Rally with NOW and Other Civil Rights Organizations
in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 23

Ellen Wills, NC NOW President, will be attending this rally on Saturday. If you'd like to travel with her please call 919-833-2094.

Action Needed:
Please join us and tens of thousands of other activists who will travel to the nation's capital from around the country to join an Aug. 23 rally marking the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The weekend activities are listed below. These events, co-sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and many other organizations, will create a forum to protest the Bush administration's attacks on women's rights, civil liberties and affirmative action and kick off a campaign to register millions of voters before the 2004 elections.

Friday, Aug. 22
7:30 p.m. — Prayer Vigil at Lincoln Memorial
9:00 p.m. — Spoken Word on Washington (Open Mic Poetry)
at Lincoln Memorial

Saturday, Aug. 23
11 a.m.-1 p.m. — Session I - Workshop Teach-In
1-3 p.m. — Session II - Workshop Teach-In
Location: Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
3:30-5:30 p.m. — Mass Rally at Lincoln Memorial

Background:
At a June news conference, the event's organizers said the time has come for a major demonstration. "Our country is in dark times," said Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader. "Poverty has grown, we know. Racism is still in our midst ... and militarism is the order of the day."

Civil rights advocates spoke about the need for activists to gather in record numbers. "We have to fight for our rights," NOW President Kim Gandy said. "No one is going to give them to us."

In addition, activists from the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign—a national effort led by poor and homeless women, men and children of all races to raise the issue of poverty as a human rights violation—have been marching in a caravan covering more than 800 miles, with Washington as the final destination on Aug. 23. You can join them in Washington on Aug. 23 at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington Cemetery and march with them across the Key Bridge at 10 a.m.