoolchildren their lunch, consisting only of a slice of apple and some crackers, and was moved to tears.

After King's death, the Southern part of the Campaign began in Quitman County. Participants rode a train of mules to [[Washington, D.C.]] to protest about economic conditions.<ref>{{cite book | author = Amy Bach | title = Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court | publisher = Metropolitan Books | place = New York | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-8050-7447-5 | page = [https://archive.org/details/ordinaryinjustic00amyb/page/133 133] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/ordinaryinjustic00amyb/page/133 }}</ref> According to wagonmaster Willie Bolden, white citizens of Marks harassed the mule train on its way out of town. Bolden stated that they "would drive by blowing their horns, purposely trying to spook the mules and us."<ref name=wright /> More recently, Quitman County residents have made an effort to promote tourism based on the county's role in the Poor People's Campaign.<ref name=wright />