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Aug 28 1963 MARCH    - by Bob Shankman

…… it’s been 50 years since I participated in the March on Washington, later known as the “I have a Dream” March.

My roommate and I left Boston, where we were students, and tried to hitch hike to Washington. We got as far as New Haven, where my family lived. After several hours without another ride, we took a cab about 10PM to my home where we slept for a few hours.

We awoke about 4AM and took one of the family cars to the bus station where we were able to get on an early bus to Washington. I can’t remember if it was a scheduled bus or a special charter going to the March.

Along the way we saw many other buses on the highway. All of them were full and contained a mix of black and white people of varying ages. We yelled and waved as we passed the other buses.

Initially, our bus was quiet as many of us were sleeping. However, as the sun came up the chorus of songs and chatter began.

As we got closer to DC it was clear that there were now hundreds of buses all going in our direction. We traversed the streets of DC in long columns as we entered the City.

I particularly remember a black mailman saluting our buses as we went by him. Frankly, I can’t recall if we referred to him and others as Negro or Black… or as “that mailman”.

The buses let us off and I learned later that there were thousands of them. We then moved towards the Lincoln Memorial and the Monument. There were thousands of people in this area. Later I learned that the total was about 300,000. My memory was a 50/50 mix of black and white hippies. I read later that other estimates suggested that the crowd was 80% Black.

My roommate and I obtained phony press passes which allowed us to get to the Lincoln Memorial, only 20 feet or so from the speakers. Certainly, we had no idea of the magnitude or significance of the March or the speeches.

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I have  a few  excerpts from Martin Luther King’s speech:

I have a dream … that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:    “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

 I have a dream ….. that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream ….  that one day even the state of Mississippi, a  state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.  

I have a dream …. that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

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I have a dream today.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

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