Today, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the the historic March on Washington, tens of thousands of people crowded the streets along the reflection pond, and up to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and demanded action on voting rights, economic and social justice.
Fifty years ago, the marchers were able to break unprecedented filibusters and obstructions to force Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.
In the past few years and even months, these same rights have come under attack, from the Supreme Court to places like Texas and North Carolina.
These attacks include restrictive ID requirements, which would limit early voting and cause long lines on Election Day, and voting districts designed to dilute voters' voices. Across the country, people will not be able to exercise their most fundamental right to vote if you don't take action now and tell Congress to act.
Civil rights leaders reflected on the legacy of racial progress over the last half-century and urged Americans to press forward in pursuit of King's dream of equality.
Many of the speakers addressed race relations in optimistic terms, describing America's progress as encouraging but incomplete, but they also delved at times into more controversial fare like the Supreme Court's recent decision overturning parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Martin Luther King III paid tribute to his father's legacy.
"Five decades ago my father stood upon this hallowed spot" and "crystallized like never before the painful pilgrimage and aching aspirations of African-Americans yearning to breathe free."
King's message was not a "lament" or a "diatribe," his son said, but a call to action — and a reminder that the work always goes on.
"The task is not done, the journey is not complete" — Martin Luther King III
"The vision preached by my father a half-century ago was that his four little children would no longer live in a nation where they would judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." — Martin Luther King III
King also slammed the Supreme Court for having "eviscerated" voting rights protections, calling for citizens to "fight back boldly" to restore those rights.
"They came to Washington so we could come today, in a different time and a different place, and we owe them for what we have today." — Rev. Al Sharpton
Sharpton was especially outraged by the court ruling on voting rights and by the efforts of state legislatures around the country to erect new voting restrictions, such as voter identification laws.
"Our vote was soaked in the blood of martyrs, and you can't take it from us" — Rev. Al Sharpton
Representative John Lewis, who was the youngest speaker at the original march, urged Saturday's audience to continue marching on behalf of equality.
"Fifty years later, we cannot wait, we cannot be patient,...we want our jobs and we want our freedom now ... we cannot give up. We cannot give out." — Congressman, John Lewis
He reserved particular outrage for the recent high court decision on voting rights.
"I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Alabama, for that right to vote" — Congressman, John Lewis
Lewis was referencing the police brutality against civil rights demonstrators in Selma in 1965.
"I am not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us." — Congressman, John Lewis
His message to Congress, which has mulled adjustments to voting laws in the wake of the court decision:
"Fix the Voting Rights Act."
Cory Booker, a Democrat and rising African-American politician who is seeking a Senate seat in New Jersey, noted that he was not alive during the original march, urging his younger generation to remember that their freedoms were "bought by the struggles and the sacrifices and the work of those who came before."
His generation can never pay back that contribution, Booker said,
"Our generation can never pay back that contribution, but it is our moral obligation to pay it forward." — Cory Booker, Mayor Newark
He cautioned the audience against becoming "dumb, fat and happy, thinking that we have achieved freedom."
"There is still work to do," Booker said, naming discrimination in the justice system and the continuing effects of poverty as issues in need of redress.
In today's America, the march for justice has broadened to include women, Latinos, Asian-Americans, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and others.
After the speakers concluded, the rally was scheduled to march east from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which was dedicated in 2011, becoming the first memorial on the National Mall dedicated to an individual who wasn't a former president.
From there, the crowd was to proceed to the Washington Memorial before dispersing.
Despite the fanfare of Saturday's rally, which packed the mall from the Lincoln Memorial back to the World War II Memorial, it was only a prelude.
The actual anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington will occur on Wednesday, and it will be marked by another rally on the mall.
U.S. “Government Agencies” Found Guilty in Martin Luther King’s Assassination
Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee Thirtieth Judicial District at Memphis, December 1999
“We have done what we can to reveal the truth, and we now urge you as members of the media, and we call upon elected officials, and other persons of influence to do what they can to share the revelation of this case to the widest possible audience.” – Coretta Scott King, King Family Press Conference, Dec. 9, 1999
From the King Center on the family’s civil trial that found the US government guilty in Martin’s assassination:
After four weeks of testimony and over 70 witnesses in a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee, twelve jurors reached a unanimous verdict on December 8, 1999 after about an hour of deliberations that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. In a press statement held the following day in Atlanta, Mrs. Coretta Scott King welcomed the verdict, saying:
“There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. And the civil court’s unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. It is a great victory for truth itself. It is important to know that this was a SWIFT verdict, delivered after about an hour of jury deliberation.
The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. I want to make it clear that my family has no interest in retribution. Instead, our sole concern has been that the full truth of the assassination has been revealed and adjudicated in a court of law…
My husband once said, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
To-day, almost 32 years after my husband and the father of my four children was assassinated, I feel that the jury’s verdict clearly affirms this principle. With this faith, we can begin the 21st century and the new millennium with a new spirit of hope and healing.”
The King family stands firmly behind the civil trial verdict reached by twelve jurors in the Memphis, Tennessee courtroom on December 8, 1999.
An excerpt from remarks made by Mr. Dexter Scott King, Chairman, President, and CEO of The King Center, during the December 9, 1999 press conference regarding the verdict that may be used in support of this family decision:
“We can say that because of the evidence and information obtained in Memphis we believe that this case is over. This is a period in the chapter. We constantly hear reports, which trouble me, that this verdict creates more questions than answers. That is totally false. Anyone who sat in on almost four weeks of testimony, with over seventy witnesses, credible witnesses I might add, from several judges to other very credible witnesses, would know that the truth is here.”
“The question now is, “What will you do with that?”
"We as a family have done our part. We have carried this mantle for as long as we can carry it. We know what happened. It is on public record. The transcripts will be available; we will make them available on the Web at some point. Any serious researcher who wants to know what happened can find out.”
The King family shares the conviction that there is nothing more to add to their comments on record and will respectfully decline all further requests for comment.
Rosa Parks - My Hero
A Class Divided
http://www.globalresearch.ca/court-decision-u-s-government-agencies-found-guilty-in-martin-luther-kings-assassination/5320024 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57599979/march-on-washingtons-50th-anniversary-commemoration-draws-tens-of-thousands/
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