We March on Washington
Ten TWU union buses left New York early on the morning of August 24th to recreate and honor the legacy of the 1963 March on Washington, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his epochal “I Have a Dream” speech. Said Local 100's Womens' Committee Chair Liz Wilson: "It was excellent. It was one of the most well-organized marches I've been to. It was peaceful and it was educational. We got to speak to different organizations as we marched, and the issues still remain: jobs, justice, affordable health care, and voters rights." Crowd estimates put the number of marchers at 250,000, around the same number who heard MLK speak 50 years ago. In contrast to 1963, when about one in five marchers were white, this year's crowd had fewer white faces. Sister Wilson complimented her bus captain, Aquilino Castro "the best ever" as well as OA Division Chair Richie Davis, "a great host," who joined her on the bus out of the MJ Quill Depot. Quill, who was a great supporter of MLK, would have been honored by the turnout. TWU members watched an educational video on the bus derived from materials obtained by Local 100 officers at the recent Coalition of Black Trade Unionists convention.