Let Freedom Ring Commemoration

As excited as I was to attend the commemoration of MLK's March on Washington in 1963, I suppose I better blog about it.

Off to a late start of waking up at 9, my room mate (Sari) and I finally left on our adventure around 10. With quick access to the Metro, we arrived in the city in no time. Having stumbled upon a fellow classmate, we all decided to walk to the National Mall together. The city was FULL of people. Food trucks, people selling commemoration products, and event go-ers lined the streets. DC seemed more bustling than I've ever seen it before.

The crowd waiting to get past security. Many people had no idea what they were waiting in line for and many sat down thinking that was where they had to watch the ceremony from. 

Once we got to the mall, I was completely astonished.There was only one entrance to the event, and being so close to the official starting time, it was jam packed. I mean, there must have been a thousand people waiting to get in. We immediately joined the right side of the crowd, not even sure what we were joining. After standing in the heat for about an hour (made drastically worse by all the bodies) we decided to try and see if we could avoid "entering" and just watch the speeches from the side. As we walked around the crowd we quickly found that all the nearby parks and public areas were blocked off and guarded by police and K9s. We decided to jump into the left side of the crowd to try and push our way to the front of the security lines. After much maneuvering through the crowd, and about a 45 min wait, we finally made it to security check. Just like in an airport, we went through a metal detector, had to throw out all water bottles, and had our bags checked. With finally room to breathe and fresh air we made our way towards the Lincoln memorial.
Only VIP guests were allowed to be front row of the speakers. Everyone else sat quite a distance away from the steps of the memorial. As a result most guests were forced to watch the speeches on a huge screen that blocked any view of the monument and the speakers. That being said, I felt very detached from the entire event. Not being able to personally see Clinton, Carter, Obama, Caroline Kennedy, and the Kings made the program seem less "real."

Source: nationaljournal.com  At approximately 3 pm, MLK's granddaughter joined the many countries around the world who participated in a bell ringing and observance the of the March on Washington. 

Despite the distance, it was so amazing to be in a diverse crowd all gathered for a similar purpose. Commemorating the historical March on Washington, celebrating the civil rights movement, and being in the presence of prominent political figures, as well as an amazing community of activists will be a moment I will cherish forever; and relentlessly tell my children and grandchildren about for years.

Source: www.kansas.com You can see the VIP guests in the front. My friends and I were standing at the front of the crowd that is to the right of the reflecting pool. You can see the black screen towards the right of the picture that blocked our view. Unfortunately, the Washington memorial is under construction leaving a very, unpretty sight behind us. 

 I could not be more happy with the fact that the commemoration was not just a commemoration. It was a perfect mixture of celebrating the work of Martin Luther King, other civil rights activists and ordinary people of the time, as well as continuing to look at the future. While an amazing amount of progress has been made in decreasing discrimination of all people, it would be as Obama said, dishonorable to say we are done. Inequities in jobs, housing, education, and other many regions are still very much prominent in our nation and need to be dealt with in order to make King's "dream" a complete reality. This idea of much room for improvement was a trending topic of discussion of the day and was met warmly by cheers and agreement from the crowd; especially me!
All, in all, despite being drenched in humidity-sweat, August 28th, 2013 was a day to remember. Never shall I forget the passion of the crowd around me for social change.