I was there with my husband Richard. Dick was a close friend of Bayard Rustin, one of the day’s organizers. We took the train To Washington. We met with Dick’s law school classmate, Clifford Alexander, who was Secretary of the Army in LBJ’s administration. (Cliff was the father of Michelle Alexander, who later became a celebrated writer.) I was eager to join the march. Dick and I left Cliff in his Office, and we went to the march, to mingle with the hundreds of thousands assembled peaceably on the Mall. It was a thrilling experience, organized by A. Philip Randolph and many labor unions, who supplied money, workers, buses, and organizers.
On this day in 1963, more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, now known as the March on Washington. The march was the brainchild of civil rights activists A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, who once said, “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” They worked diligently for nearly two years, convincing members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to put aside their differences and participate.
The president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, needed support for the passage of his Civil Rights Act, and gave his approval, as long as there would be no violence. Two days of protests, speeches, and sit-ins were planned. On August 27, thousands of people began pouring into the city. They came by bus, train, and air from Milwaukee, St. Louis, Birmingham, California, with water jugs and picnic baskets and Bibles. Chicago and New York declared August 28 “Freedom Day” and gave workers the day off. The city of Washington, D.C., banned liquor sales for the first time since Prohibition, hospitals stocked blood plasma and canceled elective surgeries, and the Pentagon amassed 19,000 troops in the suburbs, just in case things got violent.
There was not one single arrest, and no violence. Marchers linked hands, they sang, and they chanted all the way from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, where the 16th speaker of the day, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., began what would become one of the greatest speeches in history with, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”
This past June, half a million protestors were in the streets in multiple cities on a single day in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police.
Such a great day. I had wished to hear first hand from someone who really witnessed the day.
Thanks for reminding me of this great day.
In those days, the usual suspects were accusing MLK of being a communist dupe, communist sympathizer or just a plain commie. Sound familiar? McCarthyism is alive and well in the USA of 2020. The GOP is screeching commie, commie, commie, commie, commie, socialism, socialist, socialism, socialist non stop on a never ending loop. Wave the flag, hold up the bible and talk about law and order, the suckers always fall for that hyper patriotism ploy. Those idiots who are looting, burning down businesses, throwing objects at the cops, destroying property and setting cop cars on fire are winning votes for DT. Just what we don’t need. Peaceful protest is fine but the nightly visions of cityscape infernos are pushing people to vote for Trump. STOP the violence, please, there’s too much at stake! Four more years of Trump and this country could slide into a civil war and then give Trump the excuse to be even more repressive.
Today is different. In the 60’s, young, white people knew racial discrimination was unfair.
They felt they were upwardly mobile and wanted black people to rise with them. Today, both black and white people know they aren’t upwardly mobile.
In the years between the 60’s and 2020, the nation experienced the political advance of men like Bill Gates, Zuck, Walton heirs and Charles Koch and, the religious right.
“…took the train To Washington.” Seems like others were on the Last Train to Clarkesville around that time.
I wonder if a person could go through the memories of people who were there and find out what songs remind them of that event? Were they actually protest songs? Were they really unrelated but popular at the time? Funny how theme music creates a background for life.
I knew a person who travelled to DC from Cincinnati by train in order to be at the march. He spoke fondly of that experience as his most important memory. That was before he died about two years ago.
Ooooo! Can we pick your photo out of the crowd?
So awesome that you were at this historic event, Diane! Wow. Lucky, lucky you!
And thank you, Diane, for continuing to be an angelic troublemaker.
Been doing some reading on injustice and came across the name of Isaac Woodard. Another black life that mattered, another that has been forgotten too long, one of whom I was unaware before tonight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Woodard
In 1963, the US was a more respectful society. 😁
In 2020, this is no longer true. ☹️