GU honors King’s legacy

Georgetown is sponsoring an event this evening to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Civil rights activist Ossie Davis will speak at the Kennedy Center, followed by a performance by the Georgetown Gospel Choir.
“This is a good illustration of Georgetown’s commitment to social justice,” said Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson. “Not many college students have the opportunity to be in walking distance from the place where the original event took place,” he said.
The Georgetown event follows a series of commemorative events that took place last weekend in the city. The largest of these was a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial last Saturday in which several thousand civil rights activists participated.
While the rally was much smaller than those held on the 20th and 30th anniversaries of King’s original speech, activists claimed it appropriately reflected the diversity of the modern civil rights movement better than any previous event; feminists, Native Americans, the disabled, Arab Americans, and gays and lesbians were invited to participate.
The march on the mall began in the morning with several teach-ins in West Potomac Park. The teach-ins were intended to educate leaders in the civil rights movement in generating community-wide change.
In the afternoon, the group marched to the Lincoln Memorial, the site of the original speech, to hear several speakers active in the civil rights movement.
While there was no official estimate of the size of the rally, the Washington Post estimated attendance at a few thousand. Many were disappointed by unexpectedly low turnout. However, this march is only the beginning of a 15-month voter registration drive.
Martin Luther King III, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, opened the rally with a call to action. Other speakers included King’s widow Coretta Scott King, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Representative John Lewis of Georgia, the only surviving speaker from the original rally.
Democratic Presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton also spoke, while candidates Carol Moseley Braun and Dr. Howard Dean attended the rally, according to the Washington Post.
Other events included poetry readings, prayer vigils, and the unveiling of a plaque simply stating “I Have a Dream” on the exact spot from which King delivered the famous speech. In addition, Sotheby’s auction house put the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers, a collection of King’s personal writings, on display for eventual sale.