[indiscernible crowd noise] indiscernible crowd noise] indiscernible crowd noise] >> looking at downtown d.c. just off the national mall commemorating the march on washington for jobs and freedom led by martin luther king jr. on august 28, 1963. the anniversary itself is wednesday when another gathering is planned and president obama will be here. we'll have live coverage on c-span and c-span radio of that appearance. if you missed any of the rally that just ended we'll show you ighlights from that rally. >> for those of us who are from the south, 50 years ago we received our marching orders hen the prophet dr. king jr. quoted the prophet isiah, that have a dream. this is our hope. this is the faith that we go back to the south with. those are our marching orders. this is the faith that we go back to the south with. yes, the south where some are still trying to fight the civil war. yes, the south. where we are witnessing this vicious attack on voting rights and the blatant voter suppression by one particular political party. es, the south where young boys can't walk the street of his father's neighborhood without eing profiled, confronted, stalked, and finally murdered. watched over 45 days where governor because of the relentless protests of 20 plus,000 people reluctantly appointed a reluctant prosecutor who reluctantly put together a prosecuting team who did a poor job in presenting their case. watching a murderer go free, watching our community and our country try to go back 50 years . we walk away with the faith in the words of the prophet isiah once again that they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength, they shall line up with wings as eagles. they shall run and not be weary. they shall walk and not faint. ladies and gentlemen, joe madison. 1963, there was not a congressional black caucus. 2013, we have a congressional black caucus and they are here. and let me at least acknowledge them over to my right. ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the 43 members of the congressional lack caucus. ago in ago, 50 years let's hold d.c. this commemoration and continuation the citizens of this city did not have the right to vote. in congress. 50 years later, we still don't have a right to vote and we are demanding as dr. king demanded that washington, d.c. should be the 51st state of the united states of america. statehood for 600,000 residents . finally, let it go forth that this is not only a commemoration, a continuation, but what you have here are two generations that have come together. there's a lot said about the joshua generation, the younger people. but i remind them it was the moses generation that pointed the way. we need both generations working side by side together and so let this be a day in which moses points the way for joshua and the walls of segregation, of racism, materialism come tumbling down. with that, let me introduce our first speaker for this segment, the director of foreign policy, committee of the national egislation, dr. michael chang. the day after king died, robert kennedy spoke on the mindless men as of violence. here is what he said. what has violence accomplished? what has it created? we tolerate a rising level of violence. we flor if i killing on movie screens and call it entertainment. we make it easy for men to acquire weapons. we honor swagger and wielders of force. we excuse those who are willing to build their lives on the shattered dreams of others. but there is another kind of violence just as deadly. this is the violence of institutions, indifference and inaction. president kennedy was equally unequivocal. the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic but we have no more urgent task. not enforced on the world by american weapons of war but the kind of peace that makes life worth living. too many of us think it's impossible. but that is a dangerous defeatist belief, said the president. dr. king called america the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. he is right, and still is today. when profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, and milt tarism are incapable of being conquered. will look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. the way of settling differences is not just. america can lead the way in this revolution of values. we are called to speak for the voseless, for victims of our nation, for those it calls enemy. for no document can make these humans any less of our brothers. the true compassion is helps up to see our enemy's point of view. so the pursuit of pass will take precedence over the pursuit of war. et us now practice what rfk, jfk -- >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the national black justice coalition, sharon hicks. >> one of my mentors bishop yvette flunder once told me in order to truly be free you must goif causes greater than yourself. every day, i educate, advocate, and celebrate the contributions of the black lesbian, gay, bisexual you will and transgender community because if any are not equal and free, none of us are truly equal and free. today i lift up the contributions of a black gay man unsung leader of the civil rights movement. mr. rusten lives at the intersection of these identities while fighting for the freedoms of all oppressed people. rusten was a radical visionary, a black gay activist for freedom and justice during a time when the conditions of both of these identities were perilous. rusten owned his power. as a black openly gay man to fiercely challenge the status quo and fight on behalf of the oppressed and marginal liesed while at the same time refusing to be defined by any single aspect of his identity. rusten was as unah poll jetically black as he was gay and by his very presence challenged the evils of homophobia and racism. is legacy -- >> our next speaker, the esident of habitat for umanity, jonathan recford. >> what does the lord require of you? but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your god. these words from mica 6:8 stir my heart just as much today as they did decades ago when i first heard them from my grandmother. every time i saw her she would recite this verse and challenge me to be useful. my outspoken grandmother was millicent fen wick a congresswoman from new jersey who came through the civil rights movement and marched with leon sullivan. she considered the old testament prophet's instructions as marching orders, a mandate to fight vigorously against injustice and for equality. it habitat hor humanity our vision is similar to dr. king's beloved community. we break down barriers as we build up walls, and we bring people together in an effort to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live. since 1976, habitat has helped more than 3 million people realize their dreams for a better future because no one should live in poverty housing. we will not let our hammers or our voices rest until the world believes that safe, decent affordable housing matters. the reality is that if children don't live in decent homes the odds of their staying healthy plummet. if they don't stay healthy they won't do well in school. without a decent education they can't get jobs, they won't be able to provide for their families or break the stranglehold of poverty. e cannot abide that. >> the next speaker is the deputy u.s. programs director r human rights watch maria mcfarlnd sanchez marino. >> good morning. i didn't grow up in the united states. but one of the thing that is impressed me the most about this country was a very simple fact. that all around me, in newspapers and college classrooms, on tv and radio, there was an act vive dialogue, sometimes frustrating but an active one about our rights. in law school we spent weeks talking about the 14th amendment to the constitution and guarantee of equal protection. people talked about race, gender, sexual orientation. even more exciting to me, people seemed empowered. they knew that if they spoke up, they could change things. as a lat ma woman, i also realized that the opportunities opened to me were there thanks to the efforts of many other people who in more difficult times demanded a more just society. so it's wonderful now to be with you to help honor those who marched 50 years ago in the name of equal rights for all. yet in my work i also see that the u.s. still has a long way to go. the u.s. has the largest reported prison population in the world. people of color are far more likely to be arrested or imprisoned than white. too many migrants live in fear of being torn away from their families. and that makes them easy prey for those who would abuse their rights. poverty has increased in the recent decades. and far too many of the poorest are women and people of color. the list goes on. but we also have reasons for hope. policy makers are starting to take steps. our next speaker, a young lady who has kept the faith, has dealt with voter suppression, throughout this nation, the president and executive director of the national lawyers committee for ivil rights, the dr. barbara on lan. >> good morning, everywhere. we are here today because there's a great spirit sweeping this land. it's the spirit demanding justice for all americans, a spirit that knows no boundaries based on race, color, or who you love, a spirit that demands that every human being be dignified, a spirit that says there is a right to be just in every aspect of our lives, a spirit that says we must have the right to vote, that nothing is more important than that everyone has a right to vote. a spirit that demands the end in our nation of voter suppression. it ends the supreme court injustice that sets an end to voter suppression in north carolina, texas, alabama, georgia, florida, ohio, wisconsin, and anywhere where they attempt it. we must allow the people to vote. everyone remember that if you remember nothing else, rise up. >> he serves with his father in ministry and his biological father the reverend jasper williams junior. he is the reverend pastor of the salem bible church of leapt, georgia. -- atlanta, georgia. >> god bless you. why are you here in to commemorate or to participate? to commemorate means i'm celebrating something that has already occurred. but to participate means i'm actively involved within someone within a narrow time called right now. are you here because you want to be seen or do you desire to be a part of change? are you here to point fingers and blame or hold hands with your brother or your sister? 50 years ago, the works of our forefathers and mothers allowed us to see the realization of the first black president. but our country still has a race issue that all of us needs to be a part of. why are you here? the change is not a black thing, it's not a white thing. it's not a yellow thing. it's not a gay or straight thing. it is an american thing. and for us to eliminate racism, we must obliterate the concept of race to understand there is only one race, and that is the human race. god bless you. >> our next speaker is the president of george mason niversity, dr. cabrarea. >> thousands of young men and women are denied a college education every year. and they are shut out of the american dream not because they're not smart enough, not because they're not talented enough. not because they're not ready to work hard enough. but because their parents may not be rich enough. because they may not be american enough. because they may not be documented enough. dr. king said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. he said the time is always right to do what is right. i say that the time to break down the barriers of access to education is now. i wouldn't a be here if it weren't for education. most of us wouldn't be here if it weren't for education. the american dream is not a destination, it is a struggle. it is a struggle that takes the work of all of us. let's struggle together. et's dream together. god bless. >> our next speaker, professor jeffery sacks, economist and director of columbia university, earth institute. >> if the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice as martin luther king, jr., reminded us, it is because righteous souls in each generation pulled that arc towards its hall od end. 50 years ago at this spot, king spoke to righteous men and women who braved police dogs and water can nns to fulfill their role in shaping the moral universe. they did their job bravely and well and we honor them today. yet, the great task of moral construction is never finished. there is no final victory on earth. only an inheritance of injustice that each generation must renew and pass to the next. 1963 was a year of moral crisis and renewal. it was a year to rescue america's soul and to move the world as john f. kennedy did with the nuke cler test ban treaty. it was the year of martyrdom of that young president who told us that when one man is eslaved all are not free. 2013 is another year of moral crisis. america is mired in income inequality and poverty. america enslaves put tudes of black and hispanic young men to feed the freed of its privatized penitentiaries. america despoils the earth by its heedless fracking and burning of fossil fuels and america sends drone missiles that kills enemy wedding goers. it is our intent to bend the arc of the moral at tude. we must ban it from the lobies of congress and the white house. we too must be swords of the plow sharers joining together with others to honor the prophets of peace. and we must end our assault on nature, leaving oil and coal in the ground and harvesting the sun and the wind instead. in our age of greed and glitter, the work of justice often seems to be stilled but do not be deceived. for the ancient cries still moves us today. justice. justice shall you pursue so that you may live in the promised land. >> our next speaker is the the president of youth build u.s.a. please welcome dorothy stone man. >> good morning. i am happy that we are back calling with one voice for the creation of the beloved community that reverend king named as our goal. many of us have spent 50 years marching quietly toward that dream. i want to first honor all the millions of unsung heroes at the grass roots who have given their lives and hearts to help other people. let me name just one. leroy looper, my mentor in the movement. a great man who passed away in 2011 having done good. but his complete dream was unfulfilled. reverend king's core message was about the power of love. we sang, if we had a hammer, we would hammer out love, between our brothers and our sisters all over this land. well, we have been hammering out that love. my colleagues in the network have hammered out hundreds of safe owe acees for young people who grab that hammer and join hands building affordable housing for their neighbors while they complete their own high school education and take leadership in their communities. they are now the young people the ones hammering out love between their brothers and their sisters. their parents are proud, their younger siblings awed and their own children are thriving. but they are the lucky few. millions of low income young people are being locked out of society or locked up. many expect to be dead if or in jail by the time they're 25. this is a national sin and shame. 