Interviews from the March in Washington, D.C.

Talking about the “Dream” and the “Nightmare”

September 26, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

On August 24, 2013, tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., 50 years after the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech. The murder of Trayvon Martin and the fact that this system let his killer walk free, left millions of Black people and many others with a profound sense of betrayal. But the overall message from the organizers and from the stage was aimed at channeling people’s anger and energy into the dead-end of working with and within the very system that has oppressed and exploited and betrayed Black people from day one of this country up until today. Into this scene it was a challenge, controversial, and for many, a breath of fresh, as a revolutionary crew got out 5,000 copies of the poster with the quote from Bob Avakian that talks about Dred Scott, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin and says, “That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out!” and more than 1,700 copies of Revolution newspaper with the front page: “50 Years After the March on Washington & “I Have a Dream”—America Is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!” [see article in #314, and “On Obama's August 28 Speech--The Battle over the Truth About the African-American Experience and Present-Day Reality”]

The following interviews done by Revolution correspondent Li Onesto, reflect different views and responses to the Three Strikes poster and Revolution newspaper. We encourage readers to write their thoughts on these interviews and send to revolution.reports@yahoo.com.

Black woman selling water:

My name is XXX and I work for Capital One which is a mortgage industry and I’m from Silver Springs, Maryland, so I’m from around the area. I’m here because it’s very important to me, because we see so many things going on in the world today, in America and we’re all about loving and helping and being together and uniting. The changes going on with civil rights, to different issues going on with women it’s very concerning because it seems like they’re trying to take things back instead of taking things forward. We need to think about the people, the young generation, and the generations to come and so it’s very important to me and I’m very passionate about it because things are changing and we need to make a change. And if we don’t then, they will think they can keep on doing what they want to do and—making a stand is by walking, by marching like they did back in 1963, when Martin Luther King was alive.

What do you think about this headline: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”— and this article that says we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, we need revolution. And there is this Three Strikes poster on the back of the newspaper about Dred Scott, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin that says, That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out!

Absolutely, I agree 1,000% with you. I’m a true passionate individual and watching that court on Trayvon Martin and seeing the decision devastated me and let me know that something is wrong with our court system. Something is wrong with our taking care of our young people, something is wrong with justice. And so we do need to make a cause. An innocent life was taken, he’s dead and the man is walking free. I mean where’s the justice in that? Something’s wrong. And so we need to do something. We need to walk, we need to speak, we need to make a decision. So you’re one thousand percent correct. That’s why I’m glad Trayvon Martin’s family is here, why I believe that so many different people have come here to speak. So many people, all of us need to come here to make a difference here of liberation. Freedom comes from not only being able to walk on the street, but freedom is also justice in the system and justice in our lives, in jobs, justice in everything.

It says here, there will be no justice in the Department of Justice, that there’s nothing about this system that is good, that we have to make a revolution and get rid of this whole system. But here a lot of people are saying we have to reform this system.

The Department of Justice, look at how that’s revealing itself right there—Eric Holder, his hands are tied; trying to do things, and the Department of Justice is a mess. It starts with the head and if the head ain’t doing right, what about the tail. It’s a mess. So I agree with you. Do away with all these rituals, everything is about structure, we live in a structural system and it’s not working, and it’s a problem. And it starts with the Department of Justice.

Woman therapist from Texas:

I’m from Austin, Texas and I’m here because other people were here. I’m a therapist, I work with children and families. I’m here because other people were here before me. They lived their lives and sacrificed and died so that I could be here, so that’s why I’m here. So their lives were not in vain because I’m here today.

All four pages of pullout: PDF for print | JPG for web

Let me ask you this, the front page of this paper says: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”—which is different than saying we need a new Civil Rights Movement. That movement accomplished something important, but we need something different today to solve the problems the people face...

I think you have to define revolution. By the way you define revolution and some people’s perspective on what revolution, is not necessarily something that is going to be sustained.

This is saying a real revolution—not something that’s about reforming the system, but getting state power, putting a different system in place.

I think that that perspective puts the Civil Rights movement in a certain place too, that your perspective on the Civil Rights Movement is that it wasn’t a revolution, it starts from that place, when you talk about a new revolution you’re saying that the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t a revolution—and it was and it continues today.

