60 Years after Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, in front of a crowd of some 250,000 people, last Saturday Saturday, tens of thousands gathered in that same spot to declare that dream was in jeopardy.
Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, whose National Action Network co-hosted the rally alongside the nonprofit Drum Major Institute, said, “Sixty years ago, Martin Luther King talked about a dream. Sixty years later, we’re the dreamers.”
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Arndrea Waters King, the daughter-in-law of Martin Luther King Jr., one of a number of his family members who spoke at the event, said, “We are here to liberate the soul of the nation, the soul of democracy from those forces who would have us all go backwards and perish rather than go forward as sisters and brothers.”
On Friday, several leaders who helped organize the march met with Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, where they discussed a range of issues, including redlining, voting rights, and policing.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe the march’s true anniversary today by meeting with organizers of the 1963 gathering.
Vice President Kamala Harris issued this statement:
Sixty years ago, nearly a quarter of a million people marched on Washington to demand jobs and freedom. They came from every corner of our country. Gathering on the National Mall, they listened as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shared his dream of an America that lives up to its promise: A nation without segregation and discrimination, with opportunity and equality for all. They heard from a young student organizer, the great John Lewis, who spoke of the importance of fighting to secure the sacred freedom to vote.
The March on Washington was a call to action for our nation. In the years to come, inspired by the passion and purpose of that day, Americans secured the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other landmark victories in the fight for progress.
The March on Washington was historic, but it was neither the beginning nor the end of the movement for civil rights. The fight continued in the years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and the fight for civil rights continues today. Today, as extremist so-called leaders attempt to erase our history and roll back progress on voting rights, reproductive freedom, and LGBTQ+ equality, Americans are fighting for justice and equity.
Today, sixty years after that historic day, let us rededicate ourselves to the fight for equity, opportunity, and justice. And let us continue to work to secure our most foundational freedoms: the freedom to vote, the freedom of women to make decisions about their own bodies, and the freedom to live free from hate and violence.
