Beneath the solemn gaze of Abraham Lincoln, a young civil rights activist, well-known for his oratory mastery, delivered a speech that would become as emblematic as the statute behind him.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., less than five years before hisassassination in 1968, roused a crowd of at least 250,000 people at the March on Washington with a call for freedom, hearkening back to Lincoln's own shining moment — the Emancipation Proclamation.
"One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land," King said that day. "So we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition."
Hundreds of thousands are expected to fill the mall today as President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, is set to deliver his own remarks.
Last week, tens of thousands, maybe more, traveled to the same spot to honor and soak in that moment in history when King delivered his historic speech.
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