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40th
Anniversary Celebration of the
March on Washington
Flashback: President Kennedy
introduces a civil rights bill and the nation's most influential leaders
call for a rally to signal their support. On August 28, 1963, a quarter
of a million people from all walks of life respond and come together at
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. USA.
An assassin soon kills Kennedy. Vice President Johnson becomes President and signs the bill into law in
1964. To celebrate the march,
these and other events, all which are free, will take place in Washington,
D.C.:
Friday, Aug 22
6:30p -
9:00p Bearing Witness to a Dream Deferred. National Museum of American
History, Carmichael Auditorium, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW. A roundtable
discussion with Congresspersons John Lewis (D-GA) and Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, Plus, Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field organizers and members of
the SNCC Freedom Singers, Rutha Mae Harris and Charles Neblett.
7:00p
Screening of Brother Outsider - The Life of Bayard Rustin with special guests and post-screening discussion. The Kennedy Center for
The Performing Arts; 2700 F Street, NW. Pre-Screening Reception/Cash Bar,
6:00p.
we
reprint the following film review from the November 2002 - April 2003
print issue of Port of Harlem. Port Of Harlem also sponsored
an advanced screening on the film.
Brother Outsider: The Bayard Rustin
Story
by Edward Hill
Bayard Rustin was one of the most prolific figures during
the Civil Rights Movement. The documentary Brother Outsider:
The
Life of Bayard Rustin, explores his life. PBS will air the film
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 at 10p ET (check local listings). "If one gets
out and begin to defend ones right and the rights of others, spiritual
growth takes place," was his constant battle cry.
One of his most significant contributions was his work
as the Coordinator and Executive Director for the 1963 March on Washington. He advised Dr. King and President Johnson. Rustin debated Malcolm X
and Kwame Toure. He was openly gay.
Eleanor Holmes Norton questioned it best when she
asked, "Why did he remain in the background, why was he the advisor to
this, that or the other great person, but never himself coming forward
in the full measure of his great talent?" She simply replied, "I think because
he recognized that in a world in which homosexuality was roundly condemned,
he would be a liability to movements or to those he advised."
7:30p Prayer Vigil
at Lincoln Memorial
9:00p Spoken Word on
Washington (Open Mic Poetry) at Lincoln Memorial
Saturday, Aug. 23
11:00a - 1:00p - Session I - Workshop Teach-In at Lincoln
Memorial Reflecting Pool
1:00a - 3:00p Session II - Workshop Teach-In at Lincoln
Memorial Reflecting Pool
3:30 - 5:30p Mass Rally at Lincoln Memorial
Tuesday, August 26
6:30p - 8:30p Patrick
Henry Bass Booksigning
Karibu Bookstore
Bowie Town Center Mall
- Bowie, MD
(301) 352-4110
Patrick Henry
Bass will discuss and sign Like a Mighty Stream: The March on Washington
August 28 1963.
Bass, the books editor
at Essence and coauthor of In Our Own Image, eschews dry, documented
history in favor of interviewing people who participated in the event
and writing from the heart. The result is a compelling, emotional narrative
that brings to life the trials and tribulations of Black Americans in the
era, the struggles over organizing the march and its resounding success.
Thursday, August 28
Let Freedom Ring
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Ossie
Davis hosts an evening of reflections and music. Music by Metropolitan
Baptist Music Ministry and Georgetown University Gospel Choir.
Tuesday, September 2 - Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Photographer's Collective at International Visions Gallery
2927 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Images by Robert Houston and Port Of Harlem contributing photographer Jonathan B. French commemorate the 40th
Anniversary of the March on Washington. Opening Reception is
Saturday, September 7, 2003 from 6p - 8p.
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