Sunday, Aug 24, 2003
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More than merely a respectful nod to the past, the observances planned in coming days are an effort to re-energise activism around a host of issues that organisers say are as pressing today as they were in 1963. Planners say the weekend's activities are the beginning of a 15-month rolling mobilisation to ``redeem the heart and soul of America'' before next November's presidential election. ``My father talked about the eradication of poverty, racism, militarism and violence,'' said Martin King, president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and son of the Rev. Martin Luther King, whose ``I Have a Dream,'' speech became the galvanising high point of the 1963 march. ``Those issues are still very much in our midst.'' Though the actual anniversary of the march is Aug. 28, commemorative events organised by the coalition will begin on Friday with a dedication by the National Park Service of an engraving on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, marking the spot where King delivered the famous speech. Coretta Scott King, wife of the slain leader, will attend as will Representative John Lewis, who was the youngest speaker at the original march. Prayer vigils and teach-ins are scheduled to follow, culminating with a march and rally on Saturday afternoon. Organisers hope the national activities will generate enough momentum to build support for several upcoming events around the country, the first of which will be on Aug. 28 in Cincinnati, where longstanding racial tensions have bubbled to the surface in recent years over accusations of police brutality and inequitable treatment of blacks. ``We march recognising that we can no longer do a one-day demonstration,'' said the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, who directed anniversary marches in 1983 and 1993. Among the most important activities planned between now and election day, said Fauntroy, will be nationwide voter registration drives, many of which will be aimed at young people. Described by organisers as an attempt to bring together ``the sit-in generation and the hip-hop generation,'' the outreach to youth will begin this weekend with a poetry jam on Friday night, and the inclusion of representatives from several youth-oriented groups to the list of speakers on Saturday. Sustaining dedicated interest past the anniversary, though, say some of those who work regularly to rally voters, will not be easy. ``For this to be successful will require us to formalise a lot of informal tactics,'' said Joe Leonard, public policy and political director for the Washington office of the Rainbow Push Coalition. ``As individual groups, we already do things community outreach things, separately, and often spontaneously. What we need now are well-thought-out, combined contingencies, planned well in advance.'' The coalition's main sponsors include traditional civil rights organisations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Council of Negro Women, as well as long-time allies such as labour unions and women's rights groups. Other major players, however, such as the Arab American Institute and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, illustrate the expanding breadth of the civil rights movement. In past years, some Jewish groups, who gave crucial support to the movement in 1963, opposed the inclusion of Arab groups. Some religious groups protested adding gay and lesbian organisations to join in as speakers. Common concerns over issues like racial profiling and hate crimes, representatives of the groups said this week, are helping to push some differences aside. ``This is the first one of these marches that we have entered as truly full partners,'' said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. ``This tree has grown and now has many branches. This weekend provides an opportunity for the branches to come together, and back to the roots, to refocus the vision.'' The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is organising several busloads of people to come to march from New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and North Carolina. ``We don't equate our struggle for rights with the historic struggle for civil rights,'' said Matt Foreman, the organisation's executive director. ``But we're facing unprecedented attacks on the values we all share. And we need to set aside our minor differences to fight these attacks''. Unlike events marking the 20th anniversary of the march, for which planning began a year in advance, this year's activities have been primarily pulled together in recent weeks and months. Some involved have expressed quiet worry over how many people will turn out. But publicly, leaders are downplaying the issue of headcount. ``We're confident that however, many people come,'' said Martin King. ``It will be sufficient to inspire millions.'' — New York Times
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