Thousands Descend on Nation's Capital to Commemorate Original March on Washington

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — They came from near and far. New York, Virginia, California and Illinois.

Of course, many, like Janine Brown, of Reynoldstown, came from Atlanta, birthplace of the modern day Civil Rights movement.

Brown, a union and community activist,  sent us these photos from Saturday's March on Washington.

The day's events commemorate the original March in 1963 that served as the backdrop for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

When the original marchers descended upon Washington, they wanted full and equal inclusion and acceptance as Americans — centered around the right to vote.

They won that right and arguably, 50 years later, black Americans have made huge strides in the quest for equality.

In the corporate world, they hold the reins of power to some of the world's biggest companies, from American Express Co. and Darden Restaurants Inc. to McDonald's Corp. and Merck & Co.

In government, they've risen, too, on both sides of the political spectrum from Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas to Gen. Colin Powell and former Secretary of State Condelezza Rice.

Of course, though he's only half-black, the election of Barack Obama as president of the U.S. marked a historic turning point in a country where decades earlier such a feat would seem impossible.

Despite the progress, much work remains.

"This is not the time for nostalgic commemoration," the Guardian newspaper quoted Martin Luther King III saying. "The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more."

Indeed, several states that comprised the Confederacy, now unshackled by the Supreme Court's decision this year to throw out parts of the Voting Rights Act, are in overdrive to enact legislation designed to prevent phantom illegal voting but has the result of keeping minorities from the ballot boxes.

The country's changing demographics also is creating angst and fostering an anti-immigrant backlash.

The feverish pitch from the right that exists beyond the reasonable discussion surrounding immigration and national security makes one wonder if the "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," couplet from Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus" poem, came with an asterisk that read: As long as they're European and Protestant.

Women reproductive rights are also under attack with several states enacting legislation that seems to violate Roe v. Wade.

Women, too, run international conglomerates including PepsiCo Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., General Dynamics Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Still rank and file females in the American workforce make an average of 77 cents for every dollar a man makes for doing the same job.

And of course, this generation's big social fight for equality centers around the gay rights movement and marriage equality.

Some black Americans eschew the comparison of gay rights to civil rights for racial minorities, but you could argue they are both linked.

Baynard Rustin, a black pacifist who organized the original march of 1963, was gay, leaving both movements inextricably linked, as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in its statement about today's march.

"Today's commemoration of the march on Washington was in the spirit of Bayard Rustin — the openly gay man who was the lead organizer of the march 50 years ago — and an extraordinary and magnificent showing of support for Dr. King's dream of jobs, justice, freedom and equality: a dream that is yet to be fulfilled," the Rev. Darlene Nipper, Task Force deputy executive director said.

So the struggle — or struggles continue.

With each step forward we take, we have to pause to see not only how far we've come toward the highest ideals of America and full equality, but just how far we have yet to go.