Oct. 16, 2011
‘No Justice, No Peace!’ Thousands Rally for Obama’s Jobs Bill.
By Naeshaun Briggs
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.; Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III are joined by hundreds of other civil rights leaders in a "March for Jobs and Justice" on Saturday. PHOTO: Khalid Naji-Allah/Trice Edney News Wire
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “If you won’t get the jobs bill done in the suites, then we will get the jobs bill done in the street!” said civil rights advocate Al Sharpton.
With an employment rate at a reported 9.1 percent in the United States and consistently above 16 percent in the Black community - citizens are finding themselves out of options and taking action for real, lasting change.
In preparation for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication on Oct 16, Sharpton along with the National Action Network, labor leaders, and thousands of citizens and civil rights leaders rallied at the Sylvan Theater Stage by the Washington Monument and then marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. monument in support of President Obama’s job bill.
“We’ve come to give our country back to the people!” Sharpton shouted to the crowd. “We cannot sit here with 1 percent of this country controlling 30-40 percent of the wealth!”
The march went on as planned despite the fact that the U. S. Senate had days earlier rejected President Obama’s $447 billion dollar American Jobs Act that was included of tax hikes for the wealthy, infrastructure investments, and extended benefits for organized labor unions.
Budgetary deficits in the educational system was among the primary concern of the people in the crowd.
Everett Goodwin, a young man from Philadelphia, said he was employed for the city for seven years before recently losing his job. He had also double majored at a university for three years, but had to drop to care for his retired father, Eric Pilgrim, who was also at the march with him.
“My son can’t go to college because of financial reasons,” said Pilgrim. Pilgrim was injured in a work accident, and had to settle for much less compensation than he was owed. Goodwin is also taking care of his own 3-year-old- daughter. “I need to find the resources that’s available to me so that I can find a career so I can support my family.”
People of diverse backgrounds and situations came to take a stance for what organizers called a march for "Jobs and Justice." Jennifer Lowery-Bell, a retired nurse and a substitute teacher of Largo, Maryland, was marching in support of her daughter, who has been deployed in Afghanistan as a naval officer since July 2011.
Her daughter is a single parent of two young children and was a physics teacher at Hampton University before she was deployed. “I’d like to know that when she comes back she has employment,” stated Lowery-Bell, “She’s given up time. She’s given up her life.”
From unemployment to civil rights, to labor laws, to education, speakers tried to cover a list of issues to speak to the concerns of the crowd.
Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education declared: "Transforming the way our schools work for our children is the most important civil rights issue of our generation.”
President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Warrington asked the crowd, “Is it radical to want our teachers to remain in classrooms where their students need and not in the unemployment line?”
Lee Saunders, treasurer of organized labor union ASCME, urged the crowd to take action against the economic disenfranchisement of union benefits. “We will fight the legislators who are stealing our collective bargaining rights,” he said. “Retirement security is under attack. Our work is not done!”
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League repeated his oft-heard message on unemployment. “The number one issue facing the nation is jobs!”
Morial the power of the vote as key to changing the economic situation. Pointing out recent attacks against voters’ rights, he said, “In the 21st century, the grandfather style clauses are reemerging. We must resist!”
Before the march took off, Martin Luther King III urged the crowd to continue marching because his father’s dream has yet to be recognized - for the poor and people from all walks of life. “Over 45 years ago, my father talked about the redistribution of wealth in our nation," he said, “Now it’s time to bail out working Americans.”