7 million, 16 to 24-year-olds out of school and out of work who have created a social burden, $5 trillion over their lifetime if we don't do something. they have talents, hearts, souls, intelligence, and dreams. our nation needs them. imagine hundreds of thousands of them. >> she must have been a baby when she started with pepsi co. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the senior vice president of global diversity and inclusion officer pamela culpepper. >> good morning. it is a privilege to join you today to celebrate this great milestone in american history. thank you, reverend sharpton for your unwavering dedication and long commitment for improving opportunities for all disenfranchised people. pepco is proud to partner with you and our appreciation goes out to everyone who fulfills a role. martin luther king iii, thank you for carrying the torch lit by your parents, and for your role in creating and implementing strategic nonviolent actions to rid the world of social political and economic injustice. i am proud to be among the 60 plus pepco associates who are here today to celebrate, reflect, and reinforce the values of equality and fairness. while i can't introduce all of my colleagues, i would like to take a moment to recognize one. let me tell you about wesley who is out of our washington, d.c. d.c. operations. wesley was 7 years old when he watched dr. martin luther king deliver his, i have a dream, speech from on top of his father's shoulders. he remembers his father telling him and his sistthear the march matters because it was about equality for all. 50 years later, wesley is here with us today and has been instrumental in making sure that the logistics were together for today's march. the principles of human dignity, civil equality, and economic empowerment for all are core values for peps co. almost 75 years ago, we were the first major company to integrate its management and the first to elevate an african american to a vice president. one year before the 1963 march on washington. we are dedicated to the ideals of this march and what it represents and i am proud to stand on behalf of all of peps co's associates that are here today and on the shoulders of those who made it possible for me to stand before you. i am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity. thank you. is the xt speaker grandson of ma hat ma gandhi and biographer, research professor at the center for southation and middle eastern studies university of illinois. dr. rama gandhi. >> my grandfather never visited the united states but his heart was fully involved in the struggles in this country. in february, 1936, after meeting four african americans in a hut in western india, this is what gandhi said. well, if it comes true, it may be through the african americans that the unadult rated message of nonviolence will be delivered to the world. in 1967, four years after the 1963 march, dr. king said this in new york city. every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole. dr. king added a warning against what he called the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. today, as we underline america's enormous need, dr. king's phrase overriding loyalty to humankind also demands our attention. yet, conformists talk stops us from trying to persist. we must ask, do we want democracy here but only dependable elsewhere? our next speaker social activist, civil rights leader, hairman emeritus of the naacp, -- oh. i thought he forgot to give him his name. i met this man when i was just a sophomore in college. ladies and gentlemen, was it vice president of the united states? ladies and gentlemen, long before there was a barack bama, there was a julian bond. that was nominated for vice president of the united states. and he was a citizen of the u.s.a. and a proud citizen of georgia. ladies and gentlemen, julian bond. >> thank you. i hope that didn't come out of my two minutes. i'm delighted to be here just as i was delighted to be here 50 years ago. then, we could not have mangnd we would be here 50 years later with a black president and a black attorney general. but that is the measure of how far we have come. but still we march. we march because trayvon martin has joined emity hill in the pantsdzion of young black martors. we march because the united states supreme court has eviscerate it had voting rights act for which we fought and died. we march because every economic indicator shows gaping white-black disparity. we march for freedom from white supremacy. but still we have work to do. none of it is easy. but we have never wished our way to freed. instead we have always worked our way today. today we have much more to work with and we take heart that so much has changed. the change that is have come have everything to do with the work of the modern movement to civil rights. we must not forget that dr. king stood with and for thousands the movement what it was. from jamestown to montgomery, these ordinary men and women labored in obscurity. and from montgomery forward, they provide it had foot soldiers of the freedom army. they shared with king an abiding faith in america. they walked in dignity rather than ride in shame. they faced bombs at birmingham and mobs in mississippi. they sat down at lunch counters so others could stand up. they marched and they organized. remember dr. king did march from selma to montgomery -- he didn't speak by himself, he didn't -- there were thousands marching with him and before him and thousands more that did the dirty work that precede it had march. the successful strategies were litigation, organization, mobilization, and coalition. all aimed at creating a national constituency for civil rights. sometimes it is the simplest of these. >> another civil rights icon, president, founder of rain bo push coalition, the reverend esse l. jackson, sr. >> today we appeal to have mercy upon our plee. i was blessed to be here 50 years ago. thank god for the journey, 50 years of tragedy and try umple. there was blood in the amplete we marched in 63. i was with him and a band of warriors as he felt the agony of the might mare approaching in memphis. the pendulum swung between hope and hopelessness, he celebrated the joy of our progress, the freedom from barberism and the right to vote. lebrate the joy of progress, nelson mandola in south and president obama the crown jewel of our work. felt acutely the pain of stag nation. among this the poor. there are too muchport and hate and war. he was tormented by poverty. his mission was to disturb the comfortable. etermined to remain. education with their minds and health. today, bank bailouts, home owners locked out, insurance bailed out. detroit birmingham bankruptcy. we're still paying an awful price for iraq. too much war, too little social uplift. ratings as killed, his went down. his status went up. so keep dreaming of the constitutional right to vote, stop the madness in north carolina and texas. keep dreaming. keep dreaming about the war on poverty. to go from sovereign thrift to sovereign employ, education, housed, choose schools over jails. keep dreaming. student loan debt forgiveness. keep dreaming. revise the u.s. civil rights commission. keep dreaming. restore foreclosed housing. keep dreaming. immigration reform that includes africa, haiti and the cribions. keep dreaming. 50 years later we are free but not equal. keep dreaming. choose life over death. and more graduation. and so keep the faith. and through it all keep lives. the lord is our light. >> our next speaker is attorney patricia rhodes, president national bar association, president of the washington bar association, legal funding, and the christian product company. >> we must stand our grounds for justice. we must stand our grounds for justice. on behalf of the national bar association, the nation's oldest and largest bar association of attorneys of color, founded in 1925, i am very honored to be here today. for the last 88 years, the national bar association has always stood its ground by using our legal skills to oppose and dismantle unjust laws like stop and frisk. as social engineers we will continue to stand our ground to protect voting and civil rights like the recent voter nullification case in alabama ford versus strain. we will stand our ground to protect equal pay and equal access to justice. and all of our constitutional rights. the national bar association also supports the tray von martin foundation to end or amend these vigilante laws. much progress has been made in the 50 years since dr. martin luther king stood right here. but now, all of the many legal gains that we have made are under relentless attack. we can't stop our progress. we can't go back. we must not go back. stand with me. stand with the national bar. we're going to stand to continue to stand our ground for justice. >> our next speaker is the president and ceo, the leadership conference on civil and human rights, mr. wade henderson. my friends, we gather today on hallowed grounds. just like those who came before us 50 years ago, we are here to petition our government, our fellow americans, to protect and perfect the dream that we commemorate this week. we follow the freedom trail blazed by generations of men and women. some of whom made headlines, all of whom made history. together they changed america forever and for the better. we celebrate their courage. we salute their commitment. and we thank them for their tireless efforts to build a better america we have inherited. the marchers who came before us led us closer to the promised land. our mission is to continue their journey. our job is to build the future. we know what we must do to keep the promise of jobs and freedom. most of all, we need to protect our right to vote. voting is the language of democracy. if you don't vote, you can't make yourself heard. with the shebley decision, our nation's highest court has dealt a devastating blow to our representative democracy. make no mistake, the right to vote is the foundation of our freedom. without it we cannot make real the promises in every other arena. we need to restore the right to vote with bipartisan legislation that reaffirms the central role of voting in our democracy. once and for all. now and forever. now, fortunately there is an effort under way and it needs your encouragement. for those of you who tweet, tweet your senator, tweet your representative. tell them that they must restore voting rights. your voice must be heard. use the hash tag voting rights. i close with the words of a man who sent us on our mission. thank you. >> our snesked speaker is the president of the hip-hop caucus reverend leonard yearwood. >> as the president of the hip-hop caucus i'm here to speak today to the hip-hop generation. when dr. king spoke 50 years ago of a dream we weren't alive. we in fact were the dream. so for the next 50 years we will carry on the fight and there's going to be a fight of our lives. for our lives. our demands have expanded since 50 years ago. civil rights, human rights, economic rights, environmental rights. we are in the trenches still striving for equality. for ow struggling for -- trayvon martin and troy davis we are here. the oppressed, the stressed and the oppressed we are growing. we will not stop. this is our time. can't stop. won't stop. for here we are at this moment now. but i want to say this. we must be here because climate change is a part of our generation. climate change is a life and death issue. and it is really a civil rights issue because it affects us all. julian bonds and i stood together and we were arrested at the exl pipeline trying to save our planet. i believe he will be in the streets today to take up the issue of climate change, the issue of 20th century. so we say this from hip-hop power to the people. power to the people. power to the people. can't t stop. won't stop. . >> our next speaker, the democratic member ohio house of representatives for the 33rd district, national action network board member and state graduate. alisa reese. >> no justice, no peace. i stand here today as a product of dr. king's civil rights movement in the trenches of the battleground state of ohio, city of cincinnati and the daughter of civil rights activist dr. steven reese senior who marched for me 50 years ago. there's a song out that says look me in my face. i ain't got no woreafments today i say look me in my face and look in the faces of millions across this nation. we're worried about stand your ground laws. we're worried about justice for stray von martin. we're worried about jobs and health care. we're worried about women's rights and equality. we're worried about workers rights and social security. we're worried about minority businesses, student loans, tuition, education, and saving our black colleges. we're worried about everyone having a chance at the american dream. no more voter suppression, throwing away ballots and voter id laws. today we call for constitutional amendment for a voter bill of rights to be put on the ballots in states across this country kicking it up in ohio and in 2014. no more waiting over there. general seam blizz to do the right thing. no more temporary solutions to permanent problems. it's time to relaunch. that's the key. people's movement. we must take the dream to every state, every to fight for a voter bill of rights in your state. we come today in the spirit. we are tired of being sick and tired. wait another 50 years. it is time to make the dream real. >> degeneration is alive and well. the generation is alive and well. --so joining her, mark is rise, marcus price. >> 50 years ago, hundreds of thousands came to this place where they stand today. they were demanding jobs and freedom and desiring to live the thatcan dream, things all humans want, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we come here honoring the achievements they have made. lift up our grievances. we are calling for national action to realize the gene. -- dream. we still need freedoms. and freedom. we still have work to do. we need to kick off for jobs, voting rights, living wages. for citizenship for immigrants, for women to have decisions about their own bodies. earn as much as a man. we stand to stand to protect our communities from racial profiling. to say that education must be a top priority. college student should not have to mortgage the injured to -- their future to do so. we cometogether for national action to realize the dream. , there willustice be no peace. no justice, no peace. i stand before you today representing the first sincetion of my family arriving on this continent. my mother grew up in tennessee .icking this cotton it was education that pave the way for a better way of life. it is the premier civil rights issue. just as wall street banks and firms were bailed out, we taught to bailout public education. bell out school districts in cities like chicago and philadelphia. bailout are babies that invest in universal freedom. we have partnered with the national inaction all network. if we can sustain and maintain this broad coalition today, we can accomplish it through pressure for congress to pass a new jobs and immigration bill. we can put pressure on states to repeal stand your ground. we will win the future. we will take the world. >> ? >> 50 years ago, i am losing my voice. 