Council President to Join Martin Luther King III to Announce Plans to Mark 50th Anniversary of March on Washington

BALTIMORE, MD –City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young will join today with Martin Luther King III and advocates of  labor, health, housing, education, civil and human rights to announce plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

The events, organized by Martin Luther King III and Communities Without Boundaries International, Inc. will serve as a springboard for a nationwide campaign designed to address poverty, employment opportunities, racial and class inequality, voting rights and immigration reform.

“The City of Baltimore is proud to stand with dedicated advocates to help improve the lives of the least among us,” Council President Young said. “I was a young child at the time, but I vividly remember the sense of hope and pride that the March symbolized. We’re looking today to begin a new conversation about our nation’s commitment to issues of inequality.

“To this day, many Americans including those who have faced a history of exclusion – people of color, poor whites, women, workers, immigrants, LGBT’s—are still disproportionately represented in many negative socioeconomic categories like poverty, poor education, unemployment, underemployment, loss of labor rights, inadequate health care, unfairness in the justice system and voter suppression, Martin Luther King III said. “And, as the demographics in America are ever changing, our constituencies are quickly shifting from minority to majority status. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom marked the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation with a call that America live up to its promise of freedom, justice, and equality. Plenty has changed since 1963, but there are still struggles to be won.”

Today’s announcement will serve as a kickoff to the 50th Anniversary March on Washington National Action to Realize the Dream, a nationwide call to service that will begin on August 24, 2013 in Washington, DC. The march will be followed by the National Action to Realize the Dream: America Speaks Tour, a year-long strategy designed to tackle national and local issues in the spirit of the same non-violent social action that won victories 50 years ago.

WHAT: City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young will join today with Martin Luther King III and advocates of  labor, health, housing, education, civil and human rights to announce plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

WHO: City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, Martin Luther King III and local and national advocates for change

WHEN: Friday, July 19, 2013 at 12 p.m.

WHERE: Baltimore City Hall, 4th floor