The 40th Anniversary Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “I have a dream” Speech
August 23, 2003. To commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic civil rights march on Washington and “I have a dream” speech given from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963, a civil rights rally was held—also on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. While many attendees complained that the rally could have been better organized and publicized, organizers of the rally declared it a resounding success: although the rally was called on June 18, 2003—leaving roughly sixty days to organize and publicize—attendance reached tens of thousands.
The Scallion's always webmeister and sometimes roving reporter, A.J., attended the rally and had this to say about it: “There were conflicting times and agendas depending on where you looked for information on the rally. Even the 'March On Washington' website didn't have the most complete, clear schedule. The Washington Post, which published four front-page articles on the rally, failed to publish a map in the days leading up to the rally. It also didn't help that groups like Move On failed to promote the rally, while Code Pink held Poor People march and encampment events that conflicted with the rally's morning teach-ins—although they at least joined up with the rally shortly before 3 p.m. The plethora of conflicting announcements and events really added to the confusion—a lot of people were aimlessly milling around the National Mall area all morning, trying to figure out where to go for what events.
“The good news is that all sources were very clear in stating that the star speakers, including Coretta Scott King and MLK III, would be speaking from 3 to 6 p.m. Because of that, I was deeply offended by Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean: he chose to poke his nose in at the rally precisely at 3 p.m.; he stayed just long enough to wave at the crowd when his name was announced; then, rather than really giving the rally its due, he scurried off to his own nearby rally, which he rudely scheduled for 4 p.m.—basically, he dissed the rally! At worst, he should have just skipped the rally instead of making a pretentious cameo; at best, he should have attended the rally and spoken—gotten his opinions out there for us to evaluate (remember, Dean was in favor of invading Iraq!). It would have been even better if we could have had Dennis Kucinich and other Democratic candidates there speaking, too.
“Be that as it may, the rally was interesting nonetheless. I personally saw C-SPAN cameras—since they were covering my part of the audience for much of the afternoon, I wouldn't be surprised if I did end up on television. There were other news services covering the event, too. But more interesting than the media were the speakers. I attended the civil liberties morning teach-in—there were more than one to choose from—and the bulk of the rally, and I heard a repeated theme that did my heart good: unity. Wisely, the speakers all acknowledged that civil rights, civil liberties, ending racism (including against Blacks, Latinos, and Muslims), women's rights, environmental conservation, public education, mass transit, and other issues of public welfare are not splinter groups—they all constitute the same battle for protection of the American public. And, since the Republicans are united in their pro-corporate causes, we on the left must be united in ours. We cannot afford to treat each issue as a special interest.
“I had some questions for speakers at the civil liberties teach-in, and I got some interesting answers. I asked how the average American can guard against having his or her vote stolen; one speaker suggested starting at the local elections board: contacting them, investigating how they guard against voting fraud, and escalating as needed from there. Other than that, there apparently is virtually no quality control. I also asked how we as average Americans can assist the people trapped in Guantanamo Bay; I was instructed to go to the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition website—something I plan to do, also because their speaker noted that A.N.S.W.E.R. is indeed trying to coalesce all the various groups, like Move On, Code Pink, Black Voices for Peace, and so on. But the most interesting suggestion was that each voter be given a form listing the various expenses of the federal government—including public education, Welfare, health care, the war on Iraq, the space program, etc.—and that the public be allowed to decide how to spend its tax dollars by marking percentages next to each. While I know that that suggestion is way too sensible and rational ever to be implemented, I think I'll e-mail it to Dennis Kucinich anyway ...”