50 years ago, dr. king wrote his "i have a dream" speech at the u.a.w. headquarters. ladies and gentlemen, the president, bob king. >> sisters and brothers, we're here to honor dr. king by committing to action. we're here to honor dr. king by committing to the principle of love he deeply believe in. we're here today to commit to the great commandments he believed in, loving our god with our whole heart, and our whole minds and souls. and loving our neighbors and all people of the world as ourselves. we are here because we know in life you get what you are willing to accept. we want to tell the world and the power is attacking our rights to justice and freedom that we are not willing to except the nile and suppression of our right to vote. we're not willing to accept the denial of clear citizenship for 11 million hard-working children of god in america. we're not willing to accept mass incarceration over mass employment. we are not willing to accept the denial of women's rights and access to health care. we are not willing to accept the destruction of retirement security. we're not willing to accept inadequate funding of public education. we are not willing to accept lower wages and income so the rich can get richer. we are not willing to except the denial of the basic human rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain. we are not willing to accept the erosion of our roads, bridges -- >> our next speaker is the founding senior pastor of the episcopal church. dr. jamaal harrison bryant. >> 50 years ago from this place, martin luther king went looking for the treasury of integrity for the united states of america saying you have given us a bad check that has been marked insufficient funds. the grandchildren of the movement have come back looking to cash that check, not just to cash it but to cash it with interest. we believe it is time for america to pay. if the native americans were able to get reservations, african-americans and should be able to receive reparations. if you are declaring you do not have the money to pay us after 200 years of free labor, we want to tell you where to get the money from. get the money from the cia after they got a profit from putting crack cocaine in the black community. if they do not have the money, get the money from the education system that would not invest in computers but found the money for metal detectors. if you do not have the money there, go to the justice department that has privatized prison systems so our black men will be incarcerated and not go to universities. if you do not have it there, go to stand your ground laws to see why trayvon martin's murderer is walking around free and black people are behind bars. we declare it is time for you to pay. if you are going to get the money, please do not have china do it because they are already buying too much of africa as it is. at this point, ladies and gentlemen, we have come to replace, not to roll over and play dead, but we understand america must cash this check. america, please do not think we will wait another 50 years for you to pay us because we found another stream of resource. we will look to the hills and he will supply all of our needs. walk together, children. do not get weary. [applause]♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, our next speaker, the chair of the national council of negro women. >> thank you. i first heard the dream speech in detroit, michigan, at a march hosted by reverend franklin, the leadership of labor, the naacp, and the urban league. then i watched him on tv 50 years ago when he spoke the dream words again. i like many others knew it was transformed into. the national council of negro women, in the form of hundreds of members, were present 50 years ago and had been critical participants in the strategic planning and execution of the march. 50 years ago, the impact of that march and those words still lead and influence us today. there was a generational shift that happened that day. they were all in search of a more perfect union. they were all in search of a more perfect union. dr. king spoke about his dreams for his children and all children. on that day 50 years ago, the leadership of the movement and the moral leadership of the country shifted. if dr. king and dr. height were here today, i would say they will charge us with facilitating the next generational shift. it has already been stated that as we look and listen on this day of commemoration and celebration, all we have to do to know about what changes, is to look down pennsylvania avenue to the president of the united states. we know that their aspirations were not in vain. their coming together 50 years ago was a search for equality and peace. let us accept that charge also. thank you. >> ? >> our next speaker is the national president, miss margo copeland. >> good morning. we stand here today as the beneficiaries and inheritors of a dream it was bequeathed to us 50 years ago. one summer day in 1963 turned into a milestone in the advancement of the african- american community and the nation in general. dr. king's dream was aspirational and inspirational. it was a dream so big that he dared us. he challenged us to work toward the advancement and creation of a better day and quality of life for all. history was for everyone regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, ability, orientation, where the color of one's skin. the dream of firms the birthright of every american has the right to vote, obtain a quality education, and walk safely and securely in their neighborhood and community. an organization of community- minded women will continue to work to create opportunities for all people. it is my honor to be here. i say to you all, god bless you and all you love and god bless america. [applause] >> good morning. i am from the planned parenthood federation of america. i am so proud to be representing our organization. in 1966, we gave the margaret sanger award, our highest honor to dr. martin luther king jr.. our beloved coretta scott king accepted on his behalf. each year, planned parenthood across the country sees nearly 3 million patients. these women and men of all ages, races, and backgrounds do not come to planned parenthood to make a political statement. they come to get quality, affordable health care which we provide. this year, we have seen a record number of laws, almost 700, that would cut off access to abortion, cancer screenings, even sex education. in the 1960's and 1970's, the motto of the women's movement was the personal is political. in 2013, these politics are starting to seem personal to me. i stand here today -- >> i am the president of asian americans advancing justice. on august 28, 1963, 35 members of the japanese-american citizens league march alongside their brothers and sisters of the civil rights struggle asserting their claim to the dream. a teenager was inspired by his mother's fight for justice. he told the japanese internment camp to join the march and carried a banner that said "for better americans in a better america." he is here again. now he stands among hundreds of native americans, asian americans, representing 35 national organizations. together we bring with us the voices of more than 18 million asian-americans who believe in a greater america. we as a nation face many barriers in our efforts to achieve greatness. we have been dealt some harsh setbacks. now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. we have the means to make these promises real. what we need is the political will and the popular commitment to these principles. we need leaders who have the moral compass to make such a commitment to making real the promises of our democracy. today we are 18 million asian americans proud to stand once again with our brothers and sisters in the struggle in the human rights community, still committed to, still driving for a better america, in pursuit of the dream. >> the next speaker, president, director-counselor, naacp legal defense, and educational fund followed by the president of vote latino. >> i stand before you representing this nation's greatest civil-rights law organization. our lawyers litigated and argued the shelby county voting rights case in the united states supreme court this year. 60 years ago, our lawyers litigated and one brown versus board of education. most importantly, i stand before you on behalf of the people we represent from all over this country. people like ernest montgomery and earl cunningham and all of the black voters in shelby county, alabama, who stood up to fight for equality and fairness in voting. i represent those on whose behalf we fight in the courts. those who have been stopped and frisked, foreclosed on, shut out, profiled. men who have been sentenced to death row because they're black. finally, i represent today all of those women who were not allowed to speak at the march 50 years ago. gloria richardson and rosa parks, women who were pillars of the civil rights movement or do they too were beaten, shot out, and marginalized. but they do not give up. today, they speak through all of us. my lord, what a morning, thank you. [applause] >> what an honor it is to be here today. on this day. i am an immigrant. it is a once-mighty word brought low in our time by fear and hate. immigrant. once our greatest bond, somewhat now use it to divide us. but i want to remind those who might shutout go back to your country on a radio show or comment online, and those who sometimes like to say more delicately in the house of congress, i want to remind all of you that the use of that immigrant slur has another name for us -- we are americans. some immigrants came to build the railroads. some lead in industrial and technological revolution. some in world war ii. arlington cemetery, so close to where we are right now, we can hear the whisper of those brave names, sullivan, fernandez. today, 50 million american latinos demand our rights, rights given to us not by the man who fell in philadelphia who themselves are immigrants and children of immigrants. no, the rights are given to us by god. what we demand is simple. first, we are americans. treat us as such, invest in our neighborhoods, our house, our education. second, we demand a vote. tear down the barriers to voting, don't bring us more. finally, and the second-class citizenship of 5 million children in 6 million parents.♪ >> our next two speakers, professor charles ogletree, harvard law school, and chair of the united we dream, sofia campos. >> thank you so much. it is a pleasure being here. let me say this first, i want to salute our first african- american governor elected twice in massachusetts, deval patrick. i want to support the great lawyers from florida who represented the families of trayvon martin, darrell parks and --. i want to say to trayvon martin's family and to the parents of emmett till when he was killed, it is not over yet, we are here to keep this forward. i have four granddaughters. they are going to have a better world than we have had because the 21st century is the time for young people to rise up and be heard. that is what this is all about, and i hope we will get there. dr. king, we love you, we would not be here without you, you have made all of us in the world celebrate this great day. dr. king's day, our man, our mission, our success. thank you very much. >> i'm going to keep this short. martin luther king's words were highlighted warning against the giant triplets -- racism, materialism, and militarism. today, we face these great forces just as much as we did 50 years ago. racist policies like secures communities were to break apart families just as much as racist policies like stand your ground in florida were to kill our young people today. the decision -- the detention center and presence of some are ones in the figured i grew up in his family is immigrant. 55,000 undocumented every single year. one million people have been deported in the last five years. that is the world's highest court of deportation. it is our black and brown bodies that are being detained, that are being placed in presence to make profit off of us. it is our abuse that is being criminalized day after day after day. a few days ago, two of our brothers, stood in front of an ice busts in arizona to stop them from deporting or family members. if we do not rise together, we will all fall together. my question to you is -- will you rise with me?♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of washington, d.c., mayor vincent gray. >> thank you very much. good morning, everybody. on behalf of the 632,000 residents of the district of columbia, let me welcome you here to our great city. the same place where 250,000 people gathered in 1963 fighting for justice for america. of course, this was the site of the greatest speech ever delivered, that is the "i have a dream" speech, and we're here to celebrate that again today. there are still some in groups in america that are disenfranchised and marginalized, and one of those my friends, the people of the district of columbia, 632,000 people. we are home to -- we are no voting representative in congress, and that is unjust. we pay $3.5 billion in taxes every year, yet we cannot even make a decision about how to spend that money. we raised $6 billion in our city to support this city. we send our sons and daughters off to fight wars in faraway places, yet we have no vote in conference to be able to determine whether we fight those wars are not. ladies and gentlemen, that is unjust, that is unfair, and there is no good reason why in the 21st century america the district of columbia still lacks true democracy and true self- determination. we ask you for your support to right this injustice in our nation. we know that so much of dr. king's dream has come to fruition, but it has not come to pass, and have not come to fruition as the district of columbia still languishes. i hope every one of you will join us to fight to gain full democracy, to gain statehood for the district of columbia. please join me, my friend, and he fight to bring democracy to every one of america's residents and citizens. thank you all very much. [applause] >> the next three powerhouse speakers, president of the national organization of women, terry o'neill -- dr. michael eric dyson, professor of sociology, georgetown -- and the chair of the naacp, dr. roslyn brock. >> good morning. coretta scott king once said women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, i believe that you must become its soul. 50 years ago, women were not up here speaking, but here we are today, and at the president of the national organization for women, i am so proud to be here with all of you to speak out to organize a change, to shake up the system and yes to add a little soul. on thursday, i met with women leaders from the movement where we committed ourselves to a new policy agenda for the 21st century for women. do not make any mistake, there is a war on women. it is raging on. but we have one the war of ideas for women's equality. and we will not allow a tyrannical minority to send this back to the 1950's or worse. as women, we demand access to the full range of reproductive health care and services, including abortion and birth control and prenatal care and conference of sex education for our children. as women, we demand good union jobs and fair pay, living wage, and equal pay for work of equal value. as women, we demand benefit increases, not cuts in social security and medicare, and the social programs that serve an employee women at the social workers and a nurse of teachers and the childcare workers. and because the war on women is so very real, as women, we demand a constitutional amendment, a guarantee of voting rights for every citizen because elections matter in this country. a lot has changed since 1963, but what has not changed is the unwavering commitment of women to take on the tough fight, to do the hard work, to push for the change we need, women will never owe back, thank you very much. [applause] >> 50 years ago, our greatest american dream eloquently about justice and democracy. 