WE STILL HAVE A DREAM:

55TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MLK MARCH ON WASHINGTON
On Tuesday, August 28, 2018 Mount Zion Baptist Church, spearheaded by the Brotherhood Ministry, in consortium with local and regional social justice and interfaith organizations will commemorate the 1963 March on Washington at Mount Zion Baptist Church.

MARCH, COMMUNITY RECEPTION AND EVENT PROGRAM
5:15 p.m. ~ Symbolic March from Union and Rev. Dr. S. McKinney Ave. to the Gideon Bell Tower
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. ~ Ringing of the Bell and Reception featuring ethnic dishes and entertainment.
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. ~ Event Program (Free and open to the public) Featuring keynote speaker and presentations by Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell and Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO Secretary/Treasurer, Lynne Dobson

The interracial and intergenerational March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held on August 28, 1963, was an unprecedented display of civic activism. Best known for the iconic “I Have A Dream” keynote speech orated by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the purpose of the March was to address the “twin evils of discrimination and economic deprivation.” The March directed federal government attention to employment discrimination and civil rights abuses against African Americans; the March also supported the Civil Rights Act that President John-son signed into law.
Fifty-five years after the March, the United States remains the most socioeconomically unequal of all Western nations. Even though we live in MLK Jr. County, the only county named after an African American in the nation. Where SeaTac International Airport is the fastest growing airport in the nation, The City of Seattle is the fast growing city in the nation, but minorities and women businesses get less then 2% of all government contracts and African American's are awarded less then 100th of 1%.
To champion the contemporary fight for economic and social equity, the 2018 commemoration of the 1963 March for jobs and freedom focuses on access to education, jobs, and contracts for women and for ethnic, racial and sexual minorities. A proposal before the City Council further requests changing the name of MLK Park to the MLK Civil Rights Memorial Park, mounting in the park a plaques honoring local civil rights leaders who have passed and holding an annual celebration to champion local civil rights efforts.
Program sponsors to date include the MLK Jr. Commemoration Committee, Church Council of Greater Seattle, City of Seattle, Civil Rights Coalition, Faith Action Network and the Mount Zion Baptist Church.