Jackson, Farrakhan to lead voting rights marches
/ Commemorating the 37th anniversary of
the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, two of the
African-American community's most outspoken voices joined forces
Saturday to push reauthorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson of Rainbow/PUSH and Nation of Islam leader
Minister Louis Farrakhan announced that an Aug. 6 march in Atlanta led
by Jackson and a 10th anniversary Million Man March set for Oct. 16 in
Washington, D.C., will bring together tens of thousands to press
Congress to reauthorize the act's enforcement sections that are set to
expire in August 2007. They said the marches will highlight the state
of black America, with participants rallying for jobs and health care.
"Just before he was assassinated, Dr. King convened a multireligious,
multiracial group for a Washington, D.C., march to force Congress to
change its priorities. We must take our civil rights struggle back to
the streets," Jackson said. "The right wing has already lined up in
concrete to undermine the reauthorization of key sections of this
[Voting Rights] act." [more]
