Burt's Eye View: I Was There Also

I was at the March 50 years ago. So was my brother.  Our nation’s capital was packed.  I don’t think I had ever seen so many people gathered together. 

I finally secured some shade under a tree. It was a typical hot August day in Washington, D.C.  The sound systems in those days were not nearly as efficient as they are today. I could hear most of what was going on, but not everything.

There was a festive feeling. I don’t know whether we knew we were making history, but we understood this was a culmination of years of breaking racial barriers.

I don’t recall any unruly behavior, arrests, or anything other than order and civility which was no easy accomplishment for such an enormous gathering.

The setting was, of course, moving.  It was impossible to ignore the huge statue of President Lincoln, looking down upon all of us like an approving grandfather. 

And then he spoke.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with that powerful voice roared out his message of equality, and we knew we had not heard anything like that before, and unfortunately, have not heard anything like that since. He rallied the troops, he inspired us, he gave full meaning to our being there.