This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Tiana Pigford.
Fifty years after civil rights trail blazers demanded racial equality on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, their children and grandchildren joined thousands of others Saturday to commemorate their struggle.
On GW’s move-in day, more than 50 students were part of the anniversary march across the National Mall, sharing stories of the challenges their ancestors faced as immigrants or as members of ethnic or racial minorities.
Senior Danica Brown, president of the Black Student Union, said the original march impacted her parents, who emigrated from Jamaica and had their outlook on civil rights shaped by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
But, Brown said, “today is not just about Dr. King’s speech. It’s about the mobilization of people all over the country and all over the world and being inspired.”
Demonstrators started off at the D.C. War Memorial, where Mayor Vincent Gray and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., declared the fight for equality far from over, especially in the District. The officials spoke out for D.C. statehood and congressional voting rights.
Attorney General Eric Holder and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also spoke during events throughout the day.
Bryson Thomas, director of multicultural affairs for the Student Association, said he took part in the march to honor his grandparents, who were expelled from schools in New Orleans because of their race.
Marchers from across the country bore signs and sported t-shirts that blasted the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to strike down a part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and a jury’s decision to acquit George Zimmerman of murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. Both events stirred national discourse over the summer about race, including a candid speech from President Barack Obama, who will speak Wednesday on the anniversary of King’s speech.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion coordinated the GW-led group, which included members of the University’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Racially and Ethnically Mixed Student Association.
Camille Milton, a freshman from Indiana, said the event helped take note of political issues like minimum wage laws.
“There are so many issues that need to be addressed, and you can’t just do that by talking to your friends about it. I’m glad that I can physically be here and not just think about it from home,” she said.
Whitney Dixon, the leader of the NAACP chapter at GW, echoed political commentators when she said many of the problems brought to the national agenda in 1963 were still unresolved.
“We should always be working towards progress. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that things had been better than his ancestors, but he wanted the best. He wanted change. It didn’t matter if it seemed unrealistic. He wanted that dream and that’s why I’m here today,” Dixon said.
