Former Rep. Joe Kennedy joins anti-poverty initiative

• The Poor People’s Campaign, co-chaired by the Rev. William Barber II, is modeled after MLK's 1968 Poor People's March and seeks to organize low-income Black, white, Asian American, Latino, and Native American residents.
• Kennedy will serve as a special adviser to the campaign. He also just launched a new Democratic political action committee and recently signed a commentator contract with CNN.

Flashback: Robert Kennedy, as a U.S. senator, embarked on a poverty tour between 1967 to 1968 to visit some of the poorest communities in the United States in a runup to his presidential campaign.

• The senator visited parts of Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, Central California, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
• Kennedy had been haunted by his brother's notes in his last Cabinet meeting. President Kennedy had written the word "poverty" and circled it before his assassination.

What they're saying: "I'm proud of the work my grandfather did with many of you," the younger Kennedy told the Poor People’s Campaign during a virtual meeting.

• Kennedy vowed to push for a $15 minimum wage and fair policies for low-income residents.

Between the lines: Since losing his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, Kennedy has held a series of meeting with advisers and friends on what he should do next.

• Many of his closest aides had urged him to join anti-poverty efforts as the nation struggles with COVID-19.