This is saying that the Civil Rights Movement did accomplish certain reforms... but America is still a nightmare and that the actual need for the liberation for Black people and all people cannot be achieved under this system, that we need a whole different system.

That we need a system change... that’s what you’re saying. My thing is that the Civil Rights Movement is saying the same thing. That we need a system change from the people who are accessing the system. We need a system change from the system itself, that systems have been institutionalized to keep people in certain areas and arenas and to keep perpetuating institutionalized racism so that people who come in, who look like me continue to perpetuate the same things because of the system itself. So yes, we do need a change in the systems themselves. But I feel like this movement is a part of that change. I don’t feel like they’re separate.

What this is saying is that as long as you have this economic and political system intact you aren’t going to be able to have fundamental change.

I don’t think one is separate from the other, they go hand-in-hand.

Were you active in the wake of the Trayvon Martin murder?

I participated in some protests.

[Shows the Three Strikes poster]—Oh you already have the poster.

Whatever you want to say about where he [Trayvon Martin] was, he was walking and he couldn’t get away from who he was. He couldn’t get out of his skin, all he was doing was walking. That’s why he was killed. It boils down to he was killed for who he was, not because of what he was doing.

Social Worker, woman from Springfield, Illinois:

I’m from Springfield, Illinois and I’m a social worker. I came here today because of Dr. King, because we haven’t reached equality as far as women’s rights, rights for African-Americans and  minorities across the world. We’re still fighting and struggling everyday.

Read Special Issue of Revolution newspaper here.
Download PDF version

What do you think about this headline: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”?

We’ve been needing a revolution. The problem is that we can’t get together to start a revolution. It takes something dramatic for everyone to get riled up and to get into action. We don’t have to wait until someone drops dead to have a revolution, we don’t. Every day there’s injustice. We’re being pulled over by police, we’re being searched, we’re being shot down. We have to have a revolution every day in our communities.

This is the day that you actually learned that there is a movement for revolution—not to reform the system, but when the time is right, a revolution to take state power. There is a leadership, a strategy, and a Constitution for the new society after the revolution..

That’s a different kind of revolution. Yes it is. I didn’t know there was a strategy.

But the thing is, this is not going to happen without people like you.

Absolutely and we know we have to be part of it.

What is your response to hearing that there is movement for revolution?

I’m surprised to learn about it, cause I didn’t know anything about it. I think we’re ready, I think we need a revolution. I think it’s fantastic but being in a smaller community, getting that news to people that there’s going to be a revolution, that’s going to be the hardest thing to do, is to get everybody involved and let them know that there is a strategy.

OK, we’ll be in touch.

Woman Social Worker from New Jersey

I’m a social worker, I advocate for mentally ill adults. I’m here from New Jersey. I’m here because of the history of the event and because of my concerns around voting rights. I think that voting rights should be something that we’re trying to expand to make voting more free and open rather than denying people the right to vote for reasons that aren’t even real. There’s no voting fraud. It’s a non issue but that’s the reason they claim that they need to make voting rights stricter. So that’s why I’m here today.

What do you think about the message we’re getting out here today: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”?

I think that it is incredibly astounding to me that our politicians, that our government is basically being controlled by corporations, being controlled by money, Wall Street, the whole thing and that it’s less about what the people need, what the people want and more about what corporations want. And I think that that’s the change that we need. We need the people in control and not the corporations.

What do you think about this poster on the back of the paper: about Dred Scott, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin that says, That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out!

I think it’s been a lot more than three strikes. I mean for every stop and frisk that happens we can count that as a strike too. But I think that a lot of people tend to think after a while, just like Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin, people accept and people move on. But I don’t think that’s going to last very much longer. People are getting tired, people are getting fed up. I mean in my family, we wouldn’t be considered the “revolutionary types.” But we’ve been to three Trayvon Martin rallies since the verdict and I think this is the time.

You think the Trayvon Martin changed things?

Absolutely, absolutely. Maybe, like when Emmett Till was murdered, there wasn’t social networking, there wasn’t media there for trials, things of that nature. And now that we see it and how blatantly wrong it was from many different perspectives how wrong it was, it’s hard to ignore. It’s very difficult to ignore.

