Fifty years ago tomorrow, 250,000 protesters from across the country converged on the Washington Mall for the 1963 March on Washington. With a vision of America as a place of equal opportunity and freedom, they marched for fair labor standards, decent housing, desegregated schools, and better job opportunities.Â
It was on this day that Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, calling for racial harmony and equality.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes was a civil rights activist who helped to organize the march. Though 50 years have gone by, she says we still have much work left to do.
The Takeaway worked in collaboration with our partner The New York Times on this interview. The New York Times asked readers who attended the March on Washington to recall their experiences and reflect on the legacy of that day. Out of hundreds of submissions, they present a selection of stories and anecdotes, edited and condensed from online submissions and follow-up interviews. They can be found here at their website.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.