AFGE members joined with thousands of activists at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington last week to participate in the March on Washington: Defend the Vote.
The Aug. 28 march, hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and the Drum Major Institute led by Martin Luther King III and Andrea Waters King, focused on three key areas: defending the vote, defending the civil rights, and fighting for economic justice.
This year’s march marks the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. While the state of our country has progressed since 1963, we still find ourselves fighting for equality, fairness on the job, the right to vote, and for affordability and economic justice in our communities.
The original march led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits any voting rule or procedure that discriminates on the basis of race, color, or language minority status. But in a 6-3 ruling in April, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted that section of the law.
“Now it's not enough to show that a map shuts Black voters out. Now you have to prove they meant to do it,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley told attendees.
“Brothers and sisters, I grew up under Jim Crow. Nobody ever wrote down their intentions. They just decided some folks go through the front door, and some other folks have to go around back.
“I’ve spent my entire life walking through the front door they told me back in Alabama wasn’t for folks who looked like me. I’m not going back there – and neither are you!”
Kelley encouraged all Americans to check that their voter registration is current and fix it if it’s not.
For more information on the march, visit https://marchonwashington2026.com.
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