What was the situation in your family? You said people generally didn’t go to protests, but in this case they went to protests?

Exactly. It affected us. We were having a birthday party for my aunt when the Trayvon Martin case was read and it was late at night. But we didn’t want to leave because the verdict was about to be read. And when the verdict was read, it was like this joyous occasion just immediately became very somber, very sad, very angry, very upset over the verdict. And I think that that changed us.

Were they shocked?

Shocked, incredibly shocked. There was no possible way we could conceive that he would be found not guilty. All the evidence was there. It happened, he wasn’t doing anything wrong, but yet it felt that Trayvon Martin was convicted, even though he was the victim of the crime. So that sort of sparked it for us.

When you were saying this thing about corporations, one of the things that this is saying is that while this march is saying we need a new Civil Rights Movement, this is saying that we don’t need this, we need a revolution and this has to do with the fact that this system works on the basis of profit and as long as you have that it will not meet the needs of the people and we need a revolution to get rid of this system. But what’s missing is you and this is the day that you’re finding out about this movement for revolution.

I think this is a very exciting time to be in America, because we’re on the precipice of change. Not say change in the sense of the change that Obama was supposed to bring about because I was disappointed in this administration, especially like the drone attacks or even the health care... but I think that we’re on the verge of a big social movement.

But here’s the point, that as long as that social movement is in the framework of trying to change things within this system, we won’t really get rid of the problems we face. We need revolution and people need to be a part of that.

Black woman with her teenage son:

What do you think about the point that this Three Strikes Poster makes that the time is up for this system and that we need a revolution?

I think that the epitome of this march being 50 years strong and the idea that we’ve come from Dred Scot all the way to Trayvon Martin and how things have changed so much and we lean towards technology and medical technology and so forth and yet we haven’t gotten as far as we still need to come as far as humanity, as far as life. What I was pointing out to my son is the sense of community that everybody came together today for the same reason, the ideas of jobs, not jails. You have the empowerment to bring about the humanity that unfortunately these innocent lives had to be taken to get people’s attention and to realize that while we are all so different, race, gender, classification, stratification, all these different things, nonetheless, we are all the same. Life and death for us are all the same. Jobs, the need to live and to protect one another and feel safe in our communities, all of that is still real to all of us no matter where we come from. So the energy here and the idea of three strikes and so forth. I want to think in a perfect world, I want to believe that Trayvon was the last one. But what we don’t realize is that there are so many Trayvon’s every single day that just don’t make the news, that don’t just get blown up so much, all over the world. For different reasons, it could be religious wars, as well as just the communities, different things going on. So it’s about us pulling together like this and it’s a beautiful thing and this is my son’s first time and I told him this is something I’m bringing him to and this is something him bringing his children to.

But here’s the thing, when you say, him bringing his children to. We don’t want him having to bring his children to something like this. And we don’t need another Civil Rights Movement, we need a revolution to get rid of the system that is causing all this so that your son won’t have to be bringing his children to a march to protest this kind of thing still going on.

I’m a woman within my faith so I’m wanting to believe, unfortunately the tragedy in this world, there is use for this, it gets people’s attention, it does bring people together and there is that sense of unity. I hear what you’re saying that one day this will not be needed. And in a perfect world, one day, fingers crossed, prayers up to god, that may be the case, but until then, this is needed, this is unity, it does bring people together.

White man, editor, from New York:

I’m here because I think there’s a new Civil Rights Movement that’s happening. I knew there was going to be a commemoration here before the George Zimmerman verdict, the racist acquittal, but I think that’s really sparking a new civil rights movement. I know you’re a socialist group and you’ll report it, but I hope that the media will report on that fact that these are crowds where a lot of people are here, white people are here. I think the media in general likes to make it seem like when there is an atrocity that the only people who come out are African-American people, to make it look like that. And they worry more when there is more unity amongst different nationalities so they don’t report that so much.

Can you explain why you have that button, “We are all Trayvon”?

This is really the spirit of the day, it’s all about Trayvon. It’s the 50th commemoration of the MLK speech.

Black man, works for Morgan Stanley, from New Jersey:

I’m happy to be here and taking a part in this history. My dad was at the original march in Washington 50 years ago and I’m glad to just be marching and doing my part for the cause.

