March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
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The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large political rally that took place on August 28, 1963. It was organized principally by A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr. During this March, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Between 200,000 and 500,000 people were in attendance.
The march caused great concern within the administration of President John F. Kennedy. It was believed that the march would undermine pending civil rights legislation and damage the international image of the United States. It was a major factor leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The march was also condemned by the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, who termed it the "farce on Washington".
Four out of five marchers were black. The speakers included SNCC leader John Lewis, labor leaders such as Walter Reuther, clergy, film stars such as Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier and Marlon Brando and singers such as Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (as seen in Scorsese's film No Direction Home, who performed after Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech).
An earlier March on Washington had been proposed by Randolph, Rustin, and A.J. Muste in 1941 to protest racial segregation in the armed forces. This march was cancelled after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802.
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