08/28/2026
Remembering the March on Washington — August 28, 1963
Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one of the defining moments of the American Civil Rights Movement.
On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people gathered peacefully in Washington, D.C., filling the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument. They came from across the country—by bus, train, car, plane, and on foot—to call upon our nation to more fully live up to its promises of freedom, equality, dignity, and opportunity for all Americans.
It was there, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered words that would echo through generations:
“I have a dream today.”
And from that same historic address:
“Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
The March was about more than one speech or one individual. Leaders including A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, John Lewis, Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, and many others helped organize a movement demanding jobs, voting rights, desegregation, fair employment, and equal treatment under the law.
Perhaps most importantly, the March belonged to the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans who showed up. People of different races, religions, backgrounds, and walks of life stood together because they believed America could—and should—be better.
Sixty-three years later, their courage remains worthy of remembrance.
Today, we honor those who marched, those who spoke, those who organized, and those whose names history may never record. We remember the progress their determination helped make possible, while recognizing that the ideals they carried to Washington—liberty, justice, equality, and respect for our fellow human beings—remain responsibilities for every generation.
As Dr. King would later remind the nation:
“We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
May we continue to do our part to bend it.
Remembering August 28, 1963.
