Reposted from @prismreports Sixty years have passed since 250,000 people mobilized in Washington, D.C. for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom for Black Americans’ economic & civil rights. Created by labor unionist #APhilipRandolph & activist #BayardRustin, the march brought together Black labor advocates; unions like the @UAW; organizers; civil rights groups like the @NAACP & @sclcgkc; Black activists; & workers as a united front.
While the march was exceptional in its sheer scope & pressured then-President John F. Kennedy to push the #CivilRightsAct through Congress, there were & remain many critiques. Malcolm X called it the “farce on Washington”; #JohnLewis revised his speech after organizers asked him to tone down critiques of the Kennedy administration; #JamesBaldwin was barred from speaking because of his identity as a gay man; & no woman was included in the line-up of speakers.
In an effort to reach a wide audience, the march lacked the radical critiques of capitalism, white supremacy, & imperialism in calling for racial & economic justice. “Capitalism was built on the exploitation of Black slaves & continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor, both Black & white, both here & abroad,” stated Dr. Martin Luther King in “The Three Evils” speech, a year before he was murdered.
In the six decades since the march, the U.S. government & the lobbying power of corporations systematically hacked away at labor power, unions, & critical workers’ rights gains. Black Americans disproportionately continue to live in a hyper-surveilled police state & are terrorized by police forces that murder with impunity.
From our on-the-ground coverage, we’ve seen how workers have been—& still are—fighting back, including the Black working class, incarcerated laborers, & Black women organizing service workers in the South.
Prism’s reporting reflects the lived realities of Black families & communities, & the fight for labor rights & everything it touches. The March Continues because it must, & we’re here to report on it. Read more about our project using the link in bio or on prismreports.org.
#MarchOnWashington #MOW60
