On Sat. Oct. 2, 2010, hundreds of thousands of people from across America will gather at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to demonstrate a re-commitment to change. The One Nation March will feature human and civil rights leaders, labor leaders, environmental and peace activists, faith leaders, celebrities and sports figures-all marching together to help put America back to work and to pull America back together.
Benjamin Jealous, president/ CEO of the NAACP spoke with the Black Press earlier this week, and expressed some of the key issues that the rally will address.
“This will be the most diverse rally that will descend on Washington, D.C. with a clear agenda representing the majority of Americans-it is time for Congress to listen to us again. The fact that Congress is even considering more tax giveaways for the mega-rich of our society that will add $700 billion to the deficit our children have to pay, while refusing to fund job creation and education, tells us that our voices aren’t being listened to. The march, in the spirit of Dr. King, for jobs, justice and education promises to be the most diverse march in decades.” Jealous shared.
The March is scheduled to begin at Noon and end at 4:00pm. The event site will open for guests as early as 6:00 am, and the pre-program will kick off at 11 am. There are already 1600 buses confirmed from as far as Utah and Alaska that are heading to the rally. The March takes place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The event is open to the public, no tickets or pre-registration is required.
One Nation is comprised of more than 150 national, local and state organizations, including the NAACP, National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, AFL-CIO, Veterans for Peace, SEIU Locals to name a few. For a complete list visit: www.onenationworkingtogether.org.
Jealous says that this rally is an effort in unifying the civil and human rights community, student activists, faith communities, immigration activists, small business leaders, and labor activists behind a common agenda for increasing opportunity in America by: Increasing job creation; Defending and enforcing civil rights protections, including ending racial profiling; Increasing support for public education from pre-K to postcollege; Increasing access to credit for small businesses and bankruptcy protection for homeowners; Ensuring every worker has a voice on the job; And fixing our nation’s broken immigration system.
This rally also hopes to energize people as mid-term elections approach, and encourage people to vote and get involved.