What do you think about this headline: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”?

I think we’ve had a lot of progress but we still have a long way to go, not just for African-Americans, but a dream like he talks about everybody coming together. We still have a long way to go. It is still a nightmare. We still live in a country where there’s young Black boys being executed for no reason, so we still need change.

What this is saying we don’t need to just try and fix the system, we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, we need a revolution to get rid of this whole system of capitalism.

I can’t say that I’m for anarchy.

This isn’t about anarchy.

Capitalism, I hate to say it, but I’m for capitalism. I hate to sound crazy, but like George Orwell said, absolute power corrupts absolutely. So at some point even if you put a new system in place there’s nothing to stop that from becoming corrupt either.

This poster is saying Three Strikes, Dred Scott, Emmett Till and 50 years later, Trayvon Martin—times up, that’s it for the system—Three Strikes You’re Out! That we need a revolution to get rid of this system that was founded on the oppression of Black people.

That’s a lot to think about....

Woman, educational advocate:

I’m an educational advocate and what we’re doing here today is extraordinary. We need to be educated about the justice system. And what Revolution is doing out here today and is writing about is incredible. We’re making history because 50 years ago we were unable to be here. I’m 40 but my son is 7 so we will be writing history about where my son was and what he will do to make a difference right now.

What do you think about what this is saying, that we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, but that we need a real revolution to actually get rid of this system of capitalism? That we don’t want another 50 years, to come back and do this again.

Absolutely, what I think about this three strikes and you’re out—they created this justice system specifically for our African-American males. You’re talking about drug wars, mass incarceration. They know that they’ve created a system to incriminate our kids, our 14-year-olds, our 15-year-olds that are on the streets that are selling drugs because that is the only thing that they can do. It’s not that they want to do it, they’re trying to survive. Now, I’m not saying that that is right. However I am saying that’s what they know, we’re giving them no options to make a change in their life. But this system is totally wrong. Because, the same system, for the white males who sell drugs, at the same age, they will never go to prison, they get a slap on the hands and told to never do it again. Three strikes you’re out! Trayvon Martin, that’s a public lynching at its finest. Public lynching. What do we say about this, what do we do about this. Nothing. They’re talking. What we need is a revolution to make a huge statement that we are not taking this. Three Strikes, we’re not out, we’re just beginning.

You need to hook up with this movement for revolution.

Oh, absolutely. I got your card, I’m so interested in what’s happening. I have a 7-year-old son, it’s about him.

Black woman history professor:

I’m originally from Texas, but I live in Washington, D.C. I have been a resident for 23 years. I’m a professor, a historian. My specialty is U.S. 19th and 20th century history and I also teach African-American studies. I’m here today to advocate for justice, to show my support for civil rights as well as women’s rights.

I’m with Revolution newspaper and the front page this week says: “50 Years After the March On Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!” What do you think of that?

I think that’s appropriate because America is in a mess. Especially when you go abroad and you see the value of our currency particularly in Canada and Europe. And the fact that there seems to be a lot of chaos worldwide and America seems to be at the center of it. But also what’s happening here at home, the loss of jobs, the fact that most jobs have gone abroad for cheap labor, exploitation, the decline of the middle class, the lack of employment and just the overall, I think the situation is bad. And the fact is, racism still exists too and not just against, racism against people of color, but against women and against the poor. So we have a much broader agenda. You would think that after 50 years after Dr. King’s I have a dream would have occurred, the fact that we have an African-American president doesn’t erase the fact that we have these major problems in America. So the dream continues. So we need to be proactive, we need to demand justice, we need to demand our government to insure equality. And the only way that might happen, is not necessarily—I make reference to a peaceful revolution. And the reason I say a peaceful revolution, is that this is what Dr. King would have wanted us to have. And this is the only way we’re gonna have any results that’s positive.

One of the things that this is saying is that as long as we have this system of capitalism the people cannot be free of oppression...

Capitalism breeds greed in my opinion. But unfortunately in this society, people don’t understand the impact of capitalism. You get consumed in it, in order to survive. And I’m not saying that it’s just. But it’s what Americans are accustomed to.

But you’re a historian and you know that there have been revolutions in history and they happen on the basis of people actually understanding that that system needs to go....

