Veterans of civil rights era mix with those born after historic 1963 event
Focusing on both the past and the future, a reflective crowd celebrates the words of Martin Luther King Jr.Thousands march to Mall to mark ‘Dream’ anniversary
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Thousands visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.,
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
It was a day when people spoke of the future of race in America and of one man’s vision, so forcefully delivered that five decades later the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech ranks with Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech to Congress as the most iconic in U.S. history.
50 years later we still fighting for the American DREAM! ✊🇺🇸 @ March On Washington http://t.co/ySn8fLjUmF
The latest on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
Video playlist: Memories of the march
Hear memories of the 1963 march and how it altered the lives of those who attended.
1963 march: Historical photos
PHOTOS | The landmark civil rights protest on drew more than 200,000 people to the District.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the last major speakers from the 1963 rally still alive, challenged listeners to push back against this year’s Supreme Court decision that struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The court’s 5 to 4 decision freed nine states, most of them in the South, from a requirement that they seek federal approval to change their election laws.
“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Ala.,” he said, referring to his brutal beating by gas-masked police that was captured by photographers in 1965 and awakened many Americans to repression in the South.
“The vote is precious. It is almost sacred,” said Lewis, who was a student civil rights organizer 50 years ago. “It is the most powerful nonviolent tool that we have. We must say to Congress: Fix the voting rights act.
“I got arrested 40 times during the ’60s, beaten and left bloodied and unconscious,” he said. “But I’m not tired. I am ready to fight and continue to fight, and you must fight.”
His address received a standing ovation.
“Our vote was soaked in the blood of martyrs,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, “and you cannot take it from us now.”
As the crowd swelled the length of the Reflecting Pool and then beyond, it reflected a mix of those born after the historic 1963 March on Washington, those who were too unaware at that time to have participated and veterans of the civil rights movement who were mesmerized by the speeches of King and others that long-ago August Wednesday.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate election in New Jersey this fall, spoke directly to the young people in the crowd.
“My father told me, ‘Don’t walk around here thinking you hit a triple when you were born on third base,’ ” said Booker, 44. “You drink from a well you did not dig. There is still work to be done. Don’t sit back and think democracy is a spectator sport.”
It was a message that resonated with Brianna Patterson.
“We weren’t alive 50 years ago when it happened,” said Patterson, 20, who lives in Prince George’s County. “Fifty years from now, we can look back and tell our children we were at the 50th anniversary March on Washington. . . . We are keeping the dream alive.”
Clarence Ellington was born three years after the 1963 march and grew up hearing about how his father struggled living in segregated South Carolina.
“I’m here for my kids, so they can step up and know how my father, my grandfather and my great-grandmother struggled,” said Ellington, who brought his two children.
Video playlist: Memories of the march
Hear memories of the 1963 march and how it altered the lives of those who attended.
1963 march: Historical photos
PHOTOS | The landmark civil rights protest on drew more than 200,000 people to the District.
“It was a sense of togetherness,” he recalled as he surveyed Saturday’s growing crowd. “Now, it’s this group here, that group there. We’re all here for the same purpose. But it’s a different feeling.”
Charles Randolph-Wright remembered listening to King’s speech in the basement of his cousin’s house in York, South Carolina.
“That was the center of activity, not just for our family, but all the budding activists in town,” Randolph-Wright recalled. “I was young, and did not realize a movement was starting, but I knew something changed from that day.
“Hearing that speech opened the door for us to fight, crawl, push and do whatever we had to do to make it through,” he said. “I cannot help but imagine the disappointment King would have in seeing how polarized this nation has become. In many ways, I feel we have regressed, but then I see someone who looks like me in the White House, and I talk to children whose only image of a president is a man of color, and I am so very grateful.”
Patricia Bent and Sonya Ransom arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 4:45 a.m. Saturday and set out their folding chairs next to the Reflecting Pool.
The two friends from Charlotte, N.C., were among a few dozen marchers who were in place as the sun lit up the memorial’s facade and the stage where a prayer service would be held.
Bent remembered watching the original march on television.
“We can’t take steps back,” she said. “People fought too long for voting rights. People died. We can’t sit back and let their work have no meaning.”
The Rev. Stephen C. Holton, an Episcopal priest from New York, said the Trayvon Martin verdict was one sign of continued racial injustice in America.
“It’s clear that we need to keep on marching,” said Holton, 53, who had joined a contingent of marchers from the Washington National Cathedral.
Crowds streaming toward the Lincoln Memorial were joined by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, flanked by an entourage of marchers, all walking silently and batting away clouds of gnats.
Julian Bond, another veteran civil rights activist, said the marchers represented a diverse swath of the population but shared a common message.
“The main message is that white supremacy is still a major problem in America, and we need to rid society of it,” said Bond, who helped establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s.
Lana Shells, 69, was one of 47 people who traveled from Norristown, Pa.
Fifty years ago, she didn’t make the trip to Washington because she couldn’t afford to miss her shift as a ward clerk at the state hospital in Norristown.
Now president of her local NAACP chapter, Shells said not enough has changed since 1963, pointing to voter ID laws and deepening economic inequality as key issues facing black Americans.
“I didn’t think after Dr. King that I’d be here crying over the same issues,” Shells said, adding that she hopes today’s march brings new energy to the modern civil rights movement.
“I think we went to sleep and we need to wake up,” she said. “All people, poor, black, Hispanic.”
Rick Ramsey, 56, took his son, Justice, to see the movie “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” on Friday to give him a sense of the role race has played in the United States. Saturday, Ramsey brought Justice, his sister and a friend to the march.
“I know it used to be that black people couldn’t do stuff,” said Justice, 13. “Now, in 2013, we have rights.”
Ramsey smiled: “He’s going to be famous. Justice is a leader.”
Brian Crutcher, 31, a native of Huntsville, Ala., works as a contractor for the Defense Department.
“I wanted to be part of this event not just because of its historical significance but because it is fundamental to my spiritual beliefs,” he said. “The scriptures teach us that in Christ we are free and that we all deserve justice and equality regardless of our skin color.”
Mark Berman, Emma Brown, Hamil R. Harris and T. Rees Shapiro contributed to this report.
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