A Rally For Justice: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The March on Washington

New Jersey native Bernadine Lawrence attended the March on Washington in 1963. She was a freshman at A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.  “We came to support and hear Dr. King speak. It was awesome to hear him,” she said. Fifty years later she says, “It’s more of a celebration, reminding us to continue to keep hope alive,” she said.  

Lawrence and thousands of others gathered in and around the National Mall to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington. I attended the momentous event, and it reminded me of a huge pep rally to encourage and support justice. Americans from all around the nation poured from planes, buses, trains, and cars onto the streets of Washington, D.C. Vendors lined the pathways leading to the Lincoln Memorial, hawking t-shirts, buttons, posters, paintings, food, and newspapers. One vendor shouted above the crowd, “Get your President Obama or Michael Jackson money for a dollar!” I was struck by the fact that 50 years ago the idea of an African American president seemed virtually impossible.

The speakers at 2013 rally included U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Congressman John Lewis who spoke at the March in 1963 as the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The son of Dr. King, Martin Luther King III, also spoke along with Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights leader, Medger Evers. New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, campaigning for the U.S. Senate, addressed the crowd as did Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin.

A Wake-up Call

With the recent Trayvon Martin verdict, the Supreme Court’s decision eliminating key parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, high unemployment among African Americans, mass incarcerations, deportations and other issues, the crowd provided undeniable evidence of a dream deferred and grave concern about race relations in America.

Minister Frank Turner of Believe and Receive Outreach Ministries in Forrest City, AR recalled watching the March  on his family’s black and white television 50 years ago. He called the 2013 rally is a “wake-up call.” “So many people have become snug in their lives. They’re comfortable and do not realize the local, regional and national issues we are facing. We’re in more trouble now than we were in 1963 because the enemy is more subtle,” Turner said. “We must also prepare, educate and discipline our children properly for a better future.”

A Teachable Moment

Many of those at the rally brought their children.  Retired U.S. Army captain D. Ulysses Brewer Sr. of Texarkana, AR traveled to the rally with his two daughters, Brooklyn and Bryunna, ages 13 and 10 respectively. Brewer is a lifetime member of the NAACP. “I wanted my children to see how justice was achieved in the past. Allowing them to see, feel and experience their history is the best way to learn,” he said.

And they have.    “It is important for us to continue to fight for justice,” Brooklyn said.

Bryunna quickly added, “That’s true. Our future is important. If we want things to be better, we must act and not just sit around. We have to fight for what’s right.”

That was the sentiment 50 years ago, and it remains the same in 2013.