March on Washington 2023: Organizers head to D.C. for anniversary event

On Aug. 28, 1963, a sea of humanity more than 250,000 strong converged near the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

On Aug. 28, 1963, a sea of humanity more than 250,000 strong converged near the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

On that sweltering summer day, the multiracial crowd hoisted signs, and protest songs filled the air. A parade of speakers — among them activist John Lewis and Daisy Bates, who strategized the integration of Little Rock, Arkansas, schools in 1957 and was the only woman on the program to speak — rallied freedom’s cause. And when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the now-iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, its seismic message about ending racial segregation would reverberate across the nation and around the world. 

“No, no, we are not satisfied,” King told the crowd during what would become one of the landmark occasions of 20th-century America, “and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty river.”

Martin Luther King III, left, and Arndrea Waters King sit for an interview with The Associated Press in Atlanta on Aug. 16.Brynn Anderson / AP fileDecades later, an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington is scheduled this Saturday with the theme “Not a Commemoration, a Continuation.” While the 1963 demonstration centered around civil rights, jobs and economic opportunities, Saturday’s event will also address a range of issues including threats to democracy, criminal justice reform and voting rights. 

“Despite the significant progress we have made, we need to rededicate ourselves to the mission my dad gave his life for,” said Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the slain civil rights icon and the late Coretta Scott King. “We have to do better. This anniversary gives us the opportunity to not just commemorate his historic calling, but to continue his efforts to make life better for everyone.”