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Thousands of people are expected in Washington D.C. on August 28 for a march on the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. This year’s march is dedicated to putting an end to police brutality.
The event, known as the “Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,” will take place at the Lincoln Memorial 57 years to the day of the 1963 march, where Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” address. Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) announced the march back in June following the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in May.
“George Floyd’s story is the story of black folks,” he said, according to Essence. “You kept your knee on our neck. We had creative skills, but we couldn’t get your knee off our neck. It’s time for us in George’s name to stand up and say, ‘Get your knee off our necks.’”
Martin Luther King, III, who will be speaking before the march, said in a statement that the country finds itself in the “midst of the largest civil and human rights movement in history.”
He continued: “Now is the time and this is the generation that can realize the dream my father spoke of 57 years ago. Black Americans are still bearing the same hardships my father worked to eradicate, and the only way we can hope to see the future he dreamt of is by continuing the peaceful and radical work he bagan years ago.”
The March on Washington will include pre-programing, a 2-hour program, a march and conclusion event. Speakers will address the senseless killings of Black Americans at the hands of police, as well as criminal justice reform, voter protection and more. Event organizers are encouraging participants to register to vote, fill out the Census and consider becoming poll workers ahead of the march.
Speakers will include the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner, as well as attorney Benjamin Crump, Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III.
Marchers will begin marching at 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial and will make their way towards the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. A route map can be found here.
