Saturday's March Will Continue King's Fight for Workers, Justice

Visitors admire the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on his first day open to the public. CWA will join with thousands of other Americans for a march to the memorial Saturday. Photo by Gabriel Bayley.

One day before the Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial on the National Mall is officially dedicated, a rally and march will bring CWAers and thousands of other Americans to the site to honor King and his values, including the urgent need for good jobs that respect workers' rights.

CWA President Larry Cohen, who will be among the featured speakers Saturday, is urging CWA members and their families to take part in what he calls "an event of unprecedented importance."

"This is about a movement, not just a monument," Cohen said. "If Dr. King were alive today, at 82 years old, he'd be with us on Verizon picket lines and he'd be marching with us not just for jobs, but for jobs with justice."

The march begins at 1:30 p.m. at 17th and Constitution Avenue along the National Mall. Participants will march past the Washington Monument to the new MLK Memorial, which is built in a direct line between the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, and the Jefferson Memorial.

The monument opened to the public Monday, and has gotten rave and heartfelt reviews. It features a giant tower of granite representing the "Mountain of Despair" with a piece removed representing the "Stone of Hope," where King's likeness is carved. An inscription wall along the perimeter of the monument has more than a dozen quotes from some of King's most memorable speeches.

An Associated Press story this week describes the power of the monument for three of King's aides — U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. As the men helped break ground for the monument five years ago, they broke into tears and "wept for how far they had come and for what they had lost."

The men want the memorial to be a living legacy, as Saturday's march will demonstrate. "We cannot freeze his work in a statue," Jackson said. "The statue is a memorial that we might remember the struggle. He was shot into immortality. The way in which he died illuminated his work and his worth. We must not allow people to stop at the memorial and read his poetry and ignore his policies."