Democracy rally planned for anniversary of MLK-led March on Washington

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A coalition of civil rights leaders on Tuesday announced plans for a march on Washington next month in response to recent court rulings they say weakened long-standing protections for minority voters.

The coalition is led by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and joined by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, the NAACP and multiple other civil rights groups.

The National Urban League and the League of Latin American Citizens are also expected to be in attendance, as well as Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Congressional Black caucus.

The “March on Washington: Defend the Vote” will take place on Aug. 28, marking the 63rd anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington that culminated with Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech.

“Defending the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Sixty-three years after my father stood at the Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, but in action.”

Organizers said the march was prompted partly due to a landmark Supreme Court decision in April that weakened the Voting Rights Act. In a 6-3 ruling, the court struck down key protections against racial gerrymandering, leading to a wave of redistricting across multiple states.

Event organizers told Reuters that they hope to use the event to squeeze lawmakers and pressure them to respond to the eroded federal voting protections.

The event was also described as an answer to “the same call our elders answered, with the same demand for a nation that keeps its promise,” according to the event’s website.

The march on Washington honors the historic racial justice demonstration that occurred decades earlier, where Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech was delivered to a crowd of an estimated 250,000 people at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in support of federal protections for civil rights and voting rights.

“We return to the ground where a quarter million Americans once stood for jobs and freedom, and we carry their unfinished work into a new generation,” organizers said.

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Al Sharpton

Arndrea Waters King

Civil Rights leaders

March on Washington

Martin Luther King III

Martin Luther King Jr.

racial gerrymandering

Supreme Court

Voting Rights Act

Yvette Clarke

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