Today is an important day for our nation, the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom held on August 28, 1963.
The March on Washington was a dramatic and transformative moment in the history of the Black Freedom Movement and in 20th century American history more broadly. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the March “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”
Dr. Clarence B. Jones played a central role in this history.
As legal counsel and strategic advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Clarence B. Jones represented Dr. King on the planning committee for the March with lead organizers Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, leaders of national civil rights organizations including Whitney Young (National Urban League) and Roy Wilkins (NAACP), and James Farmer (CORE), and student activist leaders, John Lewis and Cortland Cox (SNCC).
In his role as Dr. King’s draft speechwriter, Dr. Jones wrote the first seven paragraphs of the iconic speech Dr. King delivered to the nation on that day.
Fifty-seven years later, Dr. Jones wrote a public statement about the meaning and legacy of the March on Washington, and the USF Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice spearheaded its distribution to surviving veterans of the Black Freedom Movement, including those who worked closely with Dr. King and John Lewis to organize the March and make it happen.
Journalist Jonathan Capehart published a piece about the statement in today’s Washington Post, including the statement text, and the list of distinguished signatories.
Verizon published an interview with Dr. Jones in its #Next20 series that has run on multiple public platforms, including HuffPost.
And Dr. Jones was interviewed by Pulitzer prize and Emmy award winning journalist, Trymaine Lee for his podcast Into America.
Here is the concluding section of the civil rights movement veterans’ statement:
To honor the memory of our beloved Martin King, we can never be satisfied until we have overcome racism, poverty and racism. We can never be satisfied until we achieve the Beloved Community in our country and throughout the world. We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Honoring Dr. King, we are humbled on this day.
With admiration and gratitude, we pass his torch to the activist youth in the Black Lives Matter, March for our Lives, and climate justice movements.
We know that their marvelous new nonviolent militancy will lead us to the Promised Land.
Our obligation on this day is to follow their leadership.
We urge all Americans to join our courageous nonviolent young activists in the hard work of building a just and free society in which we shall overcome.
Wake up, America! Wake up!
