Thousands gathered in Washington, DC, on Friday to amplify and commemorate messages from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered from the Lincoln Memorial 57 years ago on August 28.
Friday brought about the convergence of two events in Washington, DC: the “Get Off Our Necks” Commitment March organized by Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s virtual March on Washington.
“I’m marching for George, Breonna [Taylor], Jacob [Blake], Pamela Turner, Michael Brown, Trayvon [Martin] and anybody else who lost their lives to evil.”
Four former Minneapolis Police officers – Derek Chauvin, Alexander Kueng, Tuo Thao and Thomas Lane – have been charged in relation to Floyd’s killing.
The parents of Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot by a father-son duo in Glynn County, Georgia, and Jacob Blake Sr., the father of Wisconsin shooting victim Jacob Blake, also spoke at the event.
“We come today, Black and white and all races and religions and sexual orientations, to say this dream is still alive. You might have killed the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream, because truth crushed to Earth shall rise again,” Sharpton said.
“Get your knee off our neck. Enough is enough,” Sharpton said, repeating words uttered months prior at the same location.
Sharpton has recently spoken out about Congress – particularly the US Senate – and the need for it to pass important civil rights legislation, such as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.
“Without it ending in legislation, historians will say there was a summer of discontent after George Floyd,” Sharpton remarked in a TIME100 Talks discussion with Emmy-winning producer Mia Tramz.
People attend the ‘Get Your Knee Off Our Necks’ march in support of racial justice, in Washington, U.S., August 28, 2020
Human rights activist Martin Luther King III, King’s son, also delivered remarks to the audience on Friday.
“We are courageous, but conscious of our health. We are socially distanced but spiritually united. We are masking our faces, but not our faith and freedom. We are taking our struggle to the streets and social media,” he said. “The nation has never seen such a mighty, modern-day incarnation of what my father called a coalition of freedom”.
“The people are in there for the long fight, and it’s going to be a long fight.”
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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