DC rights march reflects anti-war mood
By Pam Parker
Washington, D.C.
The Aug. 23 march on Washington that marked
the 40th anniversary of the giant 1963 Civil Rights March led
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was noted for its strong
anti-war mood. Thousands of people from across the country
streamed onto the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial to
commemorate the historic march, which featured Dr. King's
famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
The night before this year's march, Yolanda King hosted a
"spit in" geared toward younger activists. Many people took the
stage for five minutes each to "spit" poetry against war, about
growing up poor and oppressed, about police brutality and other
injustices to illustrate that the "dream" has not been realized
by most working people in this country.
Teach-ins about civil rights and peace and justice issues
gathered audiences in huge tents on the Washington Mall.
Throughout the weekend the speakers who received the loudest
ovations were those who demanded an end to the occupation of
Iraq.
Among the speakers were three presidential candidates--the
Rev. Al Sharpton, Carol Mosely Braun and Howard Dean; historic
civil-rights leaders such as James Forman, Coretta Scott King
and Jesse Jackson; representatives of the
civil-rights/peace-and-justice movement like NOW Executive
Director Kim Gandy, National Lesbian and Gay Task Force
Executive Director Matt Foreman, Damu Smith of Black Voices for
Peace, Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice, James
Zogby of the Arab American Insti tute, Raul Yzaguirre of La
Raza, and Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Assoc i ation, who
invited everyone to come back for the Oct. 25 march against the
U.S. occupation of Iraq. National youth and student leaders and
church representatives also spoke.
Reprinted from the Sept. 4, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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