Today on Midday, we reflect on the 60th anniversary of one of the most pivotal and important events in American history; the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28 is remembered as the day King ended his speech at the Lincoln Memorial with his immortal “I Have a Dream” soliloquy, an improvised conclusion to an address that galvanized the throngs of people on the mall, and catapulted King into the pantheon of iconic figures. Today's guests share their thoughts on the march's significance in the civil rights movement and what it meant for King’s fight for poor people.
We begin with Dr. Frances Murphy Draper. She is the chairman of the board and publisher of the Afro-American Newspaper, which was founded here in Baltimore by her great-grandfather in 1892.
"But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later."Excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech
Later in the show, two civil rights activists and faith leaders with deep ties to Baltimore, Bishop Donte Hickman and Rev. George Hopkins, discuss the future of the civil rights movement in our community.
