Massive Rally in Washington Scheduled for Aug. 23

August 1, 2003

by NOW Staff

Activists will travel to the nation's capital from around the country to join a massive Aug. 23 demonstration marking the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Starting tomorrow in Marks, Miss., a group of activists from the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign—a national effort led by poor and homeless women, men and children of all races to raise the issue of poverty as a human rights violation—will begin a three-week march and caravan covering more than 800 miles, with Washington as the final destination on Aug. 23.

The day-long events and rally on Saturday, co-sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and many other organizations, will protest the Bush administration's attacks on women's rights, civil liberties and affirmative action and kick off a campaign to register millions of voters before the 2004 elections.

At a June news conference, march organizers said the time has come for a major demonstration. "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."

Civil rights advocates spoke about the need for activists to gather in record numbers. "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.