But we need to come up with a system that can take the place of capitalism.

You need to get a copy of this paper and check out this movement for revolution, that has a strategy as well as a constitution for the new society after the revolution, what the structure of the government is going to look like, the rights of the people, how it’s going to institute the rights of the people, the right of dissent, how it’s going to get rid of oppression, including the oppression of Black people...

Oh, I need to study this.

Man from Ireland:

I grew up in Northern Ireland where there was a lot of discrimination against Catholics, one man, one vote didn’t exist for us. We adopted the civil rights movement. They came, they shot 13 of us dead by the army and they had an inquiry. And just like in Black history, they said screw the inquiry and the soldiers all walked free. Those soldiers killed 13 people and half those people were under 16-years-old and I see a lot of similarities going on here today in America. Today it’s more than just remembering Martin Luther King. The fight still continues for jobs, for equality and for profiling. Get rid of this stupid profiling of people. And I wish you every good result today. And just remember the world is with you on this one.

We’re out here saying,“50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”

We had an armed revolution and now we got a peace dividend. People need to wake up. I think this society is more polarized than it’s ever been. The rich are getting richer, the young are getting poorer and poorer, they’re not getting any equal opportunity. People need to come out of being lazy and just watching TV and having their little games, people need to wake up and be more conscientious of what’s going on. There’s a lot of ill treatment going on and the media and the police and the courts are just playing along with that.

I know in Ireland there’s a whole tradition of hunger strikes, are you aware of the hunger strike going on among prisoners against solitary confinement in California? They are now in their second month.

Why is that being kept very quiet, why has that not hit the media?... There are people who are saying this can’t continue. People, as you say, need to get angry, people need to get emotional, people need to revolutionize.

We’re not saying people need to change the system, we’re saying we need to get rid of the system.

You can only do that by speaking out and making more protests and making those news media, Murdock and his crowd to wake up, that we’re not going just take this passively, we need to speak out. And I never knew before today that people are on a hunger strike in California, and I’m really shocked.

Woman from London:

I’m English, I’m from London, I’m a history teacher and I loved today, I think it’s amazing. I got a copy of the newspaper.

What do you think about this headline? It’s saying we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, that we need a revolution.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know enough about it to make a comment about a revolution. Today the idea of civil rights is just incredible. And the idea that so many different groups can come together and fight for so many different things as one is pretty awesome. So if that’s what you consider a revolution then yeah, I’d be for it.

Well, as this poster says: Dred Scott, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin that says, That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out! I’m sure you know about Trayvon Martin, what do you think that says about America?

It’s horrifying. The idea that 50 years, things haven’t fully changed is still quite worrying. But having a Black president for America I think is a huge step. Having spoken to quite a few people here today, people even who were there on the day of the I Have a Dream speech, they all say that things have changed. But obviously it’s not changed fully and hopefully very soon it will change completely and there will be equality. Trayvon’s story is horrendous, it’s a horrifying story and I very much hope his killer is put to justice.

Woman retired bus driver:

I’m retired, I’m a retired bus driver. I’m from Florida but I’ve been in D.C. for a long time. I just think the march is good but I’m just hopeful that the march is what we really need because we’ve been marching for a long time and there’s not much change. So I don’t really know what it’s going to take unless revolution is the solution to the problem, then I’m for that.

How did you feel after the Trayvon Martin verdict?

I was very disappointed because this has been happening for years and years and years and America really should be ashamed for what has gone on for so many years and there’s no change.

This poster says, we had Dred Scot, Emmett Till and then 50 years later the same thing with Trayvon Martin...

What does it take to make a change?

We’re saying it’s going to take revolution.

If that’s what it’s going take to make the change then I’m all for it.

We need a revolution but we need people like yourself to get with this movement for revolution to be a part of it.

Well I read a little portion of it [the newspaper] and I did see in the back, because I started reading in the back and I saw different places to call. I did see a telephone number and different places to call and I was seriously thinking about calling and getting more information about you know, the revolution because I’m for it. I’m 71-years-old but I’m for it all the way because I’ve seen a lot of stuff. I didn’t see Dred Scot but I was living with Emmett Till and I thought that was horrible. And I really think it needs something more shocking to America to really wake them up. I don’t think that marching is gonna really going to be the solution. Marching has been the solution for some things in the past but today we need more than marching. We need more than marching, um hum. I think it’s just shameful that we’re looking at the United States because the United States is supposed to be policing every other country but it’s not policing itself.

