AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Civil Rights Leaders Issue Call to Action on 59th Anniv. of March on Washington

Ebony McMorris
August 29, 2022

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 1963, file photo Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., center left with arms raised, marches along Constitution Avenue with other civil rights protestors carrying placards, from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington. The annual celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in his hometown in Atlanta is calling for renewed dedication to nonviolence following a turbulent year. The slain civil rights leader's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said in an online church service Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, that physical violence and hateful speech are “out of control” in the aftermath of a divisive election followed by a deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo, File)

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Sunday marked the 59th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. And this year, half a dozen civil rights organizations held a virtual press conference.

“They say that democracy is at risk and therefore there is a state of emergency. We issue a call to action,” said National Urban League President/CEO Marc H. Morial.

Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network founder and president:

“To get past voting impediments, to get people past whatever their state legislations were doing to rob us of our right to vote, when it comes to our fight in criminal justice reform, when it comes to our voting rights, we also include the right of people to choose as well as LGBTQ rights; all of these rights at risk.”

FILE – The Rev. William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign talk to reporters about the need for the “Build Back Better” plan, voting rights, health care, immigrant rights and action on climate change, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. On Friday, May 6, 2022, North Carolina’s highest court announced that it is refusing to hear the appeal of Barber, a civil rights leader who was convicted of trespassing during a 2017 demonstration inside the Legislative Building. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Melanie L. Campbell, president/CEO of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation:

“The ’22 midterm elections, which are less than 80 days away, will determine if our nation will remain a democracy or fall into the hands of racist white nationalists and insurrectionists.”

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.