63rd anniversary of MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech to anchor demonstrations

The National Action Network announced the march in coordination with Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and a coalition of civil rights groups. The event, scheduled for Aug. 28 at the Lincoln Memorial, is timed to the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Defending the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Sixty-three years after my father stood at the Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, but in action.”

Organizers described the event as part of “the same call our elders answered” more than 60 years ago, according to their campaign website. “We return to the ground where a quarter million Americans once stood for jobs and freedom, and we carry their unfinished work into a new generation,” they said.

The Supreme Court’s April 2 ruling in a Louisiana redistricting case substantially rewrote the standard for proving racial discrimination under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, dismantling a key tool that civil rights groups had used to challenge maps that diluted Black voting strength. The decision struck down Louisiana’s congressional map and narrowed the circumstances under which plaintiffs can bring racial-gerrymandering claims.

In the months since the ruling, several states have moved to redraw congressional maps. Alabama judges have upheld a redistricting process that will eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black districts in this year’s midterm elections, a step that defies previous court orders requiring the state to create a second majority-Black district.

The Trump administration has pursued additional voting restrictions, including new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration and restrictions on mail-in ballots, including a proposal that would give the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies access to state-level voter rolls. Federal judges have blocked both proposals.

The coalition supporting the march includes House Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as the Drum Major Institute, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Government Employees, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Urban League, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Working Families Party.