50 years later, we need a team effort to make his dream come true. he had a dream, we need a team. join the vast army of the poor who continues to languish in the corners of our society and struggle against impossible odds to survive. he had a dream, we need a team to join the see of immigrants who love america so much they're willing to risk life and limb to make this nation a better place. he had a dream, we need a team to join our great brothers and lesbian sisters as they come out of the closet and enjoy the living room of social freedom and the bedroom of marriage equality. he had a dream, we need a team to join the multitude of women whose bodies are burdened by antiquated science and out of step policies and spirit he had a dream, we need a team to join the youth whose sweet lives are cut short by the violence on our cities. attorney general who has spoken out and exit against the profound injustices of our country's legal system and a vicious attack on our rights to vote. he had a dream, we need a team joined by the nation's first black president who must use his bully pulpit to remind america of the commitment to racial justice. since we know since the death of the first martin king is linked to the second death of martin, trayvon. when we do this, we will be able to sing together the words of that great anthem from the last century, the sun don't shine forever, but as long as it is here, we might as well shine together. he had a dream, we need a team. [cheers and applause] >> good morning, friends. i am pleased to be gathered here with more than 30,000 naacpers from across the nation. we gather here throughout this golden moment in the history of civil rights. there is no greater way for us to do this then for us to have an honest assessment of the challenges we face to get past today, and to be the courageous leaders who meet those challenges. i only got two minutes, but i got a hard truth i want to leave with you. first, in the face of an onslaught about racist restrictions on our right to vote, we turned out in unprecedented numbers here to our challenge today, my friends, is to vote in all elections, especially in non-presidential elections, because when we have not, the consequences have been devastating. the house and the senate are headed for progressive majorities in 2014. i want you to raise your right hand and take a pledge with me today and say that i promise to vote every year in every primary and in every election, no matter what is on the agenda. now, i want you to go by, and tell your neighbors and your families to take that same pledge. second, we were honored -- courage will not skip this generation. peace and power. ? >> before i introduce the next guest, i wish that you could see the fact that people are as far back as world war ii memorial, give yourself a round of applause. it is a full house. and buses are backed up still trying to get here. the official program starts at 11:00, and we still have buses coming in. our next speaker, dr. maneshka eliatamby, senior vice president, cpo, communities without borders international, please, a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. >> and during the last century, individuals and groups were committed to realizing the dream that dr. king declared in the 1963 march on washington. his vision was for a world where freedom, justice, and equality rain, today that challenge remains. or have even more important is its reevaluation in sounds that resonate with the seasons of the century. the youth you see standing with me today, they are youth without boundaries, closely associated with the idea of freedom, justice, and equality is a society that makes them possible. such conditions ensure equal treatment and access to the pursuit of happiness that is the promise of america's most cherished ideals. this year's 50th anniversary of the march on washington present an opportunity to launch a new challenge that will raise the consciousness of the world, the urgency of now for affordable quality education, for jobs, for employment opportunities, for safe communities, and a peaceful society. realizing dr. king's dream demands the funding -- >> he really does not need an introduction. at msnbc, we simply refer to him as big red. ladies and him and, welcome ed schultz. >> thank you. thank you, joe. i am a product of forced busing for racial equality. i take you back to the 1970's, where diversity was the word that was foreign to america but it was the future. i take you to birmingham, alabama, last night where i did a radio town hall, and i can tell you what is happening in america right now, the dream can only be realized if we pay attention to what is going on in our own backyards. when we start picking and choosing neighborhoods, who is going to get the resources and who is not going to get the resources, we will lose this country, we will lose the vision of diversity, we will lose the opportunity of the quality to move all people forward. you need to pay attention to what is happening in your backyard. and make sure that your schools and those young kids get the resources they need to have an opportunity in america that will help them grow. being a product of the middle class, i was the one who was afforded the opportunities. if we start picking and choosing neighborhoods, what kind of message are we sending to the youth of america? that this is the vision that they're going to have? that this is what it is supposed to be for them? no, that is not what dr. king's message was, that is not what america's focus was, and that cannot be the road to the future for america. stand tall in your community, fight for diversity, understand its strengths, and make sure >> ladies and gentlemen, it is time to raise our voices against violence. >> i got bodies here. >> as news trickled out, it is because obvious. not all of the regions between parent and child will be happening here. >> this morning, a gunman walked into sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut and opened fire. >> there has been a mass shooting outside denver, colorado in aurora, a gunman acting alone. >> standing there, firing a people just a few feet away. >> trayvon was our son, but trayvon is your son. a lot of people can relate to our situation, and it breaks their hearts as it breaks my. >> he entered a popular seattle cafe. four people were fatally shot, another one did. >> it began at 10:25 a.m. gunfire at the sikh temple in wisconsin. >> at least 52 people were shot and killed. >> family and friends are mourning the death of 15-year- old hadiya pendleton, killed less than a mile of president obama's chicago home. >> a national symbol to end violence. >> even our children are blown to pieces. you still see no problem in this ridiculous weapon being freely available on the streets of your country. >> trying to make sense of the violence. >> shot and killed outside a church. >> in minneapolis, a grenade -- >> [indiscernible] ? >> my name is annette holt. i lost my beautiful son, blair, to the streets of chicago, to gun violence. and my voice matters. >> my name is colin goddard. i was shot four times at the shooting in virginia tech, and my voice matters. >> my name is lonnie phillips. i am a proud gun owner, but i do not want any families to experience this pain that these families have heard my voice matters. >> my name is dan gross. i'm a victim of gun violence, and i am a president of the brady campaign to prevent gun violence. my voice matters. 50 years ago, on the tower ground, americans came together from all races and all backgrounds to raise their voices for justice in our nation. the voices that were raised that they mattered. they mattered because they did not in here at the legal and that's at the lincoln memorial. they mattered because they began here, inspired by a great man's dream and then resonated far and wide because the voices that were raised that they inspired a greater course, now an outcry for change in justice. an american people that continue to grow louder until he could no longer be ignored. we are here today to say that when it comes to the gun violence that is destroying our communities and our nations, that we, the american people, will no longer be ignored. we are here today to make our voices matter once again. we are here to say "my voice matters." we're here because a young black male is a 17 times more likely to die from gun homicide than a white one, and we are here to say my voice matters. we are here because of the gun violence. the 90 gun deaths that happen everyday, the eight children and teens killed everyday, enough to fill more than 100 classrooms, and we are here to save my voice matters. we're here because of trayvon martin, because of this great nation of ours, george zimmerman, a man with an arrest record and a known history of violence can get a permit to walk out in the streets with a loaded gun and can shakedown and murder an innocent boy in the name of standing his ground and get away with it. and we're here to say my voice matters. we're here because there are children in our great nation like these that cannot even feel safe walking to go to school in the morning and to go to sleep at night hearing gunshots out their window. we are here to say my voice matters. we are here from cities and suburbs and farmland, not as republicans and democrats, not as a white, black, latino, or asian, but as proud americans, all of us who know that as a nation we are better than this, and we are here to say my voice matters. we are here to hold congress accountable to make this a safer nation. to make the cowardly congress people who do the bidding of the corporate gun lobby to hear us, the american people more, to remind them that they work for us, the american people, and if they do not do right by us, they will not work for us much longer. too many of our leaders have been selling is out for two long. we're here to say enough is enough and we're here to say my voice matters. in a crowd, you will see hundreds of volunteers with red voices against violence t-shirts like these. just sign up with them, and next week we will put you in touch with your congressperson so you can tell them that your voice matters. also go to www.voicesagainstviolence.com today. 50 years ago, dr. king inspired a nation with his dream. he inspired the american public to come together as never before to stand up to great injustice, and he showed us what we are capable of as a nation when we have truth and justice on our side or it today, we desperately need to come together in exactly that same spirit to address one of the issues of this day, the issue of gun violence. now at the time to come together as a nation. from the suburbs of newtown, connecticut, to the urban streets of newark, new jersey, to the homes and communities of every american who want to live free from the tyranny of a violence. it is have we come together as individuals and as want to tell congress that we will not be ignored and our communities are being destroyed. to make our voices heard of the solutions that clearly exist and most importantly to say -- my voice matters! [cheers and applause] ? >> ladies and gentle man, mr. tony bennett. >> thank you. lift your voice against violence. >> ? let someone start believing in you, let him hold out his hand, let him find you and watch what happens once someone can look in your eyes and see into your heart, let him touch you and watch what happens cold, no i will not believe your heart is cold maybe slow to warm on an evening such as this yes, let someone with a deep love to give give his deep love to you what magic you will see let someone give his heart, ♪omeone who cares like me ♪ someone give his heart someone who cares like me ♪omeone who cares like me ? ? ♪ >> thank you. they all laughed at christopher columbus when he said the world was round they all laughed when edison recorded sound. they all laughed at wilbur and his brother when they said man could fly. they told marconi he was a phony they laughed at me and you they said i was reaching for the moon boy, you came through now they have to change their tune they all said we would never get together, they laughed at us and how ho, ho, ho, who has got the last laugh now? ? they laughed at me and you said it would be hello, goodbye. wow, you came through, now they are eating humble pie they all said we'd never get together darling, take a bow ho, ho, ho who's got the last laugh? hee, hee, hee who's got the last laugh now? ? when i come home to you, san francisco, your golden sun will thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, our next two speakers, ceo executive director federation of protestant welfare agencies, jennifer jones austin and the codirector advancement project, judith brown dianis. >> i am a daughter of the late william jones, jr., a civil rights activist and former president of the christian leadership congress. i'm a daughter of the civil rights movement. [no audio] [inaudible] >> i am the daughter of the late william augustus jones, jr., a civil rights activist. i'm a daughter of the civil rights movement. as a daughter of the moment, i am the beneficiary of all the good that has resulted from the hard work of the sweat and tears, and the love that was shed by the leaders and doers of that movement. as a daughter in beneficiary, i'm now the burden bearer of this generation's civil rights movement. you, too, are the burden bearers. for dr. king and other leaders told us our work will not be done until all of god's children are free. 50 years ago, they did not march for just some do have jobs -- they march for all to have jobs. they did not march for just some to have a quality education -- they marched for all to have a quality education. they did not march for just some to be free of the burdens of poverty, they marched for all to be free. so today, we come together to pick up the burden laid down by our leaders who have gone onto their rewards, and to stand with our leaders today, reverend sharpton and others, to commit and recommit ourselves to the war against poverty. the war against gun violence him of the war against continuing discrimination on the basis of race, sexual orientation, integration and gender. the war against disenfranchisement. antiwar against injustice that right in the present and the future of our children. as a nation, we have demonstrated that we can do just about anything that would put our minds to. ending poverty, gun violence, discrimination, and injustice should be