August 21, 2013
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Washington
Making history
again for jobs
and justice
those like me, who were not yet
born - Dr. King's words are
etched into our minds as deeply
as they are inscribed in stone at
the base of his memorial. The
preacher's son has taken his right
by B enjamin T odd J ealous
ful place in the pantheon of na
R e m em b er the
tional heroes’.
March on W ashing
We don't need to
ton? Aug. 28, 1963.
watch a rerun of that
Tens o f thousands of
fateful day. We need a
activists on the N a
sequel.
tio n a l
M all.
A
On Saturday, Aug.
preacher's son from
24, the NAACP is co
Atlanta talking about
hosting a sequel to the
his dream for the
March on Washington
country.
for Jobs and Justice:
We don't need a
the 2013 M arch on
history lesson. Even if we weren't Washington. The march begins
at the March itself - even for at 8 a.m., at the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial. Join us.
If this year has shown us any
thing, it's that the work of the
1963 march is not yet finished.
Texas and South Carolina are
sprinting forward with voter ID
after the Supreme Court gutted
the Voting Rights Act. African
American unemployment has flat
lined. Our children are gunned
down each and every day in
se n sele ss acts o f v io len ce.
Trayvon Martin lies in the ground
after one such senseless act.
At the same time, our culture
of civic engagement is experi
encing a renaissance. In the past
month, hundreds of cities held
vigils and rallies to protest the
Zimmerman verdict. The nation
is having a serious conversation
about racial profiling for the first
time since 9/11. In North Caro
lina, Moral M ondays has grown
larger with each passing week.
We have the numbers, and
we have the capacity for moti
vation. The question is whether
we will allow ourselves to be
motivated.
So join us - NAACP, National
Action Network, Realizing the
Dream and others - on the N a
tional Mall on Aug. 24. If you
live within two hours of W ash
ington, DC, hop in a car or on a
bus - or even better, organize a
bus. If you live farther away,
you are still encouraged to come
and be a part of history.
The 2013 March on W ashing
ton will be a people's movement.
It will not be fueled by cash - it
will only be energized by your
decision to participate. We need
you there to help us gain a criti
cal mass o f voices, and prove
once again that organized people
can beat organized money any
time.
On this 50th anniversary of
the March on Washington, we
should celebrate our history, but
it's more important that we never
stop making history.
Meet us at the Lincoln M e
morial. Join us on Aug. 24.
Ben Jealous is president and
chief executive ojficer o f the
NAACP.
50 Years after Martin Luther King Jr. made History
Another march,
another dream
It was there, at the broad Marian Anderson sang. M ahalia
white steps of the Lincoln M e Jackson sang. Finally, it was time
morial that the leaders of the for Dr. Martin Luther King to
M arch had gathered. Among p re se n t his h isto ric d ream
by E lisabeth S tevens
them were A. Philip Randolph, speech.
It was a time of
director of the March and
Beginning by describing the
terror and trouble.
founder of the Brotherhood gathering as "the greatest dem
In the years before
o f Sleeping Car Porters, onstration for freedom in the
and after the his
Roy Wilkins - leader of the history of our nation," Dr. King
to ric M arch on
NAACP, Rabbi Joachim went on to warn against "drink
W a sh in g to n fo r
P rin z, p resid en t o f the ing from the cup of bitterness
Jobs and Freedom
American Jewish Council, and hatred." He also warned
of Aug. 28, 1963,
a Berlin rabbi of the Hitler against allowing "our creative
there were repeated and wide era, and W alter Reuther leader protests to degenerate into physi
spread acts of violence. In Bir of the United Automobile W ork cal violence." Instead, he ad
mingham, Ala., earlier that sum ers.
vised "meeting physical force
mer, four young black girls died
One by one, leaders exhorted with soul force."
in a church bombing. Near Phila the listening crowd. Randolph
Finally, with his words reso
delphia, Miss., less than a year described the gathering as "the nating among the multitudes like
later, three Congress of Racial largest demonstration in the his great waves of light, Dr. King
Equality civil rights workers: tory of this nation." Reuther pic intoned: "I have a dream.... I
M ich ael S ch w ern er, Jam es tured the March as a "great cru have a dream.... I have a dream
Chaney and Andrew Goodman sade to mobilize the moral con that my four children .will one
were murdered and buried in an science o f America."
day live in a nation where they
earthen dam.
Rabbi Prinz warned, "bigotry will not be judged by the color of
Nevertheless, on that hot sum and hatred are not the most ur their skin but by the content of
mer day 50 years ago, an esti gent problems," but that "the most th e ir c h a ra c te r. I hav e a
mated 250,000 people came to urgent, the most disgraceful, the dream...."
W ashington peacefully from all most tragic problem is silence."
In the 50 years that have fol
over America. They gathered Recalling Nazi Germany, he lowed that march, Dr. King's
downtown in the long Mall be added: "A great people, which words have echoed everywhere
tw een the C a p ito l and th e had created a great civilization, and inspired multitudes. Today,
Potomac River. Around the spire had become a nation o f silent senior citizens who came to the
o f the Washington Monument, onlookers. They remained silent march still remember. One re
beneath the spreading trees, be in the face of hate, in the face of tired octogenarian now living in
side the long, quiet reflecting brutality, in the face of mass Florida insists: "It was one of the
pool, and as close as they could murder. America must not be most important experiences of
get to the great, marble-columned come a nation o f silent onlook my life."
memorial containing the statue ers...."
But beyond dreams, what is
o f A b ra h am L in c o ln , th ey
B e fo re an d b e tw e e n the the reality? What can and should
waited.
sp eech es th ere w as m usic. be celebrated by the 50th anni
versary March on W ashington
on Aug. 28, 2013?
On the Mall, not far from the
Lincoln M emorial, there is a
much-visited granite memorial
to Dr. King dedicated in 2011.
Yet elsewhere, in places such as
Stamford, Fla., and Chicago, vio
lence continues. The tragic kill
ings of 17-year-old Trayvon
Martin in Stamford and of 15-
year-old Hadiya Pendelton in
Chicago engender painful ques
tions.
How can the "soul force" Dr.
King recommended as an alter
native to "physical violence" be
engendered, em ployed, p ro
moted? If there are answers,
who has them?
Am idst contem porary pain
and confusion, the dreams o f
Dr. King linger and inspire. To
have a dream and work for it
may be the only answer.
Elisabeth Stevens is the au
thor o f Ride a Bright and Shin
ing Pony, the story o f two
young lovers whose lives and
destinies are irrevocably and
tragically intertwined with the
1963 March on Washington.
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
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(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
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