Well it is policing other countries—like oppressing other countries and dropping drones on people, going to war...

The people think that the United States is the leading country and it IS the leading country for all of the corrupt stuff, it is. I know I’ve been living here for 71 years, I know the United States. Everything that you hear about it that’s written about the United States that are negative, that’s true. I’m all for it. I know it’s true. I’ve read different papers like China Daily and different things like that, saying things about the United States that are absolutely true. I’ve read the British papers and they said things about the United States that are absolutely true. They’re not lying about the United States. They know what’s going on. And the United States itself doesn’t plan to change. It’s just too bad that I don’t have anywhere else to go but the United States—so for the revolution, the only place I can go is the United States.

Well, today is the day—mark this on your calendar—today is the day you found out that there is a movement for revolution IN the United States.

I will definitely make a phone call to join in this movement for revolution.

Gay Man who came with his synagogue:

I’m from New York City and I’m here with my synagogue which is a gays and lesbian synagogue which is in New York City and I work in digital marketing.  We have a strong commitment to social justice issues, both within NYC and nationally, so we’ve been involved in marriage equality, with homeless gay and lesbian youth, a lot of the mission of the synagogue grew out of the civil rights movement for lesbian, gays, transgender people and then expanded to other issues and related to health care access and things like that too.  So, we wanted to come down and be part of this and further the mission of this march and this day of commemoration.

What do you think about this headline: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”—and this article that says we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, we need revolution?

I think I tend to be more slower, working within the system guy. For example in the New York City mayoral race, I’m rooting for candidates that are for the poor, middle class. I’m not necessarily a revolution kind of guy.

What’s going to stop it from being 50 years from now and the same thing happening?

The system is kind of rigged against people of color and poor people and I don’t think either of the big parties serve their interests but I have no idea what to do about it. All I can do is when something like that happens is to stand up against it.... I think there are a lot of issues, the incarceration rates, fighting wars we shouldn’t be fighting, under-funding schools, I agree with you on all of those counts. When you guys say revolution are you talking about overthrowing the government?

As long as you have capitalism, you’re going to have the economic and political structures that are going to put profit before the needs of the people.

My issue is that the free market does tend to maximize opportunity while governments that have leaned towards communism have also leaned towards totalitarianism and against people’s rights and their ability to maximize their happiness and growth even more than the worst capitalist....

[response from reporter on this, referring person to Set the Record Straight]

Man from Ghana:

I’m from Ghana, but I live in Atlanta. I work full time, I’m a married man with two kids, I’ve been here for 14 years. I drove here to be here on the anniversary.

What do you think about this headline?

It is true. We still need a lot, we need people who will stand up for it, we need people to go out and vote for it, people don’t even pay attention to it, we need to force our local legislators....

But this is saying something different, not working to change the system, but making revolution to get rid of this system and put in place a different economic and political system...

Maybe I have to look more into it but I believe that we can get rid of certain things that the government do.

This is saying that as long as we have this system you’re going to have all this, that we need something completely different and we are building a movement for revolution....

I will read more and check out your website and get more into it.

Yeah, because we don’t want to be coming back here a year from now, five years from now, 50 years from now and saying the same things.

It is true, that is true, it needs to end.

Black Attorney in D.C.:

I’m 31-years-old, an attorney in Washington D.C. and I’m here to commemorate what took place 50 years ago, but also issues we’re facing today. I appreciate the things that my grandparents marched for like not having to drink from a separate water fountain but also fight for other issues like voting rights being lost, middle class jobs hard to find. We have to continue to fight for all this and most recently the Trayvon Martin case, the criminal justice system, we are watching... Blacks are treated differently, we have to fight for equality, as the country continues to progress.

What do you think about this headline: “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”?

Here’s the deal, I think we need a revolution, but I think we need a non-violent revolution just like King taught 50 years ago. But a revolution, just having people wake up, everyone counts, no one is a second class citizen, as a country wake up that these are real issues...

