AFT reprising March on Washington appearance on 50th anniversary

Here’s the press release we just received: 

AFT to Highlight the Promise of Public Education at March on Washington Events WASHINGTON— As it did in 1963, the American Federation of Teachers has joined other leading civil rights, labor and progressive organizations as a co-convener of this year’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and several surrounding events.   Thousands of AFT members and leaders from more than a dozen states will gather on Aug. 24 in Washington, D.C., for the march, many of whom were at the original 1963 march. These members—who come from school districts like Chicago and Philadelphia—will highlight “reclaiming the promise of public education” as an important theme for this year’s march.    Aug. 24:          AFT President Randi Weingarten, joined by 9-year-old Asean Johnson, who is a student in the Chicago Public Schools district, will speak from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She will have press availability throughout the day, as will four public school teachers who were at the original march. Aug. 25:          Between noon and 7 p.m., the AFT will distribute 1,000 copies of Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as part of its partnership with First Book, which provides books to children who can’t afford them. Readings from the book will take place between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The distribution will take place at the Freedom Festival in West Potomac Park.    Aug. 26:          The AFT, along with the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Service Employees International Union and the National Black Justice Coalition, will host “A Tribute to Bayard Rustin and the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington” at the Lincoln Theater from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Weingarten will speak, as well as AFT Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson, who attended the original march. Aug. 28:          Weingarten will speak at the “Let Freedom Ring” Commemoration and Call to Action Ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial, which begins at 11:30 a.m.