Chairman’s Corner 60th Commeration of the March on Washington

Written By: Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Chairman of the Board

This coming July 25, I am honored an humbled to be I was recently honored and humbled to be recognized at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, NC. This museum is built around the sit in movement at the Woolworth’s lunch counter with students who dared eat at a “White Only” lunch counter. The theme for the event was “The March Continues to Washington” as it was only about month before the 60th Commemoration of the March on Washington. The honor moved my thoughts to these moments in history and how we should use the past to inform the present. I am minded of my own personal history of the March on Washington, which I address in my book, In Peace and Freedom; My Journey in Selma.

I went back and forth in my mind about whether or not to go to the march. Someone in a leadership position needed to be on hand in Alabama to deal with any problems that might occur in response to the march. So after a discussion of the situation with SNCC members and local leaders in Selma, a decision was made for one of us to remain in Alabama in case there wany backlash from this national and historic event. And that someone was me.

Often, people mistakenly think that movements are about marches. Marches have been and continue to be important, however, if there are not organized foot soldiers on the ground doing the overlooked but important work on nonviolent civil disobedience, those marches would fall on deaf ears. For instance, my friend, Diane Nash who had done so much for the March but like me, was unable to be in Washington because she was still mobilizing in Birmingham with her then husband James Bevel. She was recognized as on the six women who were Women Freedom Fighters but couldn’t be there in person. That, in many ways, embodies the true work of the movement.

Of course, watching Dr. King deliver the “I Have a Dream Speech” to the nation was inspiring. Seeing the masses come to DC and deliver a message that the people were united and speaking loudly that we wanted our freedom, and we were not going to idly sit by as second- class citizens in this country any longer reminded me of why I myself had endured so many nights in prison and beatings in my own life.

As I reflect on the events of the time, I am surprised to find myself as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I am honored to serve along side our current National President/CEO Dr. Charles Steele, Jr. Together we have endured some rough patches and challenges. It is not as easy to keep an organization alive that the world often wants to see through the lens of history but not with the activism of today. But that is the indeed the message of today…That the March Continues to Washington. Commemorations of the past have their place, but what keeps me fighting is knowing so many people in this country and worldwide still yearn for those two principles the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were fighting for in August 1963; Jobs and Freedom. It should be noted that even then, those of us in the movement saw the need for economics to go hand in hand with the pursuit of freedom. It is a sentiment that ultimately ended up with the SCLC and Dr. King launching the Poor Peoples Campaign, a campaign that I headed at the behest of Dr. King as we were bringing again a message from the masses to Washington DC.

As the SCLC descends into Washington DC, not just for the 60th Commemoration of the March on Washington but also our 64th Annual Convention of the SCLC highlighted on August 25th with the Presidential Address and Awards ceremony it is my sincerest hope to see many of you reading this commentary to join us. If not in person, join in spirit, membership, and movement to the SCLC. The commemoration of these historic moments is not complete if we do not remember the organizations and people who made history. The groups known as the “Big 6”, A. Phillip Randolph Institution, CORE, SNCC, NAACP and the National Urban League. Organizers, such as Diane Nash and Bayard Rustin. The historic speeches including Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” and John Lewis’ fiery speech from a then 23-year spokesperson for SNCC. The history of the moment is immense. But if we forget the organizing on the ground, the insistence on jobs, and that it is more important to work than to be seen in the movement then these pivotal historic moments will have been for naught. That is why I continue to fight, and I will keep on marching until we all get to Freedom Land.