Fifty-seven years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech in March in Washington, the families of Black Americans shot or killed by police on the same site will speak, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and Jacob Blake will join Dominic Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III on Friday at the March March Commitment: Get Your Knuckle Off Our Neck.
The march, organized by the National Action Network, calls for racial justice and police reform. Sharpton first announced plans for the march during a memorial service for George Floyd, the 46-year-old father who died in May at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
How to Watch March in Washington
- What: March in Washington
- Date: Friday 28 August 2020
- Time: The main event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. CBSN will have full live coverage from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET and live updates from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
- Location: Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC
- Online stream: Live on CBSN – in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
“George Floyd’s story has been the story of black people, because since 401 years ago the reason we could never be who we wanted to be and dreamed of being keeping your knee on our neck,” Sharpton said at the service in June. “It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say, ‘Get your knee off our necks!'”
The National Action Network said Friday’s event will be an “intergenerational inclusive day of action” that will demonstrate its “advocacy for comprehensive police accountability reform, the census, and mobilizing voters for the November elections. “
In the months since Floyd’s death, Black Lives Matter marches have spread across the country. Protestants call for justice for the officials charged in the death of Floyd, and those involved in other controversial cases including the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by officers at her own home in Louisville, and Elijah McClain, who died last summer at a police station in Aurora, Colorado.
Protests broke out again this week after the shooting Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was admitted to the hospital after police shot him several times in the back when he opened the door of his parked car. Lawyers for his family say he is now paralyzed.
Who is expected to speak Friday
- Tylik McMillian, Youth Coordinator, National Action Network
- Rep.Sheila Jackson Lee
- Marc Morial, President, National Urban League
- Yolanda King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King
- Family lawyer Benjamin Crump
- Rep. Karen Bass
- Martin Luther King III
- Rev. Sharpton
- Families of Floyd, Garner, Blake and Taylor
The families are scheduled to speak at the Lincoln Memorial, then walk across Independence Avenue to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Sharpton said he expects 50,000 people to attend the march. That estimate was once double, but buses organized to bring marchers from all over the country no longer come from states that COVID-19 “hot spots” that need quarantine when visiting Washington.
Organizers said thermometer check-in stations will be set up, masks will be distributed and worn, and social distance will be practiced.
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