The March on Washington

Introduction
It is August 1963, and tensions have been mounting in the year leading up to this day. I don’t think anyone realized the impact this march would have on the civil rights movement or if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew his impromptu speech alone would have a significant impact on the American people and on the soon to fallow political choices. Had this march not have gone the way it did things may have taken longer to move forward and the Civil Act Movement in my opinion may have been stunted and delayed.

Body
Between 1940’s and 1963 there had been two marches organized on Washington the first was led by A. Philip Randolph whom was the consummate black political organizer of his age. He labored unrelentingly to get individuals and groups to put aside their divisive, parochial, and often petty concerns and close ranks in the formation of a mass movement for the common good. The foremost architect of the modern Civil Rights movement, he urged boycotts in the South against Jim Crow trains, buses, schools, and businesses. “Nonviolent Good Will Direct Action” is what he labeled his movement to gain social equality decades before Martin Luther King, Jr., and others emerged on the 1960’s political scene. If not the man himself, then his influence and ideas were at home at the forefront of virtually every civil rights campaign from the 1930’s through the 1960’s, including desegregation of public accommodations and schools, ending of restrictive covenants, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the 1957 March on Washington. Randolph is to be credited for his role in passage of the 1957, 1960, and 1964 civil rights acts and the voting rights bill of 1965 as well as one award stated: “No individual did more to help the poor, the dispossessed and the working class in the United States and around the world than A. Philip Randolph.” (Yeakey, 2014). Although Kennedy was opposed to the idea he reluctantly agreed for the march to take place. The March on Washington took place on a hot and humid August day. All the major civil rights organizations, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and National Urban League (NUL) and numerous liberal allies and entertainers headed the march. After gathering near the Washington Monument, more than two hundred thousand men and women, black and white, set out for the Lincoln Memorial, brandishing banners demanding voting rights, decent housing and jobs, and an end to segregation. At the Lincoln Memorial, featured speeches and performances from John Lewis, Josephine Baker, Mahalia Jackson, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan and by clergymen, prominent liberals, and civil rights leaders. Among the most memorable speeches were those by Walter Reuther, the president of the United Automobile Workers union, and John Lewis, the chairman of SNCC. Although Lewis modified his address at the last minute to appease moderates, his speech still stood out for its stridency. King stirred both those assembled and those in radio and television audiences with his description of his “dream” that one day black children and white children would “walk together as sisters and brothers” and that the nation would “rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed (Levy, 2015).” The march took place without any violence, much to the credit of Bayard Rustin, who attended to every detail, from the coordinating of speakers to feeding the hungry. King spoke last that day because no one else wanted too, no one thought that the camera crews and news station would stay that long but they did. King had not originally planned on telling his “I have a dream” speech, but when it was his turn as he stood at the podium speaking Mahalia Jackson stood up and told King to “tell the people about his dream.” (Staff, 2009) .

Conclusion
The impact of Mr. King’s speech and the march came at a pivotal time for the Civil Act Movement and as a result the march was an unprecedented success. More than 200,000 black and white Americans shared a joyous day of speeches, songs, and prayers led by a celebrated array of clergymen, civil rights leaders, politicians, and entertainers. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s soaring address climaxed the day; through his eloquence, the phrase “I Have a Dream” became an expression of the highest aspirations of the civil rights movement.

Like its predecessor, the March on Washington of 1963 was followed by years of disillusion and racial strife. Nevertheless, both marches represented an affirmation of hope, of belief in the democratic process, and of faith in the capacity of blacks and whites to work together for racial equality. Many believe that the successful marches acted as a catalyst for the Civil Act bill being passed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. With tensions mounting and very strong opinions and emotions from both sides the march proved that all races sexes and nationality can pull together and in a very political fashion make our voices heard and understood. I firmly believe that had this particular march went the other way that the progress our nations people so desperately needed would have been stunted and taken months years or maybe even longer to achieve.

Bibliography
Levy, P. B. (2015). March on Washington. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Staff, H. (2009). March on Washington. Retrieved march 5, 2015, from History.com: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/march-on-washington
Yeakey, L. H. (2014). A. Philip Randolph. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia.