AFL-CIO & Union Privilege Launch New Scholarship Commemorating 50th Anniversary of March on Washington

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The AFL-CIO and Union Privilege are offering a new scholarship to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. The scholarship will provide $5,000 each to at least 50 talented high school seniors from families – including union families and those in the community – to help pay for the costs of higher education. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, accelerating the nation’s march toward social and economic justice, including passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. “People from all over gathered to march for the dream that all of America’s children would have equal access to education, regardless of race, gender, status, or income,” the AFL-CIO said in a statement. The new scholarship “will honor the legacy of the March on Washington by helping young people across the country turn their dream of attaining higher education into a reality.” An application, including an essay, is required; deadline is July 1, 2013.