ST PAUL, Minnesota — Sixty years ago, an estimated 250,000 people gathered on the National Mall for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Organizers were calling for everything from job training and a new minimum wage, to meaningful civil rights legislation across the country.
It's where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.
"People kind of reduce the march to Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. They miss that this was a march for jobs and freedom. They were talking about economic justice; they were talking about fair housing; they were talking about education. And importantly, if you go back and look at the images and the placards that the demonstrators brought with them to D.C., a lot of them said, 'End police brutality now,'" explained Dr. Yohuru Williams, a professor of history and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas.
Williams is the co-author of "More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." The book — geared towards middle-grade readers, ages 10-14 — comes out Tuesday, Aug. 29.
"I think living here in the Twin Cities, and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, and witnessing this national pushback against the teaching of African American history, my co-author Michael Long and I said we have to start thinking about writing for younger generations," Williams said. "We have to start thinking about recasting this history in a way that we don't go for the typical American progress narrative, but we tell stories and we tell our history in a way that helps people connect the dots."
Besides King, there were nine other speakers for the March on Washington. Williams encourages people to revisit the speeches and learn more about the leaders behind the historic event, including those with ties to Minnesota.
"You have Roy Wilkins who speaks on that day and he at that time was heading up the largest civil rights organization in the nation, the NAACP. Anna Arnold Hedgeman, who went to school here and lived in the Twin Cities for awhile, was also one of the principle organizers of the March on Washington — the only female organizer who was part of the planning committee for the March on Washington," Williams said.
"More Than a Dream" also touches on how Black women played an important, though often overlooked, role in the March on Washington.
"Moments like this are an incredible opportunity for us to revisit not just the speeches but the fact that even in the march itself, there were some things that they failed to address. Women, there are no female speakers who are a part of the march. You have female activists, people like Pauli Murray, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, who call out A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King and say this is a serious omission if you don't include women's voices in this moment," Williams said.
It led to Myrlie Evers being added to the program to include a tribute to Black women.
While the March on Washington was a call to action, much remains unanswered.
"The demands haven't really changed that much. Really the question is can we point to tangible results in terms of addressing some of those," Williams said. "The other big one was voting rights and of course we find ourselves in our contemporary moment talking about the necessity of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act even though one of the outcomes of the March on Washington was the Voting Rights Act of 1965, course it's more connected to the Selma campaign of 1965. But they were talking about voting rights in 1963... we're still talking about that."
Williams is holding a MasterClass for the Racial Justice Initiative on Sept. 13 called "More than a Dream: Sixty Years After the March on Washington." The session includes a 45-minute presentation by Williams, followed by a 15-minute Q&A. There is also an in-person social hour with Williams scheduled for the week after. Both are free but registration is required.
"We shouldn't take these as simply commemorations of moments. We should use them as opportunities to revisit that history and to think concretely about how we can make that change real and lasting," Williams said.
"More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" will be released Tuesday, Aug. 29.
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