Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Young Activists Take Center Stage at March on Washington

Leslie Bonilla

   When the son of famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. took
   to the stage in Washington on Friday -- 57 years after his father's
   famous "I Have a Dream" address -- he stepped aside for yet another
   King.

   "I am so honored to be here," Martin Luther King III said while
   standing at the Lincoln Memorial. "But before I say something, I want
   you to hear from the future of our nation."

   Wearing a bright teal headband and a black-and-white dress, 12-year-old
   Yolanda Renee King adjusted the microphone lower and glanced sideways
   at her father, smiling nervously.

   The younger King launched into her second major address to thousands of
   marchers in the U.S. capital. Her first was two years ago, at a rally
   against gun violence, organized by high school survivors of a mass
   shooting that drew hundreds of thousands to Washington.

   "Two years ago, at the March for Our Lives, I said, 'Spread the word!
   Have you heard all across the nation, we're going to be a great
   generation!'" Yolanda recalled. She called on young activists to be
   "the generation that dismantles systemic racism once and for all, now
   and forever."

   Friday's protest follows months of national unrest in response to
   recent deaths of Black Americans that are being questioned as racist.
   George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in
   May. More recently, Jacob Blake was shot by police August 23 in
   Kenosha, Wisconsin. In between, have been months of domestic and
   international protests.

   Floyd cried out as a police officer knelt on his neck, "I can't
   breathe," echoing Eric Garner, who died in New York City in 2014,
   gasping the same words.

   Friday's Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Commitment March on Washington was
   organized largely by the Rev. Al Sharpton and the civil rights
   organization he founded in 1991, the National Action Network.

   But the event was a passing of the baton for some youth activists.

   "We are the great dreams of our grandparents, great grandparents and
   all our ancestors," Yolanda said. "We stand and march for love, and we
   will fulfill my grandfather's dream."

   Sakira Coleman, the 23-year old co-founder of the activist group Until
   Freedom, told the BBC that she would attend Friday's march, 57 years
   after her grandmother participated in the original march on Washington.

.