Older Activists Make Voices Heard in March on Washington

'They're excited because they're seeing a change' — 57 years later

by Aaron Kassraie, AARP, Updated August 31, 2020

ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Despite pandemic restrictions requiring a two-week quarantine on visitors from 30 states, tens of thousands of civil rights advocates arrived in Washington, D.C., to participate in a Friday march that was meant to invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered 57 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The first March on Washington, on Aug. 28, 1963, originally was planned to call attention to economic inequalities. Its goals expanded to urge passage of the Civil Rights Act, racial integration in public schools and legislation against job discrimination.

King, whose speech became a lasting memory of the day, set aside his prepared remarks as the 10th speaker on a three-hour program when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out to him during his talk. “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream,” she exclaimed, persuading him to improvise much of the second half of what he said to the 250,000 people who attended.

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This year, activists were calling for greater reform within the criminal justice system and for equality under the law, said Brenda Coles, president of the National Action Network (NAN) chapter in Richmond, Virginia. The nonprofit civil rights organization sponsored Friday's event, along with partners that included the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and National Urban League. More than three dozen companies and other groups also participated.

"Fifty-seven years ago, Dr. King marched for jobs, freedom, economic equality and the end of racism,” Coles said. Today the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and others put the focus on reforms for police accountability as well. “That is what's important. It's that legislation leads to change, and that can then lead to reconciliation."

Robbie Williams, 67, traveled to the march from Covington, Kentucky, and told The Associated Press that attending was her way of “speaking to my children and my people. My message to my children is to stand up no matter what."

While many of the thousands of activists who came to this incarnation of the March on Washington were young, older people were also in the crowd. The majority of the members from the Richmond NAN chapter who traveled to Washington were some of the same activists who marched 57 years ago, Coles said.

"They're excited because they're seeing a change. And they feel they may not be able to see this again,” said Coles, who has been an activist for 39 years. “If it wasn't for our seniors, I would not know what I know today. They taught me. They pulled me up. They trained me."

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PHOTO BY: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The Lincoln Memorial is reflected in the pool in front of it on Aug. 28, 2020, as participants gather for a March on Washington on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
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PHOTO BY: Jose Luis Magana/AP

Historical interpreters Marvin Alonzo Greer of the District of Columbia and Cheyney McKnight of New York City stand Aug. 28, 2020, at Lincoln Memorial on the 57th anniversary of the original March on Washington.
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PHOTO BY: Sue Dorfman/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News

Kylar Wiltz does a temperature check on a registrant for the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington before the man receives a wristband to get into the area beside the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial.
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PHOTO BY: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Shontina Kuykendoll of Dallas attends the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington wearing a shirt bearing the face George Floyd, killed on Memorial Day, while in Minneapolis police custody.
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PHOTO BY: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers had to make sure that seating for the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington was at least 6 feet apart to lessen the chance of spreading the virus.
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PHOTO BY: ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

An unidentified demonstrator attends the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington to push for accountability in the deaths of blacks at the hands of police.
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PHOTO BY: Jonathan Ernst/AP

George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic, one of the speakers at the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington, stands inside the Lincoln Memorial.
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PHOTO BY: ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Participants in the Aug. 28, 2020, March on Washington were required to have their temperatures checked and wear a face mask to gain entry into the area near the Lincoln Memorial.
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PHOTO BY: Jonathan Ernst/AP

The 62-year-old son of Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King III, stands behind to his daughter, Yolanda Renee King, 12, on the spot where the eldest King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 57 years ago Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
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PHOTO BY: ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Three women pose for a photo Aug. 28, 2020, near the Lincoln Memorial during the Commitment March against racism and police brutality on the 57th anniversary of the original March on Washington.
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PHOTO BY: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The Rev. Al Sharpton prepares to walk Aug. 28, 2020, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as part of this year’s March on Washington that focuses on police accountability.
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PHOTO BY: Carolyn Kaster/AP

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, an unidentified man holds a photo of King on Aug. 28, 2020, the 57th anniversary of the original March on Washington.
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PHOTO BY: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP via Getty Images

Janet Murguia, 59, president of UnidosUS, speaks Aug. 28, 2020, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as part of this year’s Commitment March protesting racial injustice.
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PHOTO BY: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

One demonstrator on Aug. 28, 2020, at the Commitment March on the 57^th anniversary of the March on Washington had a pennant from the march in 1963.
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PHOTO BY: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP via Getty Images

Walter Carter, 74, of Woodbridge, Virginia, attended the original March on Washington in 1963 and was there Aug. 28, 2020, promising he will vote in this year’s election.