no different. it is our burden, it is our responsibility. together we can. god bless you all. >> on august 28, 1963, my parents came to the march. my father wore his scarf of indignity inflicted by the segregated army. they, like thousands, were all full of hope for a just america, and america can still make good on its promise of equality. today, we commemorate and celebrate our progress. we are still asking -- when will america make good on its promise? the dream is slipping away, attacks on equality are metastasizing. our voting rights are under attack. whether to the supreme court or state legislatures like north carolina, there is an aggressive effort to silence the rising progressive majority. congress must restore the voting rights act, and we must build a movement for a constitutional right to vote. today, we also feel the pain that so many felt in 1963. i, like you, remember where i was when the verdict was read and the killer of one of our babies walked without consequences. never again. a song by bernice johnson reagon goes "we who believe in freedom cannot rest until the tyranny -- >> ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege not to introduce to you three very distinguished speakers that were present organizations that really need no introduction. their role in the civil rights movement in the last 50 years is indelible and irretrievable. first, we will hear representing the american federation and congress of industrial organizations, the afl-cio, the executive vice president arlene holt baker. following her, the president of seiu 1199, george gresham 1199 is here as well. finally, we will give a great deal of respect its final speaker in the group. he is the president emeritus of dr. king of the organization, the southern christian leadership conference, the reverend dr. charles steele. please welcome them. and one more -- i'm sorry. i'm sorry, mary kay, i did not see you. the president of seiu international, mary kay henry. [cheers and applause] >> 50 years ago, a 23-year-old man by the name of john lewis asked a question. he asked -- where the equality for the maid who earns five dollars a week in the home of a family whose income was $100,000 a year? where is the equality for those of us who work in the southern fields from sunup to sundown for $12 a week? we are asking that same question today when the minimum wage is actually lower than it was half a century ago. 50 years ago, a. philip randolph stood with brother lewis and reverend dr. martin luther king and demanded jobs and freedom. unemployment among african americans then was 10%. it is about 13% today. our demands today are the same as they were 50 years ago. we need a job for all americans, we need a job for all americans, and we need our freedoms. we need the freedom to have a voice that works, and we need the freedom to have our voices heard and our ballot boxes. too many of our children who dream of a quality education but who are in terribly over crowded classrooms where urban school districts close school after school after school. our call for a higher minimum wage has become a desperate dream and a cry for our community. we cannot feed and clothe our families on $7.25 an hour. we cannot simply stand on the small at the lincoln memorial. we must organize. we must take action for job creation and shared prosperity for all. it cannot wait. our call is now, our demand is now. shame on us if we return here 50 years now with the same demands -- jobs, freedom and shared prosperity for all. [cheers and applause] >> good afternoon, america. on behalf of the 400,000 1199 members, some of whom were here 50 years ago, and as a matter fact, i want to offer this opportunity to the band, i've got to beat them before the gogo music come up because when gogo, you must go go. we are here today, sisters and brothers, not because we want a day in the park -- we are here to say yes 50 years later, we have come a long way. but we still have a year long way to go and i don't know which is the greatest distance, but for us today, we must be prepared to go into action. if we are going to respect the work that was done 50 years ago, then we have to go back with a plan, and our plan must be that we will stand up and make this a country for working people once again. that we are going to demand that the wealthy in this country return this country to the working people. and the issues that you hear us talk about today, we need you to go back to your representatives and ask them what are they going to do about this. and hold them accountable. while it is good to continue the march, if we go home and we don't practice what we are preaching today, we will miss this moment. and so i say to america -- are we going to go back? are we going to go forward? >> yes! >> are we going to make sure that those who represent us actually represent us? >> yes! >> because we need jobs, we need housing, we need healthcare, we need to make sure that our children have a future. thank you. ♪ >> sisters and brothers, healthcare workers, public service workers, janitors, and security guards are honored to be on this mall today and join hands with the rest of our nation as we rededicate ourselves to the goals that the 1963 marchers imagined 50 years ago today. we stand for freedom. we stand for jobs. we stand for equality. and the visionaries of this march proclaimed that we were going to fight the twin evils of racism and economic poverty. we want to make sure that in 50 years we are celebrating the shared prosperity in this nation. dr. king knew that any quality-- inequality could not be solved without lifting wages, which is why the two dollar minimum wage was a central demand of the marchers in 1963. so perhaps it is fitting that this coming thursday, august 29, thousands of fast food and retail workers are going to take the courageous action of a strike to demand $15 an hour, and that $15 an hour is the equivalent of the two dollar demand in 1963. this strike on august 29 will stand up with the courage of our convictions in the way we stand on the shoulders of civil rights marchers from 1963. something is wrong with a system when the corporations are making record profits, and the workers have to rely on food stamps and medicare and medicaid in order to make ends meet. the fast food workers and retail workers are fighting for all of us, brothers and sisters. if they and other low-wage workers in this economy are able to win their struggle for higher pay, our economy and all of us will benefit. that is why the members of seiu and many members of unions in this crowd are proud to -- [inaudible] -- let's march for jobs, let's march for equality. freedom, jobs! [inaudible] >> as president emeritus, ceo of the southern christian leadership conference, the organization that dr. martin luther king cofounded, we are here today to say 50 years later, a 17-year-old boy in tuscaloosa, alabama, watching the march on television, and my mother and father told me, boy, you cannot play ball today, you have to watch the history of america and the world being made. -- years ago, they brought nothing has changed. we still have to say -- freedom ain't free. you have to march. are you ready? >> yes! >> we have to represent. are you ready? dr. king advocated for poor people, we must advocate the same. are you ready to go with me? ♪ >> to all of my friends from the southern states, i now proudly present to you the executive director of the arab-american institute, maya berry, jonathan mason, the international president of phi theta sigma incorporated, and phillip agnew, executive director of dream defenders. >> good afternoon. you look great. on behalf of arab american institute, and 6.3 million arab americans, i am honored to stand here with you today. my conscience bothered me, and it broke my heart to see this in dignity on a human being. i decided to do something about this. i decided to do something about this. those are the words of civil rights activist ralph john as he spoke about what moved him as he conceived the idea of the sit-in greensboro, north carolina. john was an arab american, vice president of his local naacp chapter. he pitched the sit in idea for 11 years until joe mcneil agreed and came up with back with three other university students. let's hear it. with john's help, a movement was launched that would spread to 54 cities in nine states to make history. john and many other americans like him were part of the civil rights movement. they moved to action for simple reasons. they decided to do something about something that was wrong. we stood then as we do today because we must. 50 years later, we see real threats to what was achieved and great sacrifice, but new challenges that dr. king could not have even anticipated, whether it is a supreme court decision to a key provision of the voting rights act or sections of the hatred act that still fail to strike the right balance between safeguarding our national security and protecting our civil liberties, we must do something about what is wrong. whether it is the total economic injustice taken on our families living in poverty or the degradation of racial, ethnic, or religious profiling, we must do something about what is wrong. whether it is our nation's police department targeting young men of color with stop and frisk, or arab americans and american muslims with surveillance, we must do something about nypd's laws. activists in new york started doing that this week when they successfully overrode a mayor's veto and told the nypd you will have oversight and you will be held accountable. and that is the point. when we work together and invite others to join us, there is much that we can do together to -- [inaudible] ♪ >> i stand before you today representing phi beta sigma, the fraternal home of a. philip randolph, one of the march on washington, and one of the freedom riders and a civil rights icon. i stand before you to let you know that any 50 years since the original what march on washington, america has made a small down payment on the debt that is owed to his african- american people. but i want you to know that when trayvon martin can be shot down and the perpetrator go free, i need to you and let you know that there is some interest owed, and so we march. when the supreme court can dismantle the voting rights act right in front of our very eyes, i need to let you know that there is some interest owed, and so we march. when our young people take each other out in cities all across his land, i need to let you know that there isn't some interest owed. and so we march. my time is short, but i will share with you this -- as we march, we're going to get tired, we are going to get weak, and the road might get a little long, but be encouraged by that old negro spiritual -- be not dismayed whate'er betide, god will take care of you. god will take care of you. god bless you, and so we march. [cheers and applause] >> everybody put three fingers in the air. the sky is falling, the wind is calling, stand for something or die in the morning. if you are a young person in the struggle, i want you to say get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready. we have only two minutes to talk today, so i want to take two minutes to tell you about who we are. we are the forgotten generation. we are the illegals. we are the apathetic. we are the thugs. we are the generation that you locked in the basement while movement conversations were going on upstairs. we are the generation that you told to be afraid. so we came to love. but we are here today to join in a conversation that will shake the very foundations of this capital. so i'm going to ask for the final minute of my conversation with you to be dedicated to the young people, and i wages did with your fists in the air, and i wait to join me in a call and response that will continue and begin this movement that will shake the vestiges of democracy. it ends with i believe that we can win, i believe that we can win, so i want you to repeat after me. i -- i believe -- i believe that we -- i believe that we will -- i believe that we will win! >> i believe that we will win! >> brother marcus garvey told us that we have a beautiful history and the one we bear in the future will -- ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, in 1963, the latino community was not represented, but they sure are represented here today. am i right? we will hear from the national president of the league of united latin american citizens, lulac, margaret moran. then we will hear because we also know that there is a war against teachers and public education in this country -- how many teachers are here? [cheers and applause] the president of the national education association, dennis van roekel, and then last but certainly not least, the man whose booming voice stood in this space for 50 years ago, a. philip randolph, the president of the a. philip randolph institute, dr. clayola brown will also speak. hear ye them. >> good morning. today we paid tribute to the many sacrifices made by men and women so that this country can live up to the ideals of equality and justice for all. and yet within a stone's throw of this monument and elsewhere, minority communities and people of color still face challenges to dr. king's dream. the latino community cannot be defined in simple terms for we are diverse ethnically, social economically, and politically. but we can be defined as immensely patriotic, as witnessed by our willingness to serve and protect our nation during times of conflict. underscoring our national anthem's conclusion when we say "o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." today, comprehensive immigration reform is being fought by racism and ignorance thinly veiled by budget concerns and insecurity. congress has run out of excuses, and the latino community has run out of patience. i also want to say a few words about the recent supreme court decision shelby versus holder. this past june, the supreme court shut down the key provision of the voting rights act with an ill decision, the supreme court lifted the strongest protection against voter discrimination laws. two hours after it issued its decision, texas announced that it would enforce its voter id law, which had been blocked by the department of justice. the recent actions taken by the department of justice is a clear indication that the federal government will not allow states to enforce measures that suppress minority voting rights. north carolina has followed texas's lead by hassing and measure that includes kryptonian -- draconian voter id requirements that prevent minorities, poor, young, and the elderly from voting. we know that these are designed to play unnecessary roadblocks to the voting process and deny the most basic democratic right to the most vulnerable populations. today, we stand with our civil rights partners to fight for an amendment to the voting rights act prohibits such conduct. we are optimistic these changes are within reach, we also know they can only be realized if we stand as a people united. dr. king famously expressed that he could not sit idly by because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. we know that one person alone may not be able to fight against injustice that can divide and nation. however, what dr. king proved, and what we know to be true, is that one person and a dream can inspire a people to move mountains and define a generation. the immigrant community fully appreciates that in this country change is possible. it is part of the american experience. today, dr. king's words still ring true and we stand as a people united with the knowledge that together we can realize dr. dream.ream.