In the early morning hours on Friday, 55 St. Louis passengers boarded a bus en route to Washington, D.C. to participate in the historic 50th anniversary March on Washington National Action to Realize the Dream.
Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, Martin Luther King III and the NAACP mobilized the march held August 24. Among other civil rights luminaries, they were joined by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga, the last living convener of the original 1963 March on Washington.
Over the weekend, thousands gathered at the National Mall (where Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963), and later marched from the Lincoln Memorial to The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Leslie Broadnax and Nikia Gist organized the bus trip, with behind-the-scenes help from Stefanie Williams. Broadnax led the group in prayer before the bus departed from the BuzzWestfall Shopping Center.
Karim Saleem drove overnight from Oklahoma City to St. Louis to make the trip. Saleem said he wanted to share the experience of riding a bus with people united by a common cause. He was anxious to get away from people in his hometown.
“It’s pitiful,” he said. “They’re not involved in anything but chaos and madness.”
Billie Morrison, a St. Louisan who attended the 1963 march when only 14 years old, was among the crowd of well wishers who greeted the bus at its departure and upon its return.
“I was so happy to see so many young people fired up, not only to go just as a remembrance, but to continue to carry that fight on,” Morrison said.
The original march, organized by A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, focused on “Jobs and Freedom.” Morrison said St. Louis still has people who are in need of good-paying jobs. She supports fast-food workers’ strike for higher wages.
“We definitely need to improve our schools and training programs,” Morrison said, “because you’re not going to get a better employee if you don’t get people who are better educated.”
The spirit of fellowship was clearly evident during the 18-hour bus ride to D.C. Passengers were more than willing to share food, blankets or whatever else they had that others lacked.
At the rally, Williams said her poster garnered attention from hundreds of people.
“My two-sided poster told a story,” Williams said. “And, in fact, it was everything that Rev. Al Sharpton addressed in his speech.”
On one side of her poster, two young African-American men are depicted next to the words, “Respect! You’re not cool, if you dress like a fool!” One man is shown wearing a backwards cap, wife-beater T-shirt and saggin’ pants, while the other is dressed in more conventional, less stereotypical attire.
“We owe a debt to those that believed in us when we did not believe in ourselves,” Sharpton said in his speech at the rally. “We need to conduct ourselves in a way that respects that. Don’t you ever think that men like Medgar Evers died to give you the right to be a hoodlum.”
Williams’ poster also displayed side-by-side images of President Barack Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the words, “Two men, One vision” printed beneath them. Sharton spoke about Dr. King’s courage to dream.
“He said in the face of those that wanted him dead, ‘No matter what you do, I can dream above what you do,’” Sharpton said of Dr. King. “King saw the possibility of an Obama 50 years ago.”
Broadnax reflected on the trip, stating that it was a “two-fold experience.”
“It was inspiring to see so many people there for the same purpose,” Broadnax said. “But, at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency with the movement to include more of our youth, families and more of the everyday person in order to make a bigger impact, faster.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter @BridjesONeil.
