Aug. 25 (UPI) — The family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders are marking the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington on Saturday with an event starting from the Lincoln Memorial.
Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to attend the milestone anniversary event at the exact location where King gave his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech, WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., reported.
King’s son, Martin Luther King III, his son’s wife, Andrea Waters King, and civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton are expected to be in attendance.
Participants plan to meet at the Lincoln Memorial at 7 a.m. EDT before marching at 1 p.m. through the streets of the capital. The National Park Service plans to close parts of Ohio Drive SW, West Basin Drive SW, 23rd Street, Daniel French Drive SW and Henry Bacon Drive SW for the day’s events.
Organizers said Saturday’s event isn’t meant to be just a commemoration of the inaugural march in 1963, but a “continuation” of the efforts to fight for equality across ages, genders and races.
“The unified march will be a collective response to the vitriol, rise in hate crimes, attacks on civil rights and protections and threats to democracy itself,” said Ashley Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network’s Huddle and daughter of the Rev. Al Sharpton. “The time to speak with one voice is now.”
More than 200,000 people gathered on the National Mall on Aug. 28, 1963, for what was officially known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event called for civil and economic rights for Black Americans at the height of the civil rights movement.
Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, saying “the time is now” for equality and an end to racism.
“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice,” he said. “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”
President John F. Kennedy met with 10 of the march leaders for more than an hour, saying he couldn’t help but be impressed with the “deep fervor and the quiet dignity” of the event, UPI reported at the time. Kennedy called for new civil rights legislation, which wasn’t passed until after his death a mere three months after the march.
Kennedy’s predecessor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964, outlawing discrimination based on race, skin color, religion, sex, or nation of origin. It ended racial segregation in schools and other public spaces, and expanded employment and voter registration protections.
Following Saturday’s march, the King Center plans to hold a youth forum Monday titled “I Have a Dream, What’s Yours?” The 10:30 a.m. EDT event will be streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter.
