August 28 marks 30th anniversary of March on Washington

Jet, August 30, 1993

For Black Americans, the quest for jobs, justice, and peace has often been a frustrating undertaking. And for many who were witness to the atrocities that occurred during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the search for equality remains, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "a dream."

That is exactly why, 30 years after the first March on Washington, a coalition of civil rights leaders are hoping, on August 28, to rekindle the commitment to end what King's widow calls the "violence of racism and poverty."

"The critical issues that faced us in 1963 are unfortunately still with us today," says March co-chair Coretta Scott King. "We cannot give up, or give out, if we are to fulfill Dr. King's dream, and our dream, of a better America."

The question now is whether that message can draw more than a quarter million people to Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial as it did three decades ago.

"I hope it will be a call for a spiritual rebirth in this country," Southern Christian Leadership Council President and March co-chair Dr. Joseph Lowery told Jet. "A rebirth that will redirect the country's resources toward human fulfillment and not human destruction."

Despite this noblest of efforts, some insiders admit getting momentum behind the 30th Anniversay of the March on Washington, whose theme is "Jobs, Justice, and Peace" has not been without its complications. But they are also just as quick to acknowledge that as difficult as it has been, it is well worth the effort.

Well worth it, asserts Lowery, "because we're talking not only about the administration of justice (in the judicial system), but we're talking about justice in health care and housing. We've expanded the peace to peace in the world as well as our neighborhood."

In truth, broadening the civil rights agenda and its base is paramount not only to the success of this march but to the Civil Rights Movement's very survival, some believe.

Their collective vision is key to why march organizers have proclaimed themselves the New Coalition of Conscience with a common purpose that crosses ethic divides.

"We speak with one voice for all of us," says former Congressman Rev. Walter Fauntroy, national director of the march. Later he pointed out that "great marches are not one-day affairs. They become etched in the fabric of history because of what those who march do both before they march and after the march."

It is their goal, says Fauntroy, to make a difference where it counts - Congress.

As was true after the 1963 March on Washington, which galvanized millions in pressing legislators to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, organizers are hoping to get their new legislative agenda passed through Congress.

Included in the coalition's far-reaching list of priorities are:

* a jobs stimulus and investment appropriations;

* full funding for head start;

* passage of a bill that combats violence and crimes against women;

* and legislation to establish an enterprise fund for a democractic South Africa.

Among the confirmed participants are: Halle Berry, Dick Gregory, Eartha Kitt, Jennifer Holliday, Morgan Freeman, Ester Rolle, Melba Moore, Al Freeman, Maya Angelou, Dorothy Donegan, Olivia Cole, and Vickie Winans.

"Our presence in Washington on August 28th will demonstrate our faith in the future and our determination to translate that faith into fulfillment," says NAACP Executive Director and March co-chair Dr. Benjamin Chavis.