March on Washington

The butterfly to all the earth,
Sings freedom, beauty, hope, rebirth.
In my first parish I worked to help integrate the city.  I joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and helped black people buy homes in white neighborhoods.  We were seeing on TV lots of non-violent demonstrations in the south in support of civil rights for blacks.  We had come to look up to the Rev. Martin Luther King.
I was a priest a little more than a year in 1963 when we heard about the March on Washington scheduled for August 28.  D.C. wasn't far away.  Several carloads of us drove down.  I was thrilled to be part of this enormous crowd marching for civil rights for all Americans.
The first thing I can remember after we got to the Lincoln Memorial was hearing Peter, Paul, and Mary singing Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind."  Later Dylan, in his distinctive voice, sang "Only a Pawn in Their Game."  None of us had been sure that this would not turn into the violent attacks by police that we had been seeing in the south.  It turned out to be one grand picnic.  People sharing food with one another, singing with the crowd.   There were many more blacks than whites.
Martin Luther King's speech was the centerpiece of the day.  (You can see it now on YouTube.)  The concluding five minutes which included "I have a dream...." was soaring and lifted us all up in one united community committed to work for this dream.
My mother, who had tried to talk me out of going, watched the whole thing anxiously on TV, expecting to see me killed and eaten by police dogs.  She was deeply moved by King's speech and became a fervent believer in demonstrating for civil rights.