ATLANTA — Crowds returned to the mall in the nation's capital 60 years after an original call for action.
Human rights activists, such as Martin Luther King III stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday attempting to invoke the memory of his father's famous "I Have a Dream" speech to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington.
The impact of the marches stretches back here to metro Atlanta.
Local leaders remind us that we've made progress as a country, but the work isn't over.
Gerald Durley was there, alongside activist John Lewis.
"60 years later, and we're fighting the same struggle," Durley said. "It's a little disheartening, but what's new to us about disheartening?"
Durley said the anniversary of the March on Washington is a wake-up call that Black people are still making the same demands in 1963— in 2023. He tries to motivate the younger activists.
"I think that's what's missing today. We were willing to sacrifice and risk," Durley added. "We were coming at all expenses to be there."
Durley was only 18 years old at the time. He joined the 250,000 protestors on the mall that went on to become one of the most impactful racial justice and equality demonstrations in the history of this country.
"We didn't understand the depths of it, but we were committed to being there," Durley said.
Atlanta council member Michael J. Bond looks back at history and then today.
"The original march was about jobs and freedom," Bond said. "We seem to still be in pursuit of the freedom part of that equation."
Bond sees the connection between the past and the present.
"The fact that we're standing here inside of the Atlanta City Council— there were no Black city council people 60 years ago," Bond said.
He's motivated now by what his father, Julian Bond, did to make change.
"My father led the group in 1960 to desegregate the facilities here," Bond said.
Bond was a social activist and leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He played a major role during the March on Washington. Bond said his father was happy to see so many Black people unified.
"For him, so many African Americans in the one place— there, on the same page, for the same mission," Bond said.
Bond is now leading his own path with the Atlanta City Council.
"We need to be always challenging America to provide the full access of its franchise to every citizen," Bond said.
Durley said Black people may not be sitting in the back of buses and drinking from segregated water fountains, but the fight for voting rights, housing rights, educational opportunities, and access to healthcare still remains.
"Now, that same institution of racism is right in our face, glaring in our face from the political situation," Durley said.
Durley has found encouragement. He went back to Washington D.C. Saturday to join in the commemoratory events and says the support from around the country was invigorating.
"Every now and then I think you need a booster shot," Durley said. "Today, was a booster shot after 60 years."