Dr. Bernice A. King, youngest child of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King was just 5 months old when the March On Washington was held on August 28, 1963. It was on that day that her father delivered his iconic "I Have A Dream" speech.
The 60th Anniversary theme this weekend in Washington D.C. is "Not a commemoration, but a continuation." According to King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, quite a bit was different back then.
Everyone now has the right to vote says King. African Americans were kept out of rooms back then, she adds "now, we're inside of rooms, corporate executive suites and boardrooms, from the state house to the White House, to U.S. Congress and more."
Fair wages, equal access to job opportunities, and an end to segregation, were among the ten demands that the massive crowd in 1963 rallied for. "They were asking for comprehensive Civil Rights legislation, they got that," says King. They also cried out for a policy to prevent discrimination in housing and employment. According to King, "These are things that we are benefitting from today."
Yet with progress made, King believes there's a backlash present day. "Whenever you're trying to progress as a nation, there's going to be backlash." She goes on to say "we've consumed ourselves so much with getting legislation in place, we didn't prepare for the backlash."
As for the legal woes of 45th U.S. President Donald Trump, King believes too much time is being consumed by the general public on the matter. "The people who are dealing with Trump are dealing with Trump, (Fulton County District Attorney) Fani Wills and the rest of them." She thinks the energy should be applied to "addressing the things that have been threatening us and trying to take us backwards."