Thousands gathered on the National Mall on Saturday to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the March on Washington, with audio system championing progress however warning that extra work must be performed to meet the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.
A crowd gathered in entrance of the Lincoln Memorial to listen to civil rights activists, lawmakers and entertainers ship the message that the anniversary was not meant to be a commemoration, however quite a continuation of the work spurred by the civil rights motion within the Nineteen Sixties.
The precise anniversary of the march might be on Monday, when President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will host a gathering with members of the King Family.
But on Saturday, the King household expressed unease for the way forward for the nation.
“I’m very concerned about the direction our country is going in,” Martin Luther King III mentioned. “And it is because instead of moving forward, it feels as if we’re moving back. The question is, what are we going to do?”
If she may have spoken to her grandfather, Yolanda Renee King mentioned, she would say “I’m sorry.”
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“We still have to be here to rededicate ourselves to finishing your work and ultimately realizing your hidden dream,” she mentioned. “Sixty years ago, Dr. King urged us to struggle against the triple evils of racism, poverty and bigotry. Today, racism is still with us. Poverty is still with us. And now, gun violence has come for our places of worship, our schools and our shopping centers.”
A handful of Democratic lawmakers spoke on the occasion, together with House Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Mr. Jeffries mentioned America is at a crossroads in an “existential struggle between enlightened people and extreme people.”
“We’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to keep advocating, we’re going to keep demonstrating,” he mentioned. “We will not rest until we reach the promised land of liberty and justice for all.”
Ashley Sharpton, civil rights activist and daughter of Rev. Al Sharpton, mentioned supporters of King’s dream wanted to show “demonstration into legislation.”
Mr. Sharpton, who closed out the slate of audio system earlier than gathering the group to march to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, railed in opposition to the latest Supreme Court ruling that successfully barred affirmative motion in faculty admissions, Republicans’ efforts to restrict entry to abortion, and discrimination in opposition to members of the LGBTQ group.
“The dreamers are fighting for voting rights. The schemers are changing voter regulations in states,” he mentioned. “The dreamers are standing up for women’s right to choose. The schemers are arguing whether they are going to make you stop at six weeks or 15 weeks.”
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