-- this is what defines us. god bless you. >> good morning. i represent 3 million members who believed in dr. king's dream theater as 50 billion americans as 50 million americans go back to school, they will have computers and i've had us and white boards to help them learn. most will come from homes with a have plenty to eat, a safe place to sleep, and will see a doctor if they are sick. millions of the nation's tilden will find a very different world in their school. students won't have access to computers or even up-to-date textbooks. many of these children will not get enough to eat. or enough sleep. our nation does not have one educational system, we have two. children from poor families are shortchanged. that theft perpetuates the cycle of poverty. 50 years ago dr. king noted hundreds of thousands of americans came to this place, here to cash a check to redeem the nation's promise of equal opportunity. now is the time, he said, to open the doors of opportunity for all of god's children. education, education is the key that opens those doors. without education they cannot be any good jobs. the day i ask you to join us in our fight for equal opportunity in education. let's start by demanding high- quality early childhood education for every child. let's start by demanding equitable funding for all schools in all neighborhoods. let us demand for qualified teachers in every classroom. we are here today to honor history. we are focused on what dr. king called "the fierce urgency of now errico now is the time to protect -- urgency of now." now is the time to protect voting rights. now is the time to open the doors of opportunity for all children in america. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am the first female president of the abe philip randolph institute. as such i stand on the shoulders of a very strong man, not one but two. a philip randolph and im -- and i am leaning on the shoulders of norman who helps lead this organization. all night long i wondered what to say in two minutes. the answer came very quickly. i thought of randolph in 41, when he was going against the governments to look for equal treatment in jobs that have to do with munitions and the military. eleanor roosevelt convinced her husband, franklin, that it is always us women who have good sense. with jobs, justice, and freedom in the same topic as then, if we did the same thing now could we pull up to million low-wage workers by having the executive order that says they are not getting a sustainable way? or-- sustainable wage? there has to be a way. we can do this by doing what we have always done, today is a wonderful day to start the march. in the name of a philip randolph, for the work he did, --t's see if we can change the ♪ >> the park department has informed us that half of you need to come off the press rises, they are beginning to sag. please come off the press riser. the press riser is beginning to sag. our next speaker -- >> our next speaker is the president at the center for american progress and the national president of the federation of employees. >> thank you. in 1950 seven, martin luther king went to west africa. he frequently spoke of the link between the united states civil rights movement and the anti- colonial movements in africa. since then, africa has progressed dramatically. but for many africans, freedom is still a dream and peace is still a promise. for example, the two deadliest wars in the world since the march on washington have been fought in sudan and congo. 8 million people have perished. in sudan and congo and other key -- other african countries, change is possible. martin luther king helped inspire a global anti-apartheid movement that helped free mats-- mandela.ee nelson this later inspired the blood diamond movement that ended three wars and west africa. this, in turn, inspired the dark for anti-genocide movement that forced the sudan regime to allow lives to be saved from 300 people -- from from many people. -- from 3000 people.-- life- saving aid for thousands of people. the other focused on ending the deadly trade in the congo, which power our cell phones. during the course of all of our lives, we will constantly face the choice of whether to be a bystander or not stand her.-- or an upstander. if enough of us choose to be an up standard, we can change the-- an upstander, we can change the course of history. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, sisters and brothers. we are here today to not just commemorate an anniversary. we are here to make history ourselves. dr. king's dream is slipping away from us. we have got to take it back. all working families are under attack. they want to roll back the block 100 years when workers had no rights or protections. the elderly, the disabled, and the unemployed have no safety net. yesterday it was plain racism. today, the forces of hatred and greed pose their agenda in different rhetoric but their goals are the same. many states, like my own home state, north carolina, are trying to suppress the vote so voices of workers are not heard. they want to crush our movement for democratic and full employment, fair wages, and economic security. we are not going to let that happen. all of us here today, let us act and protect what was 150 years ago. -- what was won 50 years ago. failure is not a option. our movement -- ♪ >> from the american federation of government employees. sisters and brothers, it is my privilege to introduce our next speakers. first of all, an organization that works hard every single day to register rest of vote and protect our voting rights. and also representing women all this week, organizing women for this great march, the president of the national coalition on participation, dr. melanie campbell. and then following her, once again we will hear from another great teachers union, united federation of teachers. hear ye then. >> good morning, america. i said, good morning, america. i just dropped by to tell you that it is movement time. repeat after me. it's movement time. each generation is faced with a movement moment that requires them to stand up and fight back against injustice, with great strength and fortitude. it has taken the collective power of the people demanding justice to protect our civil rights their civil rights. our women's rights. our immigrant rights. our latino american right. our asian-american rights. our poor america rights. our american children's rights. and the world families, the beloved community. this morning, it is movement time. i say it is movement time -- 50 years later they have stopped down -- -- they fought for jobs and freedom. last year in 2012 we voted like never before. it is movement time again. this sister from florida just stopped by to tell you it is movement time. 50 years later, there is such an assault on those rights. it is our time for us to get busy to move a treated in other words, it is time to get up off of our butts, stop mismanaging, mistreating, and is respecting the rights of ourselves and our predecessors. repeat after me. it's movement time. it's movement time. it's movement time. peace and power. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. good morning, everyone. 237 years ago there was a document written and it said, "we the people of the united states, in order to form a more perfect union, to establish justice --" now does it say it is the president's job to establish justice? or is it the people's job? isn't the people's job to establish justice? and who are the people? it does not say. it does not say the rich folks. it does not say the poor folks, it does not say that black folks, the white folks, it says "the people." i will ask you again who are the people? who are the people? and are we going to establish justice? and are we going to have to fight to establish justice? we know that it is up to us. who are the people? who are the people? god bless us all and make sure that we all stand side-by-side. i am going to ask you again, who are the people? >> we are! >> god bless you all, thank you. >> our next speaker is the national youth rupture of a-- firector of -- director of the national action network. she is 15 years old, standing with her leaders of the effort, mary pat hector. >> the fact that i am here means that young people are tired of what the headlines read. we, as a nation come having experienced a series of highly publicized crimes, voter suppression, and unlawful -- -- unlawful stop and frisk. our children are graduating with actually being educated. my question for you is what are you waiting for? are we waiting for another doctor came? you already g for anotheraitin dr. king? you already knew him. to us? it;''s up what if there isn't anyone else? what if it is up to us. i encourage you all is the part of that movement. stop believing the media stereotypes. i am here to say we are not who they say we are. we are more than what they ever could have imagined and more than what they ever could have expected. every time you see change in our communities, it is because the youth like arkansas nine, the saint augustine six, and the hundreds of kids that died in apartheid in south africa were standing behind the movement. and now we have the youth move, the do read defenders, and black youth project. i encourage you to return to your homes with a sense of pride and a sense of purpose. on the 100th anniversary of the march on washington, our grandchildren will not be fighting the same fight. thank you, and have a great day. [applause] ♪ >> how about another roundabout clause -- another round of applause for our youth people. 50 years ago, the lgbt community was not outwardly represented. but we know the man who organized the great march on washington in 1963 was none other than they are to rustin. here to speak about his legacy through the human rights campaign, we will hear from associate director of diversity and the director of religious globalization, the reverend macarthur from the human rights campaign. following them, on these on the -- the eve of the great march on -- ongton in washington washington, one of the founders of the organization passed away, w.b. dubois. it was a transition from one era to the next. we will hear from the president of the civil rights organization in america. try as they might to cut a slow -- cut us low, as the naacp, fire it up. >> good morning, my name is donna. in times like today i stand proudly with you as an african american lesbian representing the human rights campaign. i am proud because he lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and the african- american community, are working together toward justice for all. there have been many attempts to tell you that we cannot get a long. do not believe the hype. i come from a mother and a father that sat at the table. my family inner that my family is lifetime members of the naacp. i am part of the fabric that we've our destiny together to freedom. it is not about one civil rights group but of all of our civil rights for everyone. as we move forward in our celebration of this 50th anniversary, let us respect our past and let us grab hold to our futures victories together. >> good afternoon. at times like this i think about one thing. my mother used to tell me i was raised by an interracial couple. i was the grandson of mexican immigrants. my mother said would ever you find yourself in a situation that when you are representing this family, you stand up and today i stand up as a black gay man, ordained in the church, in love with god, filled with faith. we all are made in the likeness and image of god. there are freedoms that we have one in the lgbt movement, but that is not enough. i am the father of five children. i love my sons and daughters -- i want my sons and daughters to be protected. we join our faith with your faith. we look for an answer to discrimination in all its forms. no more religious bigotry, no more racist bigotry, no more violent bigotry. today we stand tall. it is not enough that we stand up, but we stand together. he joined our faith with your faith. we look forward to an end to unemployment -- to employment situation -- to employment termination. -- employment discrimination. thank you and god bless you. >> fired up and ready to go. when they say no you can't, we say yes we can. when they say no you can't, racial profiling, we say yes we can because yes we did two days ago in new york city. when they say no you can't pass the dream act, no you can't pass marriage equality, no you can't abolish the death penalty, no you can't expand voting rights in any state south of the mason dixon, we say yes we can because yes we did just five miles from here in maryland last year. when they say no you can't restore the full force of the voting rights act, no you can't raise the minimum wage, not with this congress, we say yes we can because yes we have again and again. let us claim some victories right now. let us say yes we will pass the trayvon law from coast to coast. let us say yes we will protect the right to vote with all our might until we win the fight finally once and for all. and let us say yes we will raise the minimum wage because you can not survive on seven dollars $.25 -- on $7.25. yes we will. yes we will. yes we will. god bless you. and god bless the naacp. ♪ >> i am the hardest working man in radio. 50 years ago it was radio that got people here. i think today that 50 years later radio has played a big part in getting people here for the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. make some noise. cameraman, can we get an aerial shot so everyone can see how many people we have here. i haven't gotten an estimate of how many thousands -- hundreds of thousands of people that are here. we cannot count off because we have a time limit. right now i am bringing up the next speaker from the national action network, the national executive director. