Remember When: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Sixty-two years ago today, a quarter of a million people filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest demonstrations for justice in American history: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Black and white, young and old, faith leaders, union workers, students, families — they came together to demand equality, dignity, and opportunity. The air was thick with heat and hope as voices rose for civil rights, fair wages, decent housing, and the end of segregation.

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. His words were not just poetry — they were a challenge, a vision of a nation where justice “rolls down like waters,” and where children would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The march helped push forward the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It bent history — but it did not end the struggle.

The dream is unfinished. The call to march, to demand freedom, equality, and dignity, still echoes today.