We’re saying, That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out! [showing the poster]

I think the system can and does work, for instance a couple of weeks ago, there was a young man who was killed by three teenagers and they’re behind bars... if you commit a crime you have to do the time.... Right now the attorney general is working on drug classification.... At the end of the day, people do crimes, they have to pay for them. I am a Black man and people make decisions.

Black Man from Chicago:

I’m currently a student, grad school in D.C.

What do you think about this headline?

I think that we’re beyond the point, I think a revolution, it’s not a revolution about the external factors, I think we need to take a look into ourselves. Who said, be the change you wish to see in the world ?—Mahatma Gandhi. It think there are a lot of people nowadays are really good at telling other people this needs to change and that needs to change but if we all together can collectively take a look at ourselves internally we’ll see a lot more change that we’re looking for. I think the revolution is more of an internal reflection than an actual external movement.

But let me ask you this, how is that going to affect the fact that 50 years ago we had Emmett Till, and now we have Trayvon Martin—that we won’t have the same thing 50 years from now?

The system is flawed, the people within the system are flawed. Because they haven’t gotten the chance to really internalize and be part of the rest of society, they haven’t really gotten a chance to understand themselves through what I was saying and in order to move forward, systems are created through people who are flawed...

But people are created through the system...

We’re talking about multiple systems. The reasons these atrocities occur in history is because of exploits in the political, economic, legal system. Combining all these inequities is what leads to the need for a revolution. However, we need to step back from trying to fix inequities of the systems that have been established and really look to develop our own and improve our own inequities and that needs to be a collective conscious effort individually.

Black Woman Hospital Administrator

I’m from New Orleans and live here in Greenbelt, Maryland. I’m an administrator in a hospital. I have a 15-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. And I took a photo of my son with the Trayvon Martin statue and it brought tears to my eyes because unfortunately that’s the reality of young Black men in the United States, that they’re being shot and gunned down and their lives are not even important enough for us to fight for it or stand for it or fix the laws that are allowing our kids to be shot down. And so it just made me a little emotional.

I’m sure you remember how you felt when you heard the verdict.

Oh, I was devastated. While I knew he wouldn’t get the second degree charge, I figured at least manslaughter. And then when we heard he was walking free with no charges at all, it completely broke my heart because this is personal for me, I have a 15-year-old. Their father is on active duty in the state of Florida and they were going to Florida a couple of weeks later and so my anxiety was quite high until they returned about a week ago.

You got a copy of the paper.

Yes, and I made a donation.

This poster on the back talks about Dred Scott, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin and then says, That’s It for the System—Three Strikes You’re Out!

It really, I mean, all we can do is march and protest and let our voice be heard, enough is enough. This country is built on the foundation that justice and liberty for all and that’s not what we’re seeing through the media, through the political system, through the judicial system and we need to change it.

You said, all we can do is protest, but this is saying that we can do more than that, and we have to do more than that, we need a revolution...

I would agree with that...

It’s saying we DON’T need a new Civil Rights Movement, that as long as we have this economic and political system of capitalism, that not just Black people, but all people can’t be free and we need a revolution to get rid of this system and we ARE building a movement for revolution and what’s missing is people like you to be a part of this.

Well, I’m willing to do whatever it is I can, again I been making my donations and coming out and lending my support to the best of my ability, making sure that my children understand and how they can impact, what goes forward in the next few years, the next years to come they are the next generation, it’s going to effect them more and more. These type of issues that are coming up, so I think people have to get involved, I think we have to stop playing the race card because it’s about everybody. Ms. Fulton said it best, that Trayvon is not just her son, he’s all of our sons and we have to stand up for our children regardless of what color they are. We have to stand up for our kids and so I think that it’s important that people take ownership of the situation and do something to change it whatever that means.

After the verdict a lot of people were jolted and woke up, they felt betrayed by the system. And this march today, in a big sense is trying to get people back into the system, to put their efforts back into the system.

I agree. Some people can’t just get involved, it has to become a personal issue for them. And I hope that it wouldn’t take for your child to be shot down or whatever the case may be to get involved to make the system better.

But the system feels safe as long as people are working within the system and this march is telling people that you may be angry but let’s work within the system as opposed to a more radical solution.

