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The rally is organized on the day 57 years after civil rights activist Martin Luther King delivered his historic “I have a dream” speech. One of the speakers at the Lincoln Memorial was his son, Martin Luther King III.
– We marched to defeat what my father called triple country poverty, racism and violence, he said, among other things.
His granddaughter Yolanda Renee King also delivered a speech at the Lincoln Memorial earlier.
– We will be the generation that ends systematic racism, once and for all, now and forever. We will be the generation that ends police brutality and gun violence, once and for all, now and forever, he said in his speech.
But the protests have also been fueled by anger over police violence against blacks. The demonstration has been dubbed “Take Your Knee From Our Neck”, which refers to how George Floyd was strangled to death during a police intervention earlier this year.
Floyd’s death was the starting point for widespread protests against police violence and racism in the United States and the rest of the world.
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, was clearly moved when he spoke.
“I wish George had seen this,” he said.
“Hope for justice”
Recently, many people have also taken to the streets since Jacob Blake, 29, was shot seven times in the back during a police intervention in Wisconsin.
Human rights activist Al Sharpton is also taking part in the rally.
– You may have killed the dreamer, but you cannot kill the dream, he said in front of the crowd.
The case of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black nurse who was shot to death in March by police who locked the door to her apartment, has also drawn anger and attention in the United States.
– What we need is a change, and we are at a point where we can achieve that change. But we must stick together, said Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, at the rally.
I want justice
Previous violence during the demonstrations has led shop owners to nail wooden boards for the windows and more police have been dispatched.
The rally will take place in Washington DC, where President Donald Trump at the White House delivered a tough speech on law and order on Thursday.
