Thousands arrive for new March on Washington

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands gathered early Saturday on the nation's "front yard," the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial, yearning for a bit of that transcendent sense of racial unity heralded on this spot by the Rev. Martin Luther King 50 years ago in his "I Have a Dream" speech.
With a message that the nation's racial tension remains unfinished to this day, aging veterans of the original March on Washington gathered with younger generations, amassing a crowd that in contrast is more female, more Hispanic, more diverse by sexual orientation and far more tech-savvy than 50 years ago.
Rumbling into the city on a bus this morning from Asbury Park, N.J., was 16-year-old Qion Nicholson, whose only knowledge of the original event were things gained from studies. He says now feels like part of an historical addendum.
"I'm grateful to be living in today's era," says Nicholson, of Sayreville. "The (original) march meant so much for our country."
As sunlight splashed across the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial where King spoke half a century ago, Lillian Reynolds, a minister and social worker from Mt. Vernon, N.Y., said she was there because of goals still unmet.
Literacy rates remain too low and black unemployment too high, she said before moving off in a rush to get through tight security and see her son, gospel hip-hop artist JProphet, slated to perform. "Trying to get there and not miss it," Reynolds said.
The mood leading up to today's event was a world away from 1963 when 250,000 descended on the city during a violent summer of police dogs and fire hoses unleashed on demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala.. Civil rights leader Medgar Evans was gunned down in front of his family in Jackson, Miss., and President John F. Kennedy attempted to dissuade march organizers from holding the event, fearing violence. Federal troops were amassed outside the city, federal workers sent home and liquor stores closed.