Well, we definitely need a more radical solution, I think that people are afraid, people are afraid because of the police situation and the different things, people don’t necessarily want to go against the grain. But the more people that you can get to go against the grain, the better chance we have of changing what’s wrong with the system. It’s not going to take one person, it’s going to take a whole group of one persons getting together to do this. I mean, I’m happy to be seeing so many people out and it’s been peaceful and hopefully people will do their part, whatever they can do to change this system that we currently have because it sucks. I’m a U.S. Navy veteran and I went to fight for my country and it had nothing to do with the color of my skin or the color of anyone else’s skin, this is my country and I wanted to do something for it and I think we all have to look at it that way and we have to do what’s best for our kids because they are our future.

White woman from Peoria

I’m from Peoria, Illinois where I’m a social worker. I flew here and I came because I couldn’t come 50 years ago and I won’t be able to come 50 years from now. And I believe in the struggles of all the people represented here, especially women’s rights and civil rights. That’s why I came here, I wanted to be part of all this.

This is happening in the wake of the Trayvon Martin verdict, how do you feel about that?

I felt that the Trayvon Martin verdict was wrong and I feel it is symbolic of the injustices in society and it outraged me.

Were you at any of the demonstrations around it?

Yes, in Peoria we had a group that protested against the verdict and I’m part of that.

I was talking to some other people here today and they were saying that some people in their families, that they had gone out to demonstrations for the first time....

Oh, I’m the demonstrating type, I’ve been here for several marches, mostly for women’s rights... There’s a backlash against a lot of groups and their rights, including for African-American people, the Voting Rights act. So there are a lot of rights for people, including women’s rights, that are threatened right now, so it was really important to have this march and the one that’s scheduled for Wednesday as well.

What do you think about this headline? This is saying we don’t need a new Civil Rights Movement, 50 years later we have Trayvon Martin and we need revolution to get rid of this system...

I think people need to stop being complacent and we need to come together. But people need to take to the streets and people need to say “enough.” Too many people are being complacent and that’s why these kinds of realities are happening and I hope people will wake up soon.

Do you think there’s a certain mood now?

No I think people are too complacent, people will become upset about Trayvon Martin like for two days and then they’ll forget about it.

Renegade Attorney

I’m the renegade attorney, originally from Houston, Texas and right now I live in Brooklyn, NY. I’m kind of outside the box with my beliefs and my philosophy and my ideologies, not so much mainstream. I’m here because it’s a piece of history that I get to be a part of. Dr. Martin Luther King did so many things to free our people, bringing Black and white together, holding hands. And he made that speech 50 years ago today. And 50 years in light of Trayvon Martin, we’re still marching.

That brings me to my next questions. The front of our newspaper says, “50 Years After the March on Washington & ‘I Have a Dream’ America is STILL a Goddamn Nightmare: WE NEED A REVOLUTION!”—and it’s talking about a real revolution to get rid of this system of capitalism, because as long as we have this system we’re going to keep having this nightmare

I’m all for the revolution. You know the problem with that is how and when and where and what, you know what I mean? And what does that actually means? I guess sometimes it has to get really, really bad before people really revolt. And I don’t know, I can’t explain it, even as we come out here together and we’re all united, standing for justice and everybody is pumping their fists, and blah, blah, blah. You’re right I think the system has to be revolted against completely from the ground up. Because it’s almost like they let us have our little show, you know, no one can infringe on our free speech. We can come out here and you know, we can have our picket signs and I can put on my flower headband and stand for Trayvon Martin. But the truth is Monday morning I’m going back to the machine. So, it really does has to be a whole revolution. It’s sad because we have these beliefs and we want to see these things change, but how?

We can go on record right here that today is the day that you met the Revolution that you found out about the movement for revolution here in the United States.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

This is the day that you found out that we ARE building a movement for revolution and that there is the leadership and the strategy and there is even a constitution for what’s going to be put in place the day after the revolution is successful, what would be put in place for day one of the new society. We ARE building a movement for revolution but what’s missing is YOU.

But how do you join?

You need to hook up with it, there’s all kinds of ways that you can be part of it, big and small, as you’re finding out more about it. Get this newspaper, leave your name....

I’ll give you my card. Renegade to revolutionary....

Yeah, I am so down....

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