But history shows us we cannot rely on our leaders to pursue them; it is up to us.
![Civil rights leaders hold hands as they lead a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC, August 28, 1963 [File: Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/53016748.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Ben Phillips is the author of How to Fight Inequality, published by Polity Press. He is an advisor to the United Nations, governments and civil society organisations, was Campaigns Director for Oxfam and for ActionAid, and co-founded the Fight Inequality Alliance.
But history shows us we cannot rely on our leaders to pursue them; it is up to us.
![Civil rights leaders hold hands as they lead a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC, August 28, 1963 [File: Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/53016748.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)