150th Emancipation Day Anniversary Kicks Off

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

From the rain-slicked steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the echoes of the Jefferson Memorial, the dappled sunshine in the trees at the Roosevelt Memorial and the wind-blown waters visible through the gleaming white stones of the Martin Luther King Memorial, yesterday's "March Through The Monuments" kicked off six days commemorating the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of DC's slaves in 1862. At the Lincoln Memorial, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke movingly about her grandfather, one of the 3,100 slaves freed on April 16, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reminded the crowd that while slavery was "disgusting, morally wrong and socially repellent" its purpose "first and foremost, was as a work policy, carried to the most terrible extreme." The Dunbar High School marching band, red uniforms glittering in the afternoon sun fighting its way through the scudding storm clouds, led the way to the Jefferson Memorial and then on to the Roosevelt Memorial, where activist and comedian Dick Gregory's fiery words about voting rights robbed the breeze of its chill. "A redneck hillbilly who can't read or write has more privilege when it comes to voting than a (DC resident) with 12 PhD's" fumed an outraged Gregory. And Metro Council President Jos Williams added that "the harsh reality is that in 2012 men and women continue to be enslaved in our community," and that while pro-labor President Roosevelt "would welcome us here as we celebrate emancipation, he'd also be the first to remind us that our work is far from done." Click here for other Emancipation Day event details and here for the full text of Williams' remarks. - report/photos by Chris Garlock; photos: (l-r) DC Senator Paul Strauss, DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC At-Large Council Member Vincent Orange (top); Metro Council President Jos Williams and DC CBTU President Gwend Johnson march with the Dunbar High School marching band (middle left); AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (below right)