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. today is one of the greatest days for our movement in the last 50 years. on behalf of the national action network leadership, i want to thank all of you for making this day a priority for you. it is important because we are going to leave here, charged up and ready to do some work. 50 years ago on these very steps, just underneath abraham lincoln, martin luther king jr. delivered one of the most transformative moments in american history. today, one of our greatest civil rights leaders of our time, the reverend al sharpton, is teaching us that we must use all of the right moments and opportunities to fuel a movement. when president barack obama stood up, raised his right hand, placed his left hand on the bible, and was sworn in as america's 44th president, that was a great moment. the sweat, tears, and blood that was shed by frederick douglass, a philip randolph, c higgins, congressman john lewis, the freedom fighters, and so many others helped us in -- helped make it possible for us to vote. that is a movement. national action network, since the last year, traveling across the nation ensuring that no vote is suppressed. we are continuing the movement. a march on washington, 50 years ago, was a powerful moment. the women who were the backbone of the civil rights moment -- civil rights movement who could not speak paved the way for me to speak whenever i want to and what ever i want to. they created a movement. mothers and sisters, today our lives may be experiencing pain. we have experienced moments of suffering. our pride has been down, confusion and unbearable moments. what matters is how we use those moments to gather together and unite as an opportunity to energize a movement. backward, never. forward, always. we can accomplish what we will. thank you very much for supporting the national action network. >> good morning. my name is krystal ball, i am host of "the cycle" on msnbc. it is a little hot out here today. i know that you all can make it a whole lot hotter. it is my pleasure to introduce this morning the chair of the congressional black caucus, the first african-american mayor of her city, former president of delta sigma theta, congresswoman marsha.-- marsha fudge. >> thank you so much. good morning.caller: i want you to know that in 196 there were only six african americans in the house of representatives. today there are 43 and there are many sitting right here in this front row. today we stand on the shoulders of giants. giants who marched, thought, and died so that everyone, no matter their race, can have access to the american dream. i have no doubt that the men and women who birth the civil rights movement would say today that the civil rights is unfinished business. we're still fighting for equal access to quality education for all people. we continue to fight for good jobs and equal pay. we continue to fight for fair housing and believe it or not we continue the fight for the unabridged right to vote. we are fighting today for equal justice under law, and we all know what i am talking about. the efforts that we have seen over the past few years to roll back the clock must fire up the civil rights movement today. i am here to remind you that tomorrow's at reams depend on today's movement. we have -- tomorrow's reams -- dreams depend on today's movement. we cannot turn back now or lose faith. the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. it is time for us to get uncomfortable. it is time for us to be inconvenienced. we are living in a time of great challenge and great controversy. we cannot rest, we must not rest until our work is done. i am here to remind you that it is time for us to do something. to say something, to stand for something, to march for something, to go forward and always go forward. civil rights is an unfinished business. each one of us needs to make it our business. thank you. >> next up, to introduce our u.s. attorney general eric holder is a man -- is a mayor of richmond, virginia. mayor dwight jones. >> thank you, tom. i have the privilege of introducing one of the great leaders of our nation. dr. king died fighting for recycling technicians in methods tennessee -- in memphis, tennessee. he believed in external because of his advocacy, today we have mayors, we have congressman, we have governors, we will have senators, and we have even the president of the united states of america. if these elected officials are true to their way to getting elected to public office, they are busy today fighting for a level playing field. the man i have the opportunity to introduce today has been busy fighting for that level playing field. he is a voice for change in the criminal justice system, fighting the right -- fighting the drug sentences that have been unequally applied, recently calling for the justice department to no longer seek mandatory sentences. he is a voice for voter rights when local elected seek to disenfranchise. he had the courage to stand up and say that it will not happen on my watch. he has been vocal on the ambiguous stand your ground and castle laws, saying that vigilante-ism should not be accepted, we should do is call 911. he is a major of justice, a man standing on the truth of the law, he is our main country's lawyer. he is the 82nd attorney general of the united states of america, the first african-american to hold that office, please join me in welcoming eric holder. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you. it is an honor for me to be here today among so many friends, distinguished civil rights leaders, members of congress, and fellow citizens who fought, rallied, and organized on the streets of this nation to the halls of our capital to advance the cause of justice. 50 years ago dr. king shared his dream with the world and described visions for a society that offered and delivered the promise of equal justice under law. he assured his fellow citizens that his goal within -- his goal was within reach so long as they kept pace with one another and maintained the courage and commitment to work toward it. he emerged them to do just that. -- he urged them to do just that by calling for no more and no less equal justice. by standing up to the civil rights to which everyone is entitled and by speaking out in this -- in the face of hatred, violence, and those that sought to turn them back with fire hoses, bullets, and bombs. the honor of a right redeemed and the pursuit of a sacred truth that has been woven through the history of our nation that all are created equal. those that marched in 1963 have taken a long and difficult road. from montgomery to greensboro, to birmingham and tuscaloosa, they marched in spite of animosity, oppression, and brutality. they believed in the greatness that was -- the greatness that this nation could become an despaired of the founding promises not kept. their focus was the sacred and sadly unmet commitment of the american system as it applied to african-americans. as we gather today 50 years later, their march is now our march. it must go on. our focus has broadened to include the cause of women, of latinos, of asian-americans, of lesbians, gays, people with disabilities, and of countless others across this great country who still year and for equality, -- yearn for equality, opportunity, and fair treatment. dr. king's indelible words helped alter the course of history. his words provided a foundation for much of the progress that has followed. this morning, as we recommit ourselves to his words for progress we must note that in addition to dr. king we also stand on the shoulders of untold millions whose names may be lost to history, but whose stories and whose contributions must be remembered and must be treasured. truly those that stood on the mall and the summer of 1963 -- but we also must remove were-- buses,r those who rode sat at lunch counters, who stood up to race his government and governors. and tragically those that gave their lives. we must remember generations that carry themselves on a day- to-day basis with great dignity in the face of unspeakable injustice. sacrificing their own ambitions so the opportunities of future generations would be assured. i would not be attorney general of the not -- of the united states if not for them. barack obama would not be president of the united states of america. [applause] we must remember those who labor for wages. we must remember those who served and died wearing the uniform of a nation that they cared so much about but did not reciprocate that emotion in equal measure. each of these brave men and women displayed a profound love of country that must always be appreciated. it is to these people that we owe the greatest debt. americans of all races, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientation, and background will risk everything in order for their fellow citizens and their children to truly be free. it is to them we must all say in the most profound of ways, thank you. it is to them i dedicate my words this morning and it is in their honor i pledge my continuing service in the hope that it might pay to worry the-- pay worthy tribute to their sacrifices. today the services far more about -- is more than -- is far more than about reflecting on our pasts. it is about shaping the future we will undoubtedly share. >> those who came before us, we love this great country. we want this nation to be all that it was designed to be an authentic can become. we recognize that we are forever bound to one another and that we stand united by the work that lies ahead and buy the journey that still stretches before us. this morning, we affirm that the struggle must and will go on in the cause of our nation's quest for justice. until every eligible american has the chance to exercise his or her right to vote, unencumbered by discriminatory or unneeded procedures, rules or practices. it must go on until our criminal justice system can assure that all are treated equally and fairly in the eyes of the law. it must go on until every action that we take reflects our values and that which is best about us. it must go on until those who are now living and generations yet to be born can be assured the rights and opportunities that have been too long denied to too any. the visionaries at this site 50 years ago, the beloved community has not yet been realized. half a century after the march and 150 years after emancipation, it is finally within our grasp. together, through determined effort, through a willingness to confront corrosive forces tied to special interests rather than the common good, and through the to our-- devotion founding documents, i know that in the 21st century we will see an america that is more perfect and more fair. i thank each of you for your continuing dedication to this cause. and for your leadership in this important work. i look forward to all that we will surely achieve together. by advancing the cause that remains our common pursuit, by preserving the legacy that we are called on to extend and by helping to realize the dream that still guides our every step. thank you all very much. [applause] >> it is my pleasure to introduce to you our next two incredible speakers, president of the national urban league and mayor of new orleans, marc president of the national council -- the largest national hispanic civil rights organization, janet. >> hello, everyone. i cannot convey to you what an honor it is to stand on the steps on this glorious memorial right where many of our greatest leaders stood on one of the most important days in american history. it is a special privilege to be here with my good friend and a great leader, marc morial. millions of latinos were watching that day in 1963 when we heard dr. king proclaimed, i have a dream. we knew he was talking to us too. dr. king's dream was an inclusive dream. it was a universal dream. it is why he remains a beloved icon in my community and across the world. in fact, dr. king was one of the earliest supporters of another beloved icon, cesar chavez. 's -- ineight of cesar 1966, dr. king sent him a telegram of support which said, our struggles are really one. a struggle for freedom, for dignity and for humanity. mark and i know we are standing here on the shoulder of these giants, but we also know we are here to remember the hundreds of thousands of people whose names we may never know, who sacrificed so much to be at the very place half a century ago. those who had to ride buses all day and all night because they were not allowed to stop and rest. those who gave their time and those who gave their lives. we are here to remember who we are marching for today. for those who seek justice, who seek the right to vote, who seek a way to support their families, and for those whose names we also do not know but who live in the shadows and in fear every day of their lives because they are undocumented. for those young people who know no other country and our americans in every possible way but whose status puts the american dream out of reach. we march so that everyone knows that true justice must include an acting comprehensive immigration reform. it is time or our nation to recommit to lifting up the hopes and dreams of all of us. we must remember that in unity, there is power. together, we can move mountains and see this agenda move forward. >> i stand here today on behalf of billions of urban leaguers on the great shoulders of my legendary predecessor, whitney young who stood here in 1963 along with dr. martin luther king. i stand here to reaffirm our commitment to the civil rights and equal opportunity challenges of then and now and the fundamental notion that we must redeem the dream in order to realize the dream. we must redeem the dream because there are those who attack our democracy, our voting rights and our access to equal economic opportunity. they may wear different clothes. they may use different slogans. they may have different talking points. 1963, theyose in filibuster, they strike and hinder. we must redeem the dream. 