Anniversary march takes on a serious tone: Fifty years ago, crowds came together in the 95-degree Washington heat to push for civil rights legislation and draw attention to the need for jobs, equality in the work industry and a better minimum wage.
Now, 50 years after the 1963 March on Washington, civil rights advocates are reeling from the death of one major part of the Voting Rights Act and the acquittal of a former neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen in Florida. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission now exists, but its workload remains busy. The minimum wage is higher, of course, but advocates maintain it's not high enough for people to earn a living.
People have a spirit of action in them for the anniversary march, said Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and participant in the original march.
