HOW HIGHLIGHTS FROM MARCH ON WASHINGTON 60TH ANNIVERSARY WITH REV. AL SHARPTON and MARTIN LUTHER KING, III, ! (1789 hits)
For Immediate Release!
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Thousands of people assembled near the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday (Aug. 26) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, paying tribute to the historic civil rights gathering led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while voicing new frustrations with political extremism that threatens racial progress.
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Thousands of people assembled near the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday (Aug. 26) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, paying tribute to the historic civil rights gathering led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while voicing new frustrations with political extremism that threatens racial progress.
In his address to a sprawling crowd, the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, framed the country’s current political contest as a battle between “dreamers” and “schemers.”
“Sixty years ago, Martin Luther King talked about a dream,” said Sharpton, referring to King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered from the same spot in 1963, in which the slain civil rights leader envisioned a future of racial harmony. “Sixty years later, we’re the dreamers — the problem is we’re facing the schemers.”
Sharpton explained “dreamers” were those in the crowd and elsewhere who resist various forms of hatred and advocate for causes such as voting rights, women’s rights, abortion rights and LGBTQ equality. The “schemers,” meanwhile, are their political opponents — including former President Donald Trump, who surrendered at an Atlanta, Georgia, jail this week on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
“The dreamers are in Washington, D.C.,” Sharpton said. “The schemers are being booked in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Fulton County Jail.”
“The dreamers are in Washington, D.C.,” Sharpton said. “The schemers are being booked in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Fulton County Jail.”
As if to underscore the nation’s continuing need for racial justice, a white gunman fatally shot three people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, Saturday, in what the sheriff there described as a “racially motivated” killing.
As in 1963, a dizzying array of activists, faith leaders, musicians, actors, labor advocates and lawmakers delivered their own impassioned speeches, standing for a broad coalition addressing racial injustice. It is credited with helping to spur passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Like Sharpton, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, made reference to Trump’s most recent indictment, broadening the term to criticize churches that don’t do enough to help those in need.
He called for an “indictment on churches that are silent — they speak in tongues, but don’t speak truth to power” and “an indictment of those who have multi-million dollar buildings, but turn a blind eye to those who do not have a standard of living.”
Biden meets with King family, civil rights leaders on anniversary of March on Washington
President Biden on Monday met with relatives of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders at the White House on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, underscoring the need for continued work on racial equality with the backdrop of a deadly, racially motivated shooting in Florida.
Biden and Vice President Harris met with Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda King and Bernice King, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton, former Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young and other civil rights leaders.
“Kamala and I wanted to convene this incredible group of civil rights leaders for a simple reason,” Biden said at the top of the meeting. “To thank them, and to tell them what they tell us: We know we’ve got a lot more work to do. And also remind them that what they do matters more than I think they even appreciate.”
Harris invoked the late Coretta Scott King, echoing her belief that the push for civil rights must be kept alive by each new generation and noting multiple generations of the King family were in attendance.
The King family, Harris said, epitomized that “it is incumbent on each of us at this moment in time in our country to stand for the sake of unity and foundational principles, that out of many we are one.”
Monday marked 60 years since the March on Washington, when roughly 250,000 people gathered on the National Mall to push for civil rights and equality and King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
The 1963 march helped lead to a host of new laws, including the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The landmark legislation banned segregation in public places and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, s*x or national origin.
Monday’s anniversary and the White House meeting after three people were killed in what police called a “racially motivated” shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.
Biden condemned the shooting at the start of his remarks with civil rights leaders, and he pushed back against efforts in some states to ban books and shape what is taught about the nation’s history.
“Silence is complicity, and we’re not going to remain silent,” Biden said. “So we have to act against this hate-fueled violence.”
“My father saw himself as a defender of freedom, justice, and equality...If there were things that at that time the Black community did not have, he was going to speak up for that and challenge whatever administration it was.”
Thank you, Bernice King
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The Leadership Conference @civilrightsorg
More than 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., on this day 60 years ago to demand civil rights.
This past weekend, we retraced their brave steps and demonstrated that we, the majority, are continuing the fight for justice, equity, and opportunity for all.