21st century forces are at work to eliminate and reverse our economic progress through a vicious assault on our nation's poorest, weakest, most of disadvantaged and dispossessed citizens. we must redeem the dream because our children should live in communities without senseless gun violence. our children deserve access to quality education that will lead to jobs and break generational cycles of poverty. our children should go to bed on a full stomach and wake up and attend a good school with great teachers. we must redeem the dream. full employment and economic opportunity for all our eternal values that transcend any century. we will redeem the dream. we will redeem the dream so that this generation of americans from all walks of life are active and not silent. committed and not complacent. as we stand our ground against those forces that seek to reverse the clock. there are those who wish to pass stand your ground legislation. we say, we will stand our ground against any person, any policy, any procedure, any movement that threatens our civil rights, our voting rights and economic opportunity. commemoration, 50 years ago is where we started. commitment is what we pledge, continuation is where we are going. this is the 21st century agenda for jobs and freedom. this is the new civil rights movement. thank you very much. [applause] >> i was instructed to tell the lady next to me during the sign language to move two steps to the right. sorry, ma'am. just doing what i am told. our next speakers, the democratic nominee and next senator of new jersey, mayor of newark, cory booker and the wip lawyer --tic hoyer. >> good afternoon, everybody. i know i stand among many heroes today, folks that were here 50 years ago. please allow me to speak to those like myself who were not even alive when the march on washington happened. my father, when i was growing up, said it very simply. the i used to walk around community, around our home, he used to look at me and say, boy, don't you dare walk around here like you hit a triple. you were born on third base. ,ou are enjoying freedom opportunity, technology, things that were given to you bought by the struggle and the sacrifices and the work of those who came before. don't you forget where you come from. you drink deeply from wells of freedom and liberty and opportunity that you did not dig. you eat lavishly from banquet tables prepared for you by your ancestors. we in my generation cannot afford to sit back consuming all of our blessings, getting dumb, fat and happy, thinking that we have achieved freedom. the truth of the matter is, the dream still demands that the moral conscience of our country still calls us. that hope still needs heroes. we need to understand that there is still work to do. when the leading cause of death for black men my age and younger is gun violence, we still have work to do. when we still have a justice system that treats the economically disadvantaged and minorities different than others, we still have work to do. when you can in america, work a full time job loss over time and still be below the stifling line of poverty, we still have work to do. when we see wages stagnating while child poverty is increasing, when the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, when millions of our children are living in the records where they are -- their soil is toxic and rivers are polluted and air quality is so poor that asthma is the academic ic, wedemic -- epidem still have work to do. we can't sit back now thinking democracy is a spectator sport when all we can do is watch our tv's greens and cheer for our side. democracy demands action. we can't sit back and get caught up in a state of sedentary education where we get so upset about the world going on, but we don't get up and do something about it. we cannot allow ourselves to let to do everything undermine our determination to do something. now, i call upon my generation to understand that we can never pay back the struggles and sacrifices of the generation before, but it is our moral obligation to pay it forward. so, now we must stand like king stood, like thousands of others stood, like ella baker stood, ,ike goodwin and cheney stood like the freedom riders stood, we must stand now. we must stand on till we live in a nation where it doesn't matter who you love, but we don't have second-class- citizenship for gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. we must stand until we become a nation where a woman working the same job as a man get the same pay. we must stand. we must stand for a country where 20% of our children are not shackled by the chains of poverty. we must stand today. we must stand in my generation. we must stand for a quality. we must then for justice. we must stand like those stood before us. because we still live in a country where anything is possible. as king said, change will not roll in on the wheels of inevitability. we must straighten our backs, stand together, and join together until india our nation becomes one where the call of the conscience of children close to coast when they say that profound pledge, when we make those words not aspirational, but true, that america is a country truly for all of his children, her children, that we are a nation of liberty and justice for all. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, cory booker. i was a member of the generation that was alive and on behalf of that generation, we welcome your energy and your focus. 50 years ago, the reverend dr. martin luther king stood here and put into mighty words, the hopes, dreams, the frustrations of millions of americans, black and white, that the people of this land were not yet only free. that none could enjoy the promise of our democracy until all could enjoy it. we all know his famous words, the dream he shared, placing disdain over brotherhood, his speech was a resonating call to action. one that impelled me and millions to channel our own commitment or civil rights into a life of activism for justice and equality. but what calls us here once more was the pronouncement that dr. , 1963 is when he said not an end but a beginning. that is what cory booker was talking about. america today has much to be proud of in no small part thanks to dr. king and my friend john lewis. countless others. they rode, spoke out, stood up, ,arched, languished in jails sat in and endured with dr. king called creative suffering. the historic election of president obama testifies to the progress we made which would not have been possible if not for the millions who sacrificed and raised their voices for change. , here here, all of us declare that we shall not rest, nor shall we the satisfied by the way things now stand. nationy people of our still inhabit islands of poverty and equality -- any quality. too many disparate and opportunities. too many have no voice in our democracy because they are told they have no valid id with which to vote or that they have to choose between going to work or to the polls. we will not rest. that is our pledge today. it was our pledge in 1963. a half-century later, we renew that pledge. let us march on. god bless you. [applause] >> next up, ladies and gentlemen, the first female speaker of the united states house of representatives, minority leader and i sure would like to call her madam speaker again, nancy pelosi. >> i guess it is still morning. good morning, everyone. leadership of the the congress of the united states, it is my official privilege to welcome so many of you to washington d c. to the steps of the lincoln memorial. i join my colleagues and associate myself with the remarks of those from congress who have spoken before me. that is official. personally, it is my very personal pleasure to be here with each and every one of you because i was here 50 years ago. so who among you is goin b the ke house, the president of the united states or whatever? you are a beautiful sight to behold. at that time, 50 years ago, we heard dr. king inspire us with the " i have a dream" part of his speech that was a call to action. it was the fierce urgency of now part of his speech. that time, dr. king said we refuse to take the ring quality drug of gradualism. ty drug ofli gradualism. we must move forward. ago, there were only five african-american members of the house of representatives. there was no congressional black caucus. members.ere are 43 we want more, but there are 43 african-american members area and are led by marcia fudge they are the conscience of the congress. in that black caucus, we have the privilege of serving with john lewis, some of us for over 25 years in the congress. aren't we proud of that? i also want to mention that 50 years ago, though he was not a member of congress at the time, john conyers was one of three people invited to the white house to meet with president john f. kennedy following the civil rights march, the march for jobs, justice and freedom. he was with us. 50 years ago, we had the first catholic president in the white house. today, we have the first african-american president and the first african-american first family leading our country so beautifully from the white house. timeme together here at a when there is a monument to reverend martin luther king on the mall. here he sit with president of the united states so appropriately. aside as aay set national holiday to celebrate his birthday. he would want us to celebrate by, his birth and his legacy acting upon his agenda, by realizing the dream, by making the minimum wage a living wage, by having not just family and medical leave but paid sick leave for our workers. by having quality affordable childcare so that our families -- the power of women in the unleashed in our economy and in our society. you know what, this just happens to be women's equality weekend. when women succeed, america succeeds. when people of color succeed, america succeeds. he would also want us to be fighting for voting rights. certainly, we must pass a bill in congress to correct what the supreme court did. we must also be sure that every person who is eligible to vote can vote and that their vote will be counted. when i was here 50 years ago, people said, that includes voting rights for the district of columbia. ago,i was here 50 years people said, what do you remember most? the music is playing, so i will say this. dr. king said this. 50 years ago. the music of the march, the harmony of the civil rights movement, the notes of dr. king for some inspirational words must continue to inspire us to compose as dr. king said, on that august afternoon, a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. are you ready to beat the drums for that beautiful symphony of brotherhood? are you ready to realize the dream? thank you you all very much. [applause] ♪ >> you can watch highlights of today's rally commemorating the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. tonight at 8:35 p.m. eastern here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> in his weekly address, president obama outlined his plans to make dalit education more affordable for students. indiana governor gave the republican address. he talks about the republican approach to help the american middle class. >> hi everybody. over the past month, i've been visiting towns across america, talking about what our country needs to do to secure a better bargain for the middle class. this week, i met with high school and college students in new york and pennsylvania to discuss the surest path to the middle class - some form of higher education. but at a moment when a higher education has never been more important, it's also never been more expensive. that's why, over the past four years, we've helped make college more affordable for millions of students and families with grants and loans that go farther from before. but students and families and taxpayers cannot just keep subsidizing college costs that keep going up and up. not when the average student now graduates more than $26,000 in debt. we cannot price the middle class out of a college education. that's why i proposed major new reforms to make college more affordable and make it easier for folks to pay for their education. first, we're going to start rating colleges based on opportunity - are they helping students from all kinds of backgrounds succeed, and on outcomes - their value to students and parents. in time, we'll use those ratings to make sure that the colleges that keep their tuition down are the ones that will see their taxpayer funding go up. second, we're going to jumpstart competition between colleges over innovations that help more students graduate in less time, at less cost, while maintaining quality. a number of schools are already testing new approaches, like putting more courses online or basing course credit on competence, not just hours spent in the classroom. and third, we're going to help more students responsibly manage their debt, by making more of them eligible for a loan repayment program called pay-as- you-earn, which caps your loan payments at 10 percent of what you make. and we'll reach out directly to students to make sure they know that this program exists. these reforms won't be popular with everybody. but the path we're on now is unsustainable for our students and our economy. higher education shouldn't be a luxury, or a roll of the dice; it's an economic imperative that every family in america should be able to afford. thanks, and have a great weekend. >> hello i am indiana governor mike pence. these are difficult days for too many americans. our economy isn't growing as fast as we like and businesses are creating as many jobs as we need. in states like indiana, we are working everyday to give people more feed them to grow their businesses during overregulation, higher taxes and new mandates coming from washington dc are stifling our economy and hurting efforts being made in states across the country. everywhere i go in indiana, i meet business owners and workers who are in survival mode. they are trying to figure out how to survive the new normal of more regulations, higher taxes and the impending costs and mandates of the affordable care act, also known as obamacare. as implementation of this law gets closer, we are working more -- learning more about the earnings it will place on americans. in indiana, the affordable care act will raise the average cost of health insurance in the individual market by an unaffordable 72%. obamaition, the administration is creating confusion in the marketplace. from the suspension of a cap on expenses to providing subsidies without verifying income, to a one-year suspension of the employer mandate, this healthcare law is weighing down our economy. it is costing jobs, discouraging investment and making the future bleak for too many families. there is an alternative to waiting on washington dc to come to its senses, and more americans are realizing every day that a cure for what ails this country is starting to emerge. not in our nation's capital, but in our nation's state capitals. all across this country, 30 republican governors are working hard to push back and preserve freedom. while washington raises taxes, republican governors are cutting them. as washington stifles job growth by adding new regulations, republican governors are adding jobs. by eliminating unneeded regulations and bringing fresh approaches to some of the nation's greatest challenges. nowhere is this more true than in healthcare. here in indiana, we run a nationally recognized a ramp called the healthy indiana plan -- a called the healthy indiana plan. it offers the uninsured and affordable healthcare plan with savings accounts that they control, giving people in indiana more freedom and more responsibly over their healthcare. this has improved outcomes. 95% of our plan's enrollees are satisfied with their coverage. this is a perfect example that by freedom and personal response ability working together, you reduce the need for government. republican governors understand this and the provision our results. these are tough times. this healthcare law may make them tougher still. that is why we should always remember on whose shoulders bestowed. never forget, as president reagan reminded us, that the states created the federal government, the federal government didn't create the states. our founders insisted that protecting the state's power to govern themselves was vital to limit the power of washington and preserve freedom. they were right then and as republican governors are proving every day, they are even more right now. more freedom and flexibility for the principal leadership emerging in states across the country can and will promote good health care and a healthy economy. thanks for listening. >> on the next washington journal, we discussed the foreign policy challenges that the u.s. faces in countries like egypt and syria. guy taylor of the washington times and for the frankie of the christian science monitor join us. we talk about potential successors to ben bernanke. talks aboutnald humanitarian efforts in turkey, jordan and lebanon in response to the health impacts of the syrian civil war. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. c-span, created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> has technology plateaued? >> no, absolutely not. absolutely not. changingy is always and always coming up -- technology companies are always coming up with something new and there are new technology companies all the time

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