Civil Rights Groups Announce Mass Demonstration Marking 40th Anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

June 20, 2003

by Leonard Tengco, Communications Intern

Civil rights advocates gathered in Washington, D.C. this week to announce plans for a mass demonstration commemorating the 40th anniversary of the march on Washington that featured the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The daylong rally will take place Aug. 23 and will kick off a campaign to register millions of voters before the 2004 elections. It will be co-sponsored by organizations including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP and the National Organization for Women (NOW).

At a news conference announcing the march, organizers spoke about the need to stand up against the Bush administration's attacks on women's rights, civil liberties and affirmative action.

"Our country is in dark times," said Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader. "Poverty has grown, we know. Racism is still in our midst ... and militarism is the order of the day."

Other civil rights advocates said the time has come for a major demonstration. "We have to fight for our rights," NOW President Kim Gandy said. "No one is going to give them to us."

Other Washington demonstrations marking the anniversary of the massive 1963 march include a 20th anniversary march in 1983 that drew an estimated 250,000, and a 30th anniversary march in 1993 that attracted an estimated 75,000.

For more information on the 2003 March on Washington, visit the web site of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).