‘She Speaks’ Virtual Assembly on 60th Anniversary of March on Washington
Contact: Steph Derstine, steph.derstine@berlinrosen.com, 512-820-7903
Women Nationwide, Repairers of the Breach, Faith Leaders, Advocacy Organizations Take Stage for ‘She Speaks’ Virtual Assembly on 60th Anniversary of March on Washington, Raise Demands That Have Gone Unfulfilled Since 1963
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Impacted people, movement leaders honor women activists who weren’t invited to speak at the original March, demand action to ensure living wages, health care, and voting rights for all
Washington D.C. - On the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, Repairers of the Breach joined women from coast to coast for a virtual mass assembly Monday evening to honor the women who helped ignite the movement decades ago and raise demands for economic justice that our nation’s leaders still have yet to deliver. Impacted women from across the U.S. spoke alongside members of the League of Women Voters, Black Voters Matter, the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, SEIU, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Southerners On New Ground, and dozens more organizations.
The “She Speaks” Moral Monday Call to Conscience – which reached millions across the nation online – featured testimonies from over 30 women who joined together as one voice to highlight issues endangering communities across our country and demand lawmakers recommit to fulfilling the demands made 60 years ago at the March on Washington, including ensuring living wages, health care and voting rights for all.
“We’re fighting for us. We’re fighting from the bottom up,” said Pam Garrison, Tri-Chair of the West Virginia Poor People's Campaign. “The March on Washington was about unity. It was a fusion of people of all different diversities coming together and speaking with one voice, one heart. The aura that comes out of that – of justice, of unity – is something that we will always carry and have with us. It's the spark that lights the fire. Put on your armor of justice because our foremothers laid it out for us, and we have to finish the fight that they started.”
On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Washington in a mass movement where they raised their voices to demand good jobs and justice for all. While numerous brave and brilliant women – including Rosa Parks, Dorothy Day, Fannie Lou Hamer, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Diane Nash, Dorothy Height and Mahalia Jackson – were central voices within the movement, they were not given the chance to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Yesterday’s mass online gathering united women across race, religion and background to ensure not another anniversary goes by where women’s voices aren’t central to the conversation. Together, they called on lawmakers to build a public policy agenda that aims to lift the 140 million poor and low-wealth people across this country out of poverty.
“We are raising the issue that in this country of abundance, poverty is the fourth leading cause of death. Nearly one-third of our workforce – about 52 million people – earn less than $15/hour. This includes 40% of working women and 50% of working women of color. We’re raising the issue that our families continue to be torn apart by financial hardships, cruel and antiquated immigration laws, gun violence, lack of sufficient familial support – whether that be the upgraded and increased Child Tax Credit, or access to affordable and quality child care,” said the Rev. Kazimir Brown, Executive Director and Vice President of Repairers of the Breach. She encouraged listeners to join social movements and vote, noting, “We don’t have another 60 years to wait to implement solutions.”
The agenda of the March on Washington was to raise the minimum wage 75 percent to a living wage, expand and protect voting rights, secure health care for all, and expand the Labor Standards Act to end racial discrimination. In the decades that have passed since, it’s become increasingly clear that we have a long way to go to finish the job. For one, 73 million women make up our nation’s poor and low-wealth population today, and millions of women continue to be impacted by voter suppression.
Economic experts and labor leaders shared their thoughts on the economic challenges still facing women today. Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz noted, “It’s undeniable that our nation continues to grapple with enormous issues. Poverty, despite progress, still casts a long shadow over far too many lives. Income inequality persists, demanding that we fight for economic policies that generate good jobs and give power to working people.”
And SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said, “The spirit of the March on Washington is carried today by the millions of Black, brown, Asian, immigrant and white working people who are demanding good jobs and freedom. Our demand today is unions for all, where every worker is respected, protected, and paid.”
Set against the backdrop of the Lincoln Memorial where marchers gathered 60 years ago, women speakers from coast to coast discussed the challenges they are personally facing or witnessing in their communities. From a lack of healthcare access, to struggling to pay rent, to the devastating impacts of climate change, participants denounced the policy violence being committed by those in power and demanded a pathway to a brighter future for all.
“She Speaks is not just an event, but a rallying cry for us to recognize the unfinished work that lies before us: the struggle for jobs and freedom, so passionately championed in 1963, remains a beacon guiding us through the challenges of today,” said Dr. Savina June Martin. “60 years have passed since that resounding march, yet the echoes of those footsteps still reverberate through our souls. As we commemorate the March, we are reminded that justice is an ongoing pursuit. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The call to consciousness urges us to ask ourselves, ‘how far have we come? How much farther must we go? In a world where inequalities persist and opportunities remain out of reach for too many, we must respond with continued persistence and action.”
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