This browser does not support the Video element.
2021 March on Washington taking place in DC
The 58th anniversary of the March on Washington will take place in D.C. this Saturday. FOX 5's Natalie Rubino has a preview from the march.
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Hundreds of people descended on the nation's capital Saturday for the March On For Voting Rights event to both advocate for an end to voter suppression and celebrate the 58th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.
It was at that march that Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Now, King's son, granddaughter and other relatives marched alongside activists with a similar message.
The march comes as dozens of red states are passing laws limiting voters' access to the polls.
"Without us getting in here and continuing to fight, we're going to lose our rights," says activist Debra Samuels.
PHOTOS: March On For Voting Rights takes place in DC on anniversary of MLK's 'I Have A Dream' speech
The crowd was full of people of all races and ages, some even sharing their experience of attending the 1963 march nearly six decades ago.
"I was here in 1963," says activist Leo W. Burroughs Jr. "I knew of MLK Jr. I had never heard him speak and he electrified the audience at that time. I am as fired up now as I was in 1963."
Just like Dr. King did, activists today are calling for an end to police brutality, institutional racism and voter suppression.
Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather
The march ended at the National Mall where activists such as Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III